Crystallographic investigation of cetylpalmitate solid lipid nanoparticles

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) as alternative intravenous colloidal drug carriers were produced by high pressure homogenisation of the melted lipid cetylpalmitate. The crystallographic properties of the used cetylpalmitate SLN were characterised by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). It was found that the SLN are available exclusively in a crystalline form. Different cetylpalmitate formulations showed all the same patterns and a uniform crystal lattice was obtained. A partial indexing of the signals of the cetylpalmitate was carried out and the unit cell of the cetylpalmitate was estimated by the Miller indices. A preferred orientation in 001-direction was observed. This can be explained by an impressive lamellar lattice structure of the cetylpalmitate. The results were compared with the crystal data of cetylpalmitate known from literature. There was no correlation with the monoclinic structure known so far. This could indicate that the SLN consist of crystallites of another modification of the cetylpalmitate.

Possible risk considerations for toxic risk assessment

The concepts of 'negligible', 'tolerable' and 'unacceptable' risk are considered in the context of 'voluntary' and 'involuntary' risks. Levels of risk for different ill health consequences are examined in relation to the various types of risk associated with standard setting and, in particular, for standards relevant to workplace ill-health.

Enterohepatic circulation in rat and dog of 14C-0-[3-(4-less than 2-methoxyphenyl greater than-1-piperazinyl)-2-hydroxypropyl]-3-methoxy-benzaldoxim dihydrochloride and it's demethylated metabolite

14C-0-[3-(4- less than 2-methoxyphenyl greater than -1-piperazinyl)-2-hydroxypropyl]-3-methoxybenzaldoxim dihydrochloride (HWA 923) was well absorbed (approximately 80%) in rat and dog. In normal animals 37-48% of the radioactivity from a 2 mg/kg of body weight oral or parenteral dose was excreted in the urine, and 48-50% in the faeces. When 14C-HWA 923 was given orally to rats with biliary cannulae, only approximately 10% of the dose was excreted in the urine and approximately 68% appeared in the bile. If bile, collected from animals given 14C-HWA 923, was re-infused intraduodenally into surgically prepared rats, approximately 12% was re-excreted in the urine, and approximately 55% re-excreted in the bile. There were considerably higher levels of radioactivity present in rat blood following intravenous administration of 14C-HWA 923 than after an oral dose, suggesting that radioactivity given via the oral route might be excreted directly into the bile without reaching the systemic circulation. In dog, a significant "first-pass" effect was seen for HWA 923. In a surgically prepared dog, where the bile collection was intermittent, 32% of the dose was excreted in the urine and 46% in the bile. An estimated 73% of the dose would have been present in bile, if continuous collection had taken place. In rat, the major urinary metabolite (up to 40% of the urinary radioactivity) was identified, after specific hydrolysis with beta-glucuronidase, as a demethylated product of HWA 923 by co-chromatography in four solvent systems. This metabolite was present, in rat bile as the conjugates (approximately 40% of the biliary radioactivity), together with significant quantities (approximately 20%) of conjugated HWA 923. The two products were also found on hydrolysis o bile, using gut microflora. Similar results were obtained from dog samples. It is postulated that hydrolysis of the glucuronides of unchanged HWA 923 and its demethylated metabolite by gut micro-flora results in enterohepatic circulation of these two compounds in rat and dog.

The effects of sulphydryl reagents on the binding and mixed function oxidation of hexobarbital in rat hepatic microsomes

1. The effects of the sulphydryl reagents p-chloromercuribenzoate, N-ethylmaleimide and iodoacetamide on the binding spectrum, oxygen consumption and formation of a suspected substrate-cytochrome P-450-oxygen complex for hexobarbital in rat liver microsomes were investigated. 2. The oxygen consumption caused by hexobarbital oxidation was inhibited non-competitively by all three agents, with 50% inhibition at 4 times 10(-5) M for p-chloromercuribenzoate, 3-7 times 10(-4) M for N-ethylmaleimide and 1-9 times 10(-3) M for iodoacetamide. Cysteamine protected and at least partially reversed this inhibition. 3. p-chloromercuribenzoate inhibited the formation of the cytochrome P-450-substrate-oxygen complex, while N-ethylmaleimide and iodoacetamide also inhibited the formation of this complex but to a lesser extent. The p-chloromercuribenzoate inhibition was protected against and reversed by cysteamine. 4. p-Chloromercuribenzoate and N-ethylmaleimide caused a 50% reduction in the magnitude of the hexobarbital-induced binding spectrum, and this was paralleled by the conversion of cytochrome P-450 to cytochrome P-420. Cysteamine protected against this effect but could not reverse it. Iodoacetamide had no effect on the binding spectrum of hexobarbital and failed to convert cytochrome P-450 to cytochrome P-420. 5. Points of attack within the reaction sequence of drug oxidation are tentatively ascribed to the sulphydryl reagents used in this study.