Influence of Peroxide Impurities in Povidone on the Stability of Selected β-Blockers with the Help of HPLC

A present study was conducted to investigate compatibility of β-blocker drugs( like atenolol, labetalol hydrochloride, bisoprolol fumarate, metoprolol succinate, carvedilol and propranolol hydrochloride) with the pharmaceutical excipient povidone. To check the influence of peroxide impurity present in povidone on the stability of β-blockers, a binary mixture technique has been adopted. The binary mixtures (1:1) of β-blockers with povidone excipient were stored for the duration of 6 months at accelerated conditions (40°C and 75% RH) and analyzed with the technique of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). On analysis, HPLC results shows that, the percentage of total impurity for atenolol—2.15%, bisoprolol fumarate—3.55%, carvedilol—2.19%, and labetalol hydrochloride—1.89%, with respect to povidone. To verify the interaction of H₂O₂ present in povidone as an impurity, oxidative degradation of selected active pharmaceutical ingredients were performed and degradation profile were compared with that of degradation impurities generated in drug-excipient mixture at accelerated conditions. The relative retention time (RRT) of impurities generated in accelerated stability study samples resembles the RRT of degradation products generated by oxidative degradation of pure drugs. Thus, it confirms that degradation of β-blockers with povidone was mediated by organic peroxides present as an impurity in povidone.     

Molecular characterization of α-gliadin gene sequences in Indian wheat cultivars vis-à-vis celiac disease eliciting epitopes

α-Gliadin proteins of the wheat gluten form a multigene family encoded by genomic loci Gli-A2, Gli-B2 and Gli-D2 located on the homoeologous wheat chromosomes 6AS, 6BS, and 6DS, respectively which upon partial digestion elicits celiac disease (CD) in the genetically susceptible individuals. The present investigation was planned to study the variations in the amino acid sequence of the α-gliadin proteins and CD eliciting epitopes in the Indian wheat cultivars. Representative wheat varieties released and cultivated in India during the period 1905–2011 were selected for studying the α-gliadin genes by cloning and sequencing followed by in silico analysis of the gene sequences. A lot of variation for α-gliadin gene sequences especially in T cell stimulatory epitopes glia-α9, glia-α20, glia-α2 and glia-α was observed in different wheat varieties. Modern varieties released during 1971–2011 had higher proportion of intact T-cell stimulatory epitopes. The old wheat varieties released in the period 1905–1970 on the other hand had large proportion of variant epitopes. We identified three wheat varieties namely C591, C273 and K78 having only variant epitopes at Gli-D2 and Gli-B2 and both intact and variant epitopes at Gli-A2. Identification of lower proportion of T-cell stimulatory epitopes in these three varieties is the first step towards developing a wheat variety less immunogenic for celiac disease patients. The gene sequences of the selected varieties have been submitted at NCBI with accession numbers GenBank KJ410473–KJ410488.     

Antihyperglycemic activity of 2-methyl-3,4,5-triaryl-1H-pyrroles in SLM and STZ models

Various 3,4,5-triarylpyrroles were synthesized and evaluated for their in vivo antihyperglycemic activity in sucrose-loaded (SLM) and/or streptozotocin-induced (STZ) diabetic rat models. Three of the test compounds, 2-methyl-4,5-diphenyl-3-substituted-phenyl-1H-pyrroles (3c, d and h) showed significant inhibition on postprandial hyperglycemia in normal rats post sucrose loaded. These compounds also showed lowering of plasma glucose level in STZ-induced diabetic rat model.     

Evaluation of fluorescent compound interference in 4 fluorescence polarization assays: 2 kinases, 1 protease,and 1 phosphatase

With the increasing use of fluorescence-based assays in high-throughput screening (HTS), the possibility of interference by fluorescent compounds needs to be considered. To investigate compound interference, a well-defined sample set of biologically active compounds, LOPAC, was evaluated using 4 fluorescein-based fluorescence polarization (FP) assays. Two kinase assays, a protease assay, and a phosphatase assay were studied. Fluorescent compound interference and light scattering were observed in both mixture- and single-compound testing under certain circumstances. In the kinase assays, which used low levels (1-3 nM) of fluorophore, an increase in total fluorescence, an abnormal decrease in mP readings, and negative inhibition values were attributed to compound fluorescence. Light scattering was observed by an increase in total fluorescence and minimal reduction in mP, leading to false positives. The protease and phosphatase assays, which used a higher concentration of fluorophore (20-1200 nM) than the kinase assays, showed minimal interference from fluorescent compounds, demonstrating that an increase in the concentration of the fluorophore minimized potential fluorescent compound interference. The data also suggests that mixtures containing fluorescent compounds can result in either false negatives that can mask a potential "hit" or false positives, depending on the assay format. Cy dyes (e.g., Cy3B and Cy5 ) excite and emit further into the red region than fluorescein and, when used in place of fluorescein in kinase 1, eliminate fluorescence interference and light scattering by LOPAC compounds. This work demonstrates that fluorescent compound and light scattering interferences can be overcome by increasing the fluorophore concentration in an assay or by using longer wavelength dyes.     

Exploring the overproduction of amino acids using the bilevel optimization framework OptKnock

In this study, we modify and extend the bilevel optimization framework OptKnock for identifying gene knockout strategies in the Escherichia coli metabolic network, leading to the overproduction of representative amino acids and key precursors for all five families. These strategies span not only the central metabolic network genes but also the amino acid biosynthetic and degradation pathways. In addition to gene deletions, the transport rates of carbon dioxide, ammonia, and oxygen, as well as the secretion pathways for key metabolites, are introduced as optimization variables in the framework. Computational results demonstrate the importance of manipulating energy-producing/consuming pathways, controlling the uptake of nitrogen and oxygen, and blocking the secretion pathways of key competing metabolites. The identified pathway modifications include not only straightforward elimination of competing reactions but also a number of nonintuitive knockouts quite distant from the amino acid-producing pathways. Specifically, OptKnock suggests three reactions (i.e., pyruvate kinase, phosphotransacetylase, and ATPase) for deletion, in addition to the straightforward elimination of 2-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, to generate a glutamate-overproducing mutant. Similarly, phosphofructokinase and ATPase are identified as promising knockout targets to complement the removal of pyruvate formate lyase and pyruvate dehydrogenase for enhancing the yield of alanine. Although OptKnock in its present form does not consider regulatory constraints, it does provide useful suggestions largely in agreement with existing practices and, more importantly, introduces a framework for incorporating additional modeling refinements as they become available.     

Synthesis and antihyperglycemic activity of chalcone based aryloxypropanolamines

A series of aryloxypropanolamines (5a-r) of different chalcones (3a-e) were synthesized and evaluated for antihyperglycemic activity in sucrose loaded (SLM) and streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic animal models. Among them compounds 5a, g, m, o, p and r showed significant reduction in blood glucose levels in both SLM and STZ animal models.     

Investigations into spectroscopic and optoelectronic behaviour of furoic acid-based Eu(III) complexes for advanced photonic applications

To illuminate the zone of organic light-emitting diodes, a novel series of four red luminescent europium complexes, one binary (C1) and three ternary (C2–C4), of 5-phenyl 2-furoic acid was synthesized with 2,2′-bipyridyl (bipy), bathophenanthroline (batho) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) as ancillary ligands and characterized by adopting various analytical techniques. All the findings of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, elemental (CHN) analysis, Fourier transform infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy confirmed the coordination of ligand binding sites with the europium ion. To evaluate the thermal stability, thermogravimetric/difference thermogravimetric measurements were taken that revealed that the synthesized complexes were stable up to 245°C. Diffused reflectance studies indicated that these complexes had potential for their use in wide band-gap semiconductors, as all the four complexes showed metal-centred luminescence as a characteristic red emission peak that was observed at 613 nm under the excitation wavelength of 330 nm. The internal quantum efficiencies and luminescence lifetime of complexes were predicted using Judd–Ofelt and photophysical data. The monoexponential luminescence decay and Judd–Ofelt analysis suggested the presence of a single and asymmetric chemical environment in the coordination sphere of the europium metal. Commission International de l'Eclairage colour coordinates, correlated colour temperature values, and colour purity of the complexes validated their red emission in the visible region.