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  • Jie GAO, Fang FENG, Li-xin WANG, Xiao-meng CHONG, Chen WANG, Li-hui YIN
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2153-2157.

    This study is to establish and validation in vivo models of moxifloxacin based on the theory of physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK), and then to predict the distribution of moxifloxacin in human venous return and organ such as lung, spleen and so on. The efficacy of moxifloxacin and its pharmaceutical preparations were quantified by comparing the pharmacokinetic parameters with the minimum inhibitory concentration of related pathogenic bacterium. The results showed that the anti-infection efficacy of pharmaceutical moxifloxacin preparation in the corresponding organs was basically the same. The PBPK model of moxifloxacin preparations can be more accurately described the pharmacokinetic of anti-infective drugs in human, it is suitable for the efficacy evaluation of anti-infective drugs and provides a strong basis for the corresponding scientific research and scientific supervision.

  • Jing HAN, Jing YAO, Mei-yang DONG, Ya-qin SHI, Jia-bei SUN
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2158-2165.

    The method of homogeneity evaluation for active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) spatial distribution in lyophilized product was investigated for the first time with confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy mapping, using pemetrexed disodium for injection as a model drug. Certain areas of the lyophilized product were scanned to obtain Raman spectra. The classical method ("peak clipping" method) was employed for mapping with characteristic Raman peaks of the API and the excipient. Due to the API being finely dispersed in the excipient in lyophilized products, the classical method cannot discriminate between the two ingredients making the distribution homogeneity difficult to evaluate. The "ratio of characteristic peak intensities" method was then utilized. Using this method, the relative intensity of the characteristic Raman peaks of the API to the excipient was applied for mapping and the relative content of API to excipient was calculated for a homogeneity evaluation of the drug distribution. The validation of this method showed a good linear relationship between the relative intensity and the relative content of API to excipient (r2 > 0.99), and the precision and recovery were adequate for homogeneity evaluation of API by Raman spectroscopy mapping. Five products of pemetrexed disodium for injection from different manufacturers were tested through Raman maps applying this method and the histograms of relative Raman intensity were also plotted by frequency to help the homogeneity evaluation of drug distribution. The results showed that there were obvious differences in the drug distribution homogeneity from different products, where a more homogeneous API distribution was found in the brand product. This research provides a reliable method for the homogeneity evaluation of API distribution, which facilitates quality evaluation and process optimization of lyophilized products.

  • Yu-ming XIA, Yang XU, Tao-tao MA
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2166-2170.

    A randomized, open, fasting, single dose, two sequence, two cycle and double cross administration trial design was adopted. Took the test or reference efavirenz tablets of 200 mg orally in a single time. The plasma concentration of efavirenz in healthy subjects was determined by LC-MS/MS. WinNonLin8.1 software was used to calculate the main pharmacokinetic parameters of efavirenz and to evaluate the bioequivalence. The main pharmacokinetic parameters within 72 h: tmax were 2.574 ± 0.871 and 2.808 ± 0.912 h; Cmax were 1 586.732 ± 424.538 and 1 549.518 ± 366.086 ng·mL-1; AUC0-72 h were 28 464.672 ± 5 682.518 and 27 828.826 ± 5 082.487 h·ng·mL-1; t1/2 were 63.524 ± 26.037 and 58.748 ± 20.950 h; λz were 0.013 ± 0.006 and 0.013 ± 0.005 h-1. The main bioequivalence indicators were as follows: The 90% confidence interval of Cmax was 95.62%-107.15%, and the geometric mean ratio was 101.22%; The 90% confidence interval of AUC0-72 h was 100.43%-104.38%, and the geometric mean ratio was 102.38%. The results showed that the main pharmacokinetic parameters of the test drug and the reference drug were similar, and the two preparations had bioequivalence. This human bioequivalence clinical study was approved by the drug clinical trials ethics committee of the Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University (ethics approval No.: YW2021-110).

  • Wen-hui XING, Cheng XING, Hong-mei YU, Zheng-yu FANG, Li ZHANG, Ning-bo GONG, Yang LÜ
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2171-2176.

    Piroxicam has polymorphism. Different crystalline forms can exhibit different physicochemical properties and biological activities. Analysis of the intermolecular interactions is essential to reveal the formation mechanism and differences of polymorphs. In this paper, Hirshfeld surface analysis and semi-empirical methods were used to calculate and analyze the intermolecular interactions in seven polymorphic forms of piroxicam. The results show that the Hirshfeld surface analysis method can clearly and intuitively reveal the intermolecular interactions, among which H…H, O…H/H…O and N…H/H…N interactions account for 95% of the total energy. There are differences in the proportion and distribution of the forces of different crystal forms. The energy calculation shows that the lattice energy of the hydrate is significantly lower than that of the anhydrous forms, and in the specific energy distribution, the contribution of the dispersion force is the most prominent. Further interaction energy analysis was found that within the distance of 3.8 Å from the center of the piroxicam molecule, different crystalline forms of piroxicam molecule have different interaction energies with surrounding molecules.

  • Tai-yu WANG, Jie YANG, Hai-long YANG, Guo-dong WU, Ming AN, Xue-yu XU
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2177-2182.

    For quantitative analysis of related substances in TSD-1 active pharmaceutical ingredient, structures of prepared impurities were confirmed by NMR and UHPLC-MS, and a high performance liquid chromatographic method was established to determine the related substances in TSD-1. The analytical column was an Agilent ZORBAX Eclipe XDB-C8 (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 µm). The mobile phase A was 50 mmol·L-1 ammonium acetate solution (adjusted pH to 5.8 with acetic acid) and the mobile phase B was acetonitrile. The whole run was carried out by gradient elution at a flow rate of 1.0 mL·min-1. The detection wavelength was set at 240 nm and the column temperature was 30 ℃. The resolutions among peaks of TSD-1, impurity A, impurity B, TSD-D, and TSD-F were good. The calibration curves (n = 7) of TSD-1, impurity A, impurity B, TSD-D and TSD-F were linear in their respective weight ranges of 0.242-48.4 µg·mL-1 (r = 1.000 0), 0.244-9.75 µg·mL-1 (r = 0.999 9), 0.244-4.80 µg·mL-1 (r = 0.999 9), 0.254-1.02 µg·mL-1 (r = 0.999 9), and 0.247-0.987 µg·mL-1 (r = 0.999 9). The lower limits of quantitation were 0.244, 0.244, 0.254, and 0.247 µg·mL-1 for impurity A, impurity B, TSD-D, and TSD-F, respectively, and the average recovery of each impurity ranged from 99.08% to 103.00% with high accuracy. TSD-D and TSD-F were not detected in the three batches of TSD-1 active pharmaceutical ingredients, and impurity A and impurity B were not detected beyond the limit. The established HPLC method is simple, accurate, and suitable for determination of related substances of TSD-1, which can provide a valuable reference for the subsequent development of TSD-1.

  • Xing XIONG, Wei XIONG, Yan CHEN, Zheng-cai JU
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2183-2190.

    Increasingly researches suggested that intermittent fasting (IF) can be part of a healthy lifestyle, which can improve risk factors associated with obesity and diabetes. Based on LC-MS metabolomics technology, this study preliminarily discussed the effect of IF on the metabolism of mice under normal physiological conditions by detecting the fecal metabolites. All experiments were approved by the Animal Research Committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Animal welfare and the animal experimental protocols were strictly consistent with related ethics regulations of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The mice were subjected to intermittent fasting for 10 weeks by fasting for 24 hours on alternate days, and their feces at 5 and 10 weeks were collected. The results show that the weight, food and water intake was not significant altered in mice with IF, but fasting blood glucose level was decreased. We found that fecal metabolites change was present at 5-week, being more prominent in 10-week. Relative to the control mice, we detected 17 and 108 metabolites in two time points, respectively. These metabolites were mainly enriched in the pathways of linoleic acid metabolism and bile acid biosynthesis. We further found that 10 metabolites may be a close correlation with IF, which had the same change trend at two time points. In conclusion, the present study provides a new approach to study the metabolism mechanism in IF treatment of related diseases.

  • Yue WANG, Yi CHENG, Hui ZHANG, Ai-ping ZHENG
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2191-2196.

    A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed to determine the plasma concentration of progesterone in Beagle dogs, and apply it to the study of the pharmacokinetics of progesterone sustained-release formulation in Beagle dogs. The plasma samples were processed by protein precipitation method and megestrol acetate was used as an internal standard (IS). The quantitation analysis was performed using multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mode at the specific ion transitions of m/z 315.2→97.0 for progesterone and m/z 385.2→267.1 for megestrol acetate (IS) under the positive ion condition. Male Beagle dogs were injected intramuscularly with progesterone sustained-release microspheres and the plasma samples were collected at different time points after administration. The relevant pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by WinNonlin 8.1 software. A good linearity over the range of 0.1-500.0 ng·mL-1 was yielded by this method. The intra- and inter-day precision (RSD) were all less than 13.25% and the accuracy (RE) was within 8.92%. Stability test showed that progesterone in dog plasma was stable at room temperature for 12 h, up to 60 days at -20 ℃ and after three cycles of freeze-thaw. The recovery of it ranged from 71.43%-77.97%. After intramuscular injection of progesterone sustained-release microspheres in Beagle dogs, tmax was 19.00 ± 25.36 h, Cmax was 137.72 ± 11.59 ng·mL-1, t1/2 was 83.83 ± 26.43 h. The drug was released continuously in vivo and in a continuous absorption process for many times with good sustained-release effect. The method developed in this study is sensitive, rapid and stable. It is suitable for the determination of progesterone plasma concentration in Beagle dogs, and can be applied to the preclinical pharmacokinetic study of progesterone-related formulations. The animal experiment scheme of this study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

  • Ran-ran FAN, Zeng-ming WANG, Hui ZHANG, Jian-chun LI, Ai-ping ZHENG
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2197-2205.

    Local drug delivery is a new strategy to prevent postoperative recurrence of cancer, thermosensitive gel is a typical topical drug delivery system. In this study, a novel paclitaxel thermosensitive gel (PTG) was prepared to prevent recurrence after chemotherapy for cancer, the effects of drug particle size on release and absorption rate in vivo were investigated. Paclitaxel suspensions with different particle sizes were prepared by medium grinding, high pressure homogenization, air crushing and screening. Using poloxamer as the gel matrix and carbomer as the biological adhesive, Box-Behnen was used to optimize the formulation of PTG. The morphology, viscosity, rheological properties and biological adhesion of thermosensitive gel were characterized. The relationship between dissolution and release of thermosensitive gel was investigated by weight loss method, pharmacokinetics was studied in rats. The paclitaxel suspensions with the particle sizes of 350 nm, 800 nm, 3 μm and 9 μm were prepared, 19% poloxamer 407, 4% poloxamer 188 and 0.1% carbomer were used to prepare PTG. The phase transition temperature of thermosensitive gel was 30 to 35 ℃, there was a good linear relationship between in vitro release and gel dissolution. In the pharmacokinetic study, area under the curve (AUC0-t) increased with the decrease of particle size. In general, the PTG prepared in this study can rapidly change into gel under human body temperature, provided with good adhesion. The release rate in vitro is closely related to the particle size, the release rate increased with the decrease of particle size. This study provides data support for preventing postoperative recurrence of cancer. The animal welfare and experimental process in this paper follow the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.

  • Qing DU, Li-qiang WANG, Zhuo-er CHEN, Mei JIANG, Hai-mei CHEN, Jing ZENG, Bin WANG, Chang LIU
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2206-2215.

    We intend to study the structural characteristics of Lycopus europaeus Linn. chloroplast genome and compare the evolutionary relationship of species from Lamiaceae with similar medicinal effects. The total DNA of Lycopus europaeus was sequenced using the Illumina Hiseq 4000 Sequencing platform and was assembled using NOVOplasty software. And then we annotated and analyzed the genome using the CPGAVAS2 online tool. We constructed the phylogenetic tree using the Stellera chamaejasme and Potentilla chinensis as the outgroup. The whole length of Lycopus europaeus chloroplast genome was 152 085 bp. A total of 132 genes were annotated including 88 protein-coding genes, 8 rRNA genes and 36 tRNA genes. Among them, 8 protein-coding genes (ndhB, rps7, rps12, rps19, rpl2, rpl23, ycf2, ycf15), 7 tRNA coding genes (trnM-CAU, trnL CAA, trnN-GUU, trnE-UUC, trnV-GAC, trnA-UGC, trnR-ACG) and 4 rRNA coding genes (rrn16s, rrn23s, rrn4.5s, rrn5s) are located in the IR region. There are 13 protein coding genes [rps16, rps19 (×2), atpF, rpoC1, rpl2 (×2), petB, petD, rpl16, ndhB (×2), ndhA] each contains one intron, two protein-coding genes (ycf3, clpP) each contain two introns, and 8 tRNA coding genes each contain one intron. A total of 34 SSRs were detected in the chloroplast genome of Lycopus europaeus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that two species in the Lycopus genus, four species in the Dracocephalum genus, Glechoma longituba, two species in the Mentha genus and Prunella vulgari, in total 10 species are most related. The complete genome sequence of Lycopus europaeus was obtained and analyzed, which clarified the evolutional relationship between the species of Lycopus europaeus and in the Lamiaceae family.

  • Xing-rui TIAN, Jiao-jiao JI, Jian-kuan LI, Feng JIANG, Zhe-yu LIU, Jian-ping GAO
    Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica. 2022, 57(7): 2216-2223.

    Lu Dangshen is the geoherb in Shanxi Province. The content of Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides (CPP) in Lu Dangshen is more than that in other Codonopsis Radix from other regions. Glycosyltransferase is the key enzyme for the synthesis of bioactive components, such as CPP and tangshenoside I. Based on the transcriptome data of C. pilosula [Codonopsis pilosula (Franch.) Nannf.] from different producing areas, this study carried out functional annotation of GO and KEGG, conservative domain analysis, phylogenetic tree analysis and expression pattern analysis of glycosyltransferase genes in C. pilosula to provides a theoretical basis for exploring the mechanism of genuineness formation in Lu Dangshen. In this study, 98 glycosyltransferase genes were screened and identified, which belonged to GT family 1, GT family 2, GT family 90 and other families. By GO functional annotation, it was found that most of the glycosyltransferase genes had catalytic activity. Analysis of KEGG functional annotation showed that C. pilosula glycosyltransferase was mainly involved in glycan organism and terpenoid and polyketone metabolism. Among them, conserved domain of 42 glycosyltransferase genes in GT family 1 was [X]-W-[2X]-Q-[3X]-[LH]-[5X]-[FLTHCGWNS]-[2X]-E-[4X]-[GVP]-[4X]-P-[4X]-Q-[2X]-[NAK]. Phylogenetic tree analysis based on the glycosyltransferase sequence in Arabidopsis thaliana showed that C. pilosula glycosyltransferases were mainly located in Arabidopsis thaliana UGT73, 72 and 85 branches. Gene expression pattern analysis showed that expression of CpUGT73AH2 was higher in Lu Dangshen than that in Baitiaodang and could respond to drought and low temperature stress. In conclusion, a glycosyltransferase gene CpUGT73AH2, which is involved in the metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides and can respond to environmental stress, was screened from the C. pilosula glycosyltransferase family 1, which was used to further study the role of C. pilosula glycosyltransferase in Lu Dangshen. It laid a theoretical foundation for further study on the role of C. pilosula glycosyltransferase in the formation of Lu Dangshen.