Sibutramine selective electrodes for batch and flow injection determinations in pharmaceutical preparations. (25/206)

The construction and electrochemical response characteristics of two new polyvinyl chloride (PVC) membrane sensors for the determination of sibutramine hydrochloride were described. The sensors are based on the ion association complexes of sibutramine with sodium tetraphenylborate (NaTPB) or phosphotungstic acid (PTA) using dibutyl phthalate as plasticizing solvent. The sensors display a fast, stable response over the concentration range 3.84 x 10(-5)-1.00 x 10(-2) M sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate (SibuCl), with cationic slopes of 57.7 +/- 0.57 and 59.7 +/- 1.79 mV concentration decade(-1) and detection limits of 8.91 x 10(-6) and 1.47 x 10(-5) M in case of sibutramine-tetraphenylborate (Sibu-TPB) and sibutramine-phosphotungstate ((Sibu)(3)-PT), respectively. The proposed sensors have been successfully applied for the determination of sibutramine hydrochloride in Regitrim capsules in batch and flow injection (FI) conditions.  (+info)

Application of oxybutynin selective sensors for monitoring the dissolution profile and assay of pharmaceutical dosage forms. (26/206)

Two ion-selective sensors of the plastic membrane type were prepared for the determination of oxybutynin hydrochloride (OxCl). They depend on the incorporation of the ion-associates with phosphotungestic acid or phosphomolybdic acid in a PVC matrix. A comparative study is made between their performance characteristics in batch and FIA conditions. The sensors have nearly the same usable concentration, temperature and pH range. They have a wide range of selectivity and can be applied for the determination of the relevant drug with nearly the same precision and accuracy in vitro. Dissolution testing was applied using the sensors; this offers a simple, rapid, cheap way out of sophisticated and high cost instruments used in the pharmacopeial method using HPLC. The investigated drug was determined in its pure and pharmaceutical preparations. The results were accurate and precise, as indicated by the recovery values and coefficients of variation.  (+info)

Generation of antisera to purified prions in lipid rafts. (27/206)

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders caused by prion proteins (PrP). Infectious prions accumulate in the brain through a template-mediated conformational conversion of endogenous PrP(C) into alternately folded PrP(Sc). Immunoassays toward pre-clinical detection of infectious PrP(Sc) have been confounded by low-level prion accumulation in non-neuronal tissue and the lack of PrP(Sc) selective antibodies. We report a method to purify infectious PrP(Sc) from biological tissues for use as an immunogen and sample enrichment for increased immunoassay sensitivity. Significant prion enrichment is accomplished by sucrose gradient centrifugation of infected tissue and isolation with detergent resistant membranes from lipid rafts (DRMs). At equivalent protein concentration a 50-fold increase in detectable PrP(Sc) was observed in DRM fractions relative to crude brain by direct ELISA. Sequential purification steps result in increased specific infectivity (DRM <20-fold and purified DRM immunogen <40-fold) relative to 1% crude brain homogenate. Purification of PrP(Sc) from DRM was accomplished using phosphotungstic acid protein precipitation after proteinase-K (PK) digestion followed by size exclusion chromatography to separate PK and residual protein fragments from larger prion aggregates. Immunization with purified PrP(Sc) antigen was performed using wild-type (wt) and Prnp(0/0) mice, both on Balb/cJ background. A robust immune response against PrP(Sc) was observed in all inoculated Prnp(0/0) mice resulting in antisera containing high-titer antibodies against prion protein. Antisera from these mice recognized both PrP(C) and PrP(Sc), while binding to other brain-derived protein was not observed. In contrast, the PrP(Sc) inoculum was non-immunogenic in wt mice and antisera showed no reactivity with PrP or any other protein.  (+info)

Isolation of proteinase K-sensitive prions using pronase E and phosphotungstic acid. (28/206)

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Comparison of current methods for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol quantitation. (29/206)

We compared six precipitation methods for high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol quantitation with an ultracentrifugation method, the accuracy of which was improved by correcting for 4% manipulative loss in the d greater than 1.063 fractions. For purposes of comparison, the apoprotein B-associated cholesterol (average 56 mg/L) measured by immunoassay in the d greater than 1.063 fractions was subtracted. In 65 plasma samples from men, women, and children, a heparin-Mn2+ procedure with Mn2+ at 46 mmol/L produced results slightly higher (+16 mg/L), while results with Mn2+ at 92 mmol/L averaged slightly lower (-8 mg/L) than the comparison ultracentrifuge method. Results that were about 5% low were obtained by the dextran sulfate 500-Mg2+ (-25 mg/L) and phosphotungstate-Mg2+ (-31 mg/L) methods. A heparin-Ca2+ method produced results 10% high (+58 mg/L). Results by a polyethylene glycol-6000 precipitation method were 12% low (-64 mg/L). Precision was better with the two heparin-Mn2+ and the dextran sulfate 500-Mg2+ procedures, with CVs of 4%, intermediate with phosphotungstate-Mg2+ and polyethylene glycol-6000 (CV 6-7%), and poorest with heparin-Ca2+ (CV 10%). Precipitation by phosphotungate-Mg2+ appeared more sensitive to reagent concentration and temperature variations than either the heparin-Mn2+ or dextran sulfate 500-Mg2+ methods. We conclude that these precipitation methods are not equivalent, but give rise to significant systematic differences in high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol quantitation.  (+info)

Rapid antemortem detection of CWD prions in deer saliva. (30/206)

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Plant tissues in 3D via X-ray tomography: simple contrasting methods allow high resolution imaging. (31/206)

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In vitro detection of prionemia in TSE-infected cervids and hamsters. (32/206)

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