Transdermal Absorption of Zidovudine from Ethanol-Isopropyl Myristate Mixed System and Influence of Probenecid on It in Rats

Abstract

Transdermal absorption of zidovudine (AZT) from an ethanol-isopropyl myristate (IPM) mixed system was examined in rats. For comparison of bioavailability (BA) after topical applications, 0.25 ml of the ethanol/IPM system containing 40% ethanol and 60 mM AZT was applied as a standard formulation. Values of the area under the plasma concentration-time curves of AZT for 8 hr (AUC_0-8), as indices of BA, following application of various formulations were compared with that of the standard formulation. Then the influence of content of the drug and ethanol, and application volume of the system was evaluated. BA was effectively improved only when the total amount of ethanol applied on the skin was increased. On the other hand, simultaneous transdermal application of AZT and probenecid increased the AU_0-8, of AZT without necessitating the increase in ethanol content in the formulation. In addition, coadministered probenecid improved cerebrospinal fluid/plasma concentration ratio of AZT.     

Effect of application volume of ethanol-isopropyl myristate mixed solvent system on permeation of zidovudine and probenecid through rat skin

Permeation of zidovudine (AZT) and probenecid from an ethanol-isopropyl myristate (IPM) mixed system through rat skin was studied in a finite system. Several volume sizes of the ethanol-IPM mixed systems containing AZT and probenecid, both as suspensions, were applied on the skin of the hairless rat using a vertical glass cell, and the fractions of the drugs permeated in 8 hr Q_%,8hr were determined. For the systems containing 40% ethanol, the Q_%,8hr value decreased with the reduction of volume of the system applied, and the decreasing profile was similar to that calculated on the assumption that the permeability of the drug does not change with the volume of the sample applied. On the other hand, in the systems containing 10% or 20% ethanol, the Q_%,8hr value showed a maximum when a specific volume of the sample was applied. Therefore, the effect of sample volume on the Q_%,8hr value was different between the 40% ethanol-IPM system and the 10% or 20% ethanol-IPM system. Following pretreatment of the skin with 0.105 ml/cm² of drug-free 40% ethanol-IPM for 2 hr, several volume sizes of 10% ethanol-IPM systems containing the drugs were applied on the skin to explain why the different profiles were observed in the system containing 10% or 20% ethanol. The results for pretreated skin suggest that the amount of ethanol in the systems with low ethanol concentration and small application volume is too small to exert an effect that enhances permeation of the drugs. In those systems, the integrated effect of ethanol on the skin would be important for the enhancing effect. Total volume, as well as concentration, of an enhancer should be set precisely in designing an efficient transdermal delivery system.     

Effect of Application Volume of Ethanol-Isopropyl Myristate Mixed Solvent System on Permeation of Zidovudine and Probenecid Through Rat Skin

Permeation of zidovudine (AZT) and probenecid from an ethanol-isopropyl myristate (IPM) mixed system through rat skin was studied in a finite system. Several volume sizes of the ethanol-IPM mixed systems containing AZT and probenecid, both as suspensions, were applied on the skin of the hairless rat using a vertical glass cell, and the fractions of the drugs permeated in 8 hr Q_%,8hr were determined. For the systems containing 40% ethanol, the Q_%,8hr value decreased with the reduction of volume of the system applied, and the decreasing profile was similar to that calculated on the assumption that the permeability of the drug does not change with the volume of the sample applied. On the other hand, in the systems containing 10% or 20% ethanol, the Q_%,8hr value showed a maximum when a specific volume of the sample was applied. Therefore, the effect of sample volume on the Q_%,8hr value was different between the 40% ethanol-IPM system and the 10% or 20% ethanol-IPM system. Following pretreatment of the skin with 0.105 ml/cm² of drug-free 40% ethanol-IPM for 2 hr, several volume sizes of 10% ethanol-IPM systems containing the drugs were applied on the skin to explain why the different profiles were observed in the system containing 10% or 20% ethanol. The results for pretreated skin suggest that the amount of ethanol in the systems with low ethanol concentration and small application volume is too small to exert an effect that enhances permeation of the drugs. In those systems, the integrated effect of ethanol on the skin would be important for the enhancing effect. Total volume, as well as concentration, of an enhancer should be set precisely in designing an efficient transdermal delivery system.     

Permeation of Zidovudine and Probenecid from Oily Bases Containing Alcohols Through Rat Skin

Permeation of zidovudine (3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine, AZT) and probenecid from oily bases containing an alcohol through rat skin was examined. Isopropyl myristate (IPM), as an oily vehicle, showed a penetration enhancing effect for AZT and probenecid. Ethanol, n-propanol, and n-butanol were used as additives in IPM and were examined for their own permeation and the enhancing effect on the permeation of AZT and probenecid. The skin permeation of AZT and probenecid from IPM was enhanced by addition of the alcohol in IPM. The degree of the enhancement was decreased with increasing lipophilicity of the alcohol used. me permeation rate of the drug from those systems was shown to be governed by penetration-enhancing effects of the oily base and alcohol, and the penetration of the alcohol itself through the skin.     

Thin anodic oxides on n-InP studied by photocurrent transients and surface analysis

Surface reactions induced by fluorocarbon plasmas were studied on Si substrates with SiO₂ and photo-resist overlayers using an inductively coupled plasma source. As source gases, C₄F₈ and C₅F₈ were employed to investigate their differences in the etching performance and the selectivity between SiO₂ and photo-resist. Deposition of fluorocarbon polymer was noticed in both gases by Fourier-transform infrared ellipsometric measurements when substrate bias was not applied. With the bias application, etching started on both substrate from certain threshold values of the bias voltage and the rate increased with increase of the voltage. However, in C₅F₈ plasma the increasing tendency on photo-resist was much less than on SiO₂, while in C₄F₈ plasma the difference is small. This difference is attributed to a larger deposition ability of C₅F₈ plasma with higher content of fluorine atoms in the polymer than that of C₄F₈ plasma as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.     

Pt Content Dependence of the Switching Field Distributions of CoPtCr-SiO2 Perpendicular Media Characterized by Subtracting the Effect of Thermal Agitation

The switching field distributions (SFD) of CoPtCr-SiO₂ perpendicular media as a function of Pt content were characterized by subtracting the effect of thermal agitation, and discussed in relation to the microstructure. DC demagnetizing (DCD) magnetization curves and minor dc demagnetizing (M-DCD) magnetization curves were measured at applied field sweep rates of ~10 Oe/s and ~10⁸ Oe/s. We estimated the width of SFD, DeltaSFD, from the difference between the DCD and M-DCD curves, and defined them as DeltaH_r/H_r (at ~ 10 Oe/s) and DeltaH_r ^P/H_r ^P (at ~10⁸ Oe/s). The values of DeltaSFD characterized by subtracting the effect of thermal agitation, DeltaH ₀/H₀, were nearly half those of DeltaH_r /H_r for 10-nm-thick media. DeltaH₀/H₀ was about 0.10 at 10 at%Pt content, and increased as the Pt content increased, reaching 0.17 at 30 at%Pt content. The increase in DeltaH₀/H₀ was probably caused by an increase in the stacking fault density and the formation of fcc layers in the hcp CoPtCr lattice. A simple calculation based on the coherent switching of magnetization revealed that the c-axis distribution results in DeltaH ₀/H₀ of about 0.08, independent of Pt content. These results suggest that the DeltaSFD due to the grain-to-grain anisotropy field variation was small, only 0.02-0.03     

Study of Giant Magneto-Impedance Behavior in Co-Fe Based Amorphous/Nanocrystalline Materials

Giant magneto-impedance (GMI) behavior have been studied in melt spun Co_71-XFe_XCr₇Si₈B₁₄ (X = 0, 2, 3.2, 4, 6, 8, and 12 at%) alloys. The addition of Fe in the system changed the saturation magnetostriction constant from negative to positive values. The GMI property was measured with a driving current of 5 mA and 4 MHz frequency using a spectrum analyzer. The GMI ratio increased with the increase of the applied dc field and became maximum at a field H_k known as the anisotropy field of the materials. The maximum of GMI ratio (GMI_max) depended on the Fe content and was maximum (12%) for Fe = 4 at% for the alloys in the as-melt spun state. Substantial increase of GMI_max to 66% for Fe = 4 at% was observed after annealing the sample at 673 K.     

Densification and Grain-Growth Behavior of Various Amounts of SiO2 Doped 8YSCZ/SiO2 Composites

The effect of SiO₂ addition on densification and grain-growth behavior of 8YSCZ/SiO₂ composites was investigated using high purity 8 mol% yttria-stabilized cubic zirconia powders (8YSCZ) doped with 0, 1, 5, 10 wt% SiO₂. The specimens were sintered at 1400°C for 1 hour. It was seen that the sintered density increased with SiO₂ content up to 1 wt% and further increase in SiO₂ content led to a decrease in density. The enhanced density with increasing SiO₂ content up to 1 wt% could be mainly attributable to liquid phase sintering. For grain growth measurements, the specimens sintered at 1400°C were annealed at 1400, 1500, and 1600°C for 10, 50, and 100 hours. The experimental results showed that the grain growth in 8YSCZ/SiO₂ composites occurred more slowly than that in undoped 8YSCZ. Also, the grain growth rate decreased with increasing SiO₂ content. The grain growth exponent value and the activation energy for undoped 8YSCZ were found to be 2 and 289 kJ/mol, respectively. The addition of SiO₂ raised the grain growth exponent value to 3, and activation energy for the grain growth process was increased from 289 to 420 kJ/mol for the addition of SiO₂ from 0 to 10 wt%.     

Preparation, physical properties, and stability of gambogic acid-loaded micelles based on chitosan derivatives

The objective of this study is to find out an optimized formulation of water insoluble anticancer drug gambogic acid (GA)-loaded chitosan derivatives micelles. After preliminary test, four factors (the amount of N-octyl-O-sulfate chitosan (AOSC), the amount of GA, volume of ethanol, and dialysis temperature) and three levels for each factor that might affect the formation of micelles were selected and arranged in L₉ (3⁴) orthogonal experimental design to optimize the formulation of GA-loaded micelles. To compare each of the micellar formulations quantitatively, an overall desirability function was defined and calculated based on three assessment indices (drug content, loading efficiency, and entrapping efficiency of micelles). The optimized formulation was 8 mg of GA dissolved in 0.3 mL of ethanol, 12 mg of AOSC dissolved in 2 mL of H₂O, respectively. The drug solution and blank micellar solution were mixed, followed by dialysis against water at 25°C. The mean size of micelle was 100 nm approximately. Lyophilized samples could keep stable for at least 2 months when it was stored at 4°C. These data suggest that the amphiphilic chitosan derivative may improve the water solubility of GA and thus be used as its nano-carrier.     

Comparative Bioavailability of Diltiazem in Prolonged-Release Oral Preparations

This study was conducted to compare the bioavailability of two prolonged-release pharmaceutical forms containing 300 mg of diltiazem. The test formulation is a new design of tablets with a hydrophilic matrix, and the reference formulation is capsules containing prolonged liberation microgranules, in the same dose, that are commercially available in the pharmaceutical market. Diltiazem plasma concentrations were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), which involves solid-phase extraction for plasma sample preparation. Twelve healthy volunteers participated in the study, which had a single-dose, two-treatment, two-sequence-crossover, randomized design. The preparations were compared using pharmacokinetic parameters such as the area under the plasma concentration-time curve AUC_(0-36), peak plasma concentration C_max, and C_max/AUC_(0-36) ratio as a measure for the absorption rate. No statistically significant difference was observed for any of the parameters, and the 90% confidence intervals calculated for the ratio of the logarithmically transformed AUC_(0-36) and C_max/AUC_(0-36) values of both formulations were within the bioequivalence limit of 0.80-1.25. Moreover, an in vitro study of dissolution according to USP 23 was conducted, and the in vitro parameters were calculated.     

Ionic Conductivity and Mechanical Properties of Post-HIPed Cubic Zirconia/Alumina Composites

8 mol.% yttria-doped cubic zirconia (8Y-CSZ)/AI₂O₃ composites containing 0-30 vol.% Al₂O₃ particles were fabricated by sintering, followed by hot isostatic pressing (post-HIPing). All composites were densified to at least 99·5% of the theoretical density by post-HIPing. The bending strength of composites sintered at 1500°C in air was independent of A1₂O₃ content, but a significant improvement in the bending strength was achieved by the post-HIPing technique. The bending strength and the fracture toughness of the HIPed composites increased with increasing A1₂O₃ content. Ionic conductivity of the composites was evaluated and the total, lattice, and grain boundary conductivities slightly decreased with increasing A1₂O₃ content. The HIPed composites containing up to 20 vol.% A1₂0₃ appear to be suitable candidate materials as electrolyte for solid oxygen fuel cell.     

Microstructure and piezoelectric properties of (Na0.5K0.5)NbO3 lead-free piezoelectric ceramics with V2O5 addition

Various amounts of Nb₂O₅ in the (Na_0.5K_0.5) NbO₃ (NKN) ceramic were replaced by V₂O₅ to decrease its sintering temperature to below 950°C. A small V₂O₅ content resulted in a dense microstructure with an increased grain size for the specimen sintered at 900°C due to the presence of a liquid phase. When V₂O₅ was added to the NKN ceramics, their orthorhombic-to-tetragonal transition temperature increased from 178°C to around 200°C. However, their Curie temperature decreased from 402°C to around 330°C. The k_p, _ε3 ^T/_ε0, and Q_m values increased with V₂O₅ addition, probably due to the increased density and poling state, which was identified by the phase angle. The specimen with x = 0.05, sintered at 900°C for 8 h, exhibited the following piezoelectric properties: k_p = 0.32, _ε3 ^T/_ε0 = 245, d₃₃ = 120 (pC/N), and Q_m = 232.     

SnO2/NiO复合半导体纳米纤维的制备及气敏性能研究

采用静电纺丝技术结合化学沉淀法和高温煅烧处理, 制备了具有不同Sn含量的SnO₂/NiO复合半导体纳米纤维。采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM), X射线衍射仪(XRD)和能量色散X射线光谱仪(EDS)对样品的形貌, 结构以及各元素含量进行表征。以乙醇为目标气体, 探究SnO₂/NiO纳米纤维的气体传感性质, 以及Sn含量对复合纳米纤维气敏性能的影响。研究结果表明, SnO₂/NiO复合纳米纤维具有三维网状结构, SnO₂复合对NiO纳米纤维的气敏性能具有明显的增强作用。随着SnO₂含量的增加, 复合纤维对乙醇气体的响应灵敏度增强, 其中响应最高的复合纳米纤维在最佳工作温度160 ℃条件下对体积分数为100×10^-6乙醇气体的响应灵敏度为13.4, 是NiO纳米纤维最大响应灵敏度的8.38倍。与市面常见的乙醇气体传感器MQ-3相比, SnO₂/NiO复合纳米纤维的最佳工作温度更低, 响应灵敏度更高, 具有一定的实际应用价值。     

Evaluation of bioequivalence of two formulations containing 100 milligrams of aceclofenac

The bioequivalence of two oral formulations containing aceclofenac 100 mg was determined in 24 healthy Indian male volunteers. The study was designed as a single dose, fasting, two-period two-sequence crossover study with a washout period of 1 week. The content of aceclofenac in plasma was determined by a validated HPLC method with UV detection. The preparations were compared using the parameters area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC_0-t), area under the plasma concentration-time curve from zero to infinity (AUC_0-∞), peak plasma concentration (C_max), and time to reach peak plasma concentration (t_max). No statistically significant difference was observed between the logarithmic transformed AUC_0-∞ and C_max values of the two preparations. The 90% confidence interval for the ratio of the logarithmic transformed AUC_0-t, AUC_0-∞, and C_max were within the bioequivalence limit of 0.80-1.25.     

Flame spray synthesis of ZrO2 nano-particles using liquid precursors

This paper studies the feasibility of using flame spray to produce ZrO₂ nano-particles using a liquid precursor. The effects of varying precursor concentrations and ratio of diluting medium on the phase composition, size and morphology of ZrO₂ nano-particles are discussed. The morphology and size of the ZrO₂ nano-particles was very much dependent on the precursor concentration. The solvent ratio of H₂O:ethanol also played a part in determining the characteristics of the ZrO₂ nano-particles. The nano-particles had the best characteristics when the precursor concentration was low and ethanol (added as solvent) content was high. In particular, the best characteristics were obtained using precursor concentration of 0.25 M, H₂O:ethanol ratio of 0:1. The nano-particles had very small particle size (50 nm), relatively high specific surface area (28.6 m²/g) and high degree of crystallinity. However, particles synthesized tend to be agglomerated.     

SCE-SiO_2/PES-MBAE复合材料微观形貌及性能

为研究增韧双马来酰亚胺方法及其对性能的影响,首先利用超临界乙醇处理纳米SiO2(SCE-SiO2),改善其表面活性;然后以4,4’-二氨基二苯甲烷双马来酰亚胺(MBMI)、3,3’-二烯丙基双酚A(BBA)、双酚A双烯丙基醚(BBE)为原料合成了MBMI-BBA-BBE(MBAE)复合材料基体,并利用原位聚合法和溶胶-凝胶法将SCESiO2和聚醚砜(PES)加入MBAE基体中制备了SCE-SiO2/PES-MBAE多相复合材料;最后采用SEM观察了SCESiO2/PES-MBAE复合材料断面形貌。SCE-SiO2的FTIR分析结果表明:在3 434cm-1处的Si—OH的吸收峰消失,出现了3 310cm-1处的乙醇分子间—OH的吸收峰、2 984cm-1处的甲基和亚甲基的吸收峰,证明纳米粒子可能以某种形式结合了乙醇分子,改善了表面性能。PES以"蜂窝"状分散相的形式存在于基体中,断裂方式由脆性断裂向韧性断裂转变,SCE-SiO2和PES对材料均有增韧作用,PES的增韧效果更明显,二者之间具有协同作用,当SCE-SiO2含量为2wt%、PES含量为4wt%时,多相复合材料的冲击强度和弯曲强度分别为15.02kJ/m2和130.47MPa,较MBAE树脂分别提高了57.3%和35.8%。介电性能测试表明:SCE-SiO2和PES的引入均会导致SCE-SiO2/PES-MBAE复合材料的介电常数和损耗略有上升,但二者之间的协同作用可以抑制PES组分所带来的负面影响。     

Enhanced piezoelectric properties of potassium niobate single crystals with fine engineered domain configurations

Potassium niobate (KNbO₃) single crystals were grown by a top seed solution growth (TSSG) method. At first, the electric field was applied along [0 0 1]_c (cubic notification system) direction of KNbO₃ crystals to induce the engineered domain configurations into KNbO₃ crystals. Prior to domain engineering, the piezoelectric properties of [0 0 1]_c oriented KNbO₃ single-domain crystals were measured. These measured values were completely consistent with the calculated apparent d₃₁ and d₃₂. Finally, the engineered domain configurations were induced into KNbO₃ crystals. As a result, piezoelectric properties increased with decreasing domain sizes of the engineered domain configuration.     

A Novel Fullerene Hydroxamic Acid for the Liquid-Liquid Extraction, Separation, Preconcentration, and Spectrophotometric and ICP-AES Determination of Vanadium

A new reagent N-phenyl-(1,2 methanofullerene C₆₀)61-formohydroxamic acid (PMFFA) is reported for extraction and trace determination of vanadium(V) in nutritional and biological substrates. The extraction mechanism of vanadium from 6 M HCl media is investigated. The influence of PMFFA, diverse ions, and temperature on the distribution constant of vanadium examined. The over all stability constant (log β₂K_e) and extraction constant (K_ex) are 20.89 ± 0.02 and 8.0 ± 0.02 × 10^-15, respectively in chloroform. The thermodynamics parameters are calculated and kinetics of vanadium transport is discussed. The system obeys Beer's law in the range of 3.2-64.0 ng mL^-1 of vanadium(V). The molar absorptivity is 7.96 × 10⁵ L mol^-1 cm^-1, at 510 nm. The PMFFA-vanadium(V) complex chloroform extract in chloroform was directly inserted into plasma for ICP-AES measurement, which increases the sensitivity by 50 folds and obey Beer's law in the range of 50-1200 pg mL^-1 of vanadium(V). The method is applied for determination vanadium in real standard samples, sea water, and environmental samples.     

Influence of Mn doping on microstructure and DC-accelerated aging behaviors of ZnO–V2O5-based varistors

The microstructure, electrical properties, dielectric characteristics, and DC-accelerated aging behavior of the ZnO–V₂O₅–MnO₂ system sintered were investigated for MnO₂ content of 0.0–2.0 mol% by sintering at 900 °C. For all samples, the microstructure of the ZnO–V₂O₅–MnO₂ system consisted of mainly ZnO grain and secondary phase Zn₃(VO₄)₂. The incorporation of MnO₂ to the ZnO–V₂O₅ system was found to restrict the abnormal grain growth of ZnO. The nonlinear properties and stability against DC-accelerated aging stress improved with the increase of MnO₂ content. The ZnO–V₂O₅–MnO₂ system added with MnO₂ content of 2.0 mol% exhibited not only a high nonlinearity, in which the nonlinear coefficient is 27.2 and the leakage current density is 0.17 mA/cm², but also a good stability, in which %ΔE_1 mA = −0.6%, %Δ = −26.1%, and %Δtan δ = +22% for DC-accelerated aging stress of 0.85E_1 mA/85 °C/24 h.     

Magnetic Properties of Y3Fe5O12 Nanoparticles Doped Bi and Ce Ions

Y_2.9-xCe_0.1Bi_xFe₅O₁₂ (x = 0-0.5) nanoparticles ranging from 58 to 63 nm were fabricated by a sol-gel method, and their crystallite structures and magnetic properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), IR spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Results of VSM show that the saturation magnetization intensity increased with increase in Ce content (0.1), decrease in Bi concentration (x), and increase in particle size of the formulation.