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Medicated jellies are widely used by a large part of patients, especially by people with swallowing difficulties. Preformulation studies play an essential role in the development of new pharmaceutical formulations. The present study aimed to formulate and evaluate medicated jellies containing perphenazine, an antipsychotic drug from the group of phenothiazine compounds used to treat schizophrenia and other mental disorders. Typical gelling agents such as sodium alginate (Alg), gelatine (Gel), and pectin (Pec) were used to develop the medicated jellies. In addition to the biopolymers, components such as benzoic acid (BenzAc), citric acid (CitAc), sodium citrate (NaCit), sorbitol (Sorb) and xylitol (Xyl) were also used. Before preparing the jellies, the moist binary mixture between each component of the jelly and the active substance was analysed to investigate the compatibility of the substances. The active substance, moist binary mixture, and medicated jellies were analysed by FTIR_UATR spectroscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy and thermogravimetry.

Background: Heracleum sphondylium, a medicinal plant used in Romanian ethnopharmacology, has been proven to have remarkable biological activity. The escalating concerns surrounding antimicrobial resistance led to a special attention being paid to new efficient antimicrobial agents based on medicinal plants and nanotechnology. We report the preparation of a novel, simple phytocarrier that harnesses the bioactive properties of H. sphondylium and silver nanoparticles (HS-Ag system). Methods: H. sphondylium's low metabolic profile was determined through gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and electrospray ionization–quadrupole time-of-flight–mass spectrometry. The morphostructural properties of the innovative phytocarrier were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using total phenolic content, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) in vitro assays. The antimicrobial activity screening against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli was conducted using the agar well diffusion method. The 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay estimated the in vitro potential cytotoxicity on normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF) and cervical cancer (HeLa) cells. Results: A total of 88 biomolecules were detected, such as terpenoids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, coumarins, phenylpropanoids, iridoids, amino acids, phytosterols, fatty acids. The HS-Ag phytocarrier heightened efficacy in suppressing the growth of all tested bacterial strains compared to H. sphondylium and exhibited a significant inhibition of HeLa cell viability. Conclusions: The new HS-Ag phytocarrier system holds promise for a wide range of medical applications. The data confirm the capacity to augment the pertinent theoretical understanding in the innovative field of antimicrobial agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Itraconazole is an antifungal agent included in the triazole pharmacological classification that belongs to the BCS class II, characterized by a low solubility in an aqueous medium (of 1 ng/mL, at neutral pH), which is frequently translated in a low oral bioavailability but with a high permeability. In this sense, it is necessary to find solutions to increase/improve the solubility of itraconazole in the aqueous environment. The main purpose of this study is the preparation and analysis of five different guest–host inclusion complexes containing intraconazole. Initially, a blind docking process was carried out to determine the interactions between itraconazole and the selected cyclodextrins. The second step of the study was to find out if the active pharmaceutical ingredient was entrapped in the cavity of the cyclodextrin, by using spectroscopic and thermal techniques. Also, the antifungal activity of the inclusion complexes was studied to examine if the entrapment of itraconazole influences the therapeutic effect. The results showed that the active substance was entrapped in the cavity of the cyclodextrins, with a molar ratio of 1:3 (itraconazole–cyclodextrin), and that the therapeutic effect was not influenced by the entrapment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of investigating crimes resulting in victims, criminal investigation bodies carry out a complex activity, among other things, it is necessary to identify blood traces, highlight them, fix them and pick them up to be sent to specialized laboratories for the purpose of analysis. This paper investigates the detection of latent blood traces produced after simulating a "perfect" destruction of evidence. The choice of support materials and products used to remove blood stains took into account their ease of procurement. The analysis methods used to identify latent blood traces are easy and require short execution times. Various materials, cotton and synthetic fibers (polyamide+elastane) were stained with blood and their different behavior in identifying latent bloodstains was observed. It was investigated whether chemical (detergent, Cif, Vanish, chlorine, Domestos) and natural (green and black tea) wiped blood stains can be identified with BlueStar Forensic luminol and ATR-FTIR technique. Determinations were made 1-2 days as well as 8 months after wiping the bloodstains, demonstrating that there were major differences between the two time points of the analysis. The results obtained suggest that the identification of chemically altered bloodstains can be successfully performed under certain conditions and that storage time and conditions play an important role in forensic determinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]