J. Appl. Cryst.の発刊に際して

Adequate initial configurations for molecular dynamics simulations consist of arrangements of molecules distributed in space in such a way to approximately represent the system's overall structure. In order that the simulations are not disrupted by large van der Waals repulsive interactions, atoms from different molecules must keep safe pairwise distances. Obtaining such a molecular arrangement can be considered a packing problem: Each type molecule must satisfy spatial constraints related to the geometry of the system, and the distance between atoms of different molecules must be greater than some specified tolerance. We have developed a code able to pack millions of atoms, grouped in arbitrarily complex molecules, inside a variety of three-dimensional regions. The regions may be intersections of spheres, ellipses, cylinders, planes, or boxes. The user must provide only the structure of one molecule of each type and the geometrical constraints that each type of molecule must satisfy. Building complex mixtures, interfaces, solvating biomolecules in water, other solvents, or mixtures of solvents, is straightforward. In addition, different atoms belonging to the same molecule may also be restricted to different spatial regions, in such a way that more ordered molecular arrangements can be built, as micelles, lipid double-layers, etc. The packing time for state-of-the-art molecular dynamics systems varies from a few seconds to a few minutes in a personal computer. The input files are simple and currently compatible with PDB, Tinker, Molden, or Moldy coordinate files. The package is distributed as free software and can be downloaded from http://www.ime.unicamp.br/~martinez/packmol/.

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PACKMOL: a package for building initial configurations for molecular dynamics simulations.

基礎講座 電気泳動(Electrophoresis)

It is important that the medical profession plays a significant role in critically evaluating the use of diagnostic procedures and therapies as they are introduced and tested in the detection, management, or prevention of disease states. Rigorous and expert analysis of the available data documenting absolute and relative benefits and risks of those procedures and therapies can produce helpful guidelines that improve the effectiveness of care, optimize patient outcomes, and favorably affect the overall cost of care by focusing resources on the most effective strategies.

The American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the American Heart Association (AHA) have jointly engaged in the production of such guidelines in the area of cardiovascular disease since 1980. The ACC/AHA Task Force on Practice Guidelines, whose charge is to develop, update, or revise practice guidelines for important cardiovascular diseases and procedures, directs this effort. The Task Force is pleased to have this guideline developed in conjunction with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Writing committees are charged with the task of performing an assessment of the evidence and acting as an independent group of authors to develop or update written recommendations for clinical practice.

Experts in the subject under consideration have been selected from all 3 organizations to examine subject-specific data and write guidelines. The process includes additional representatives from other medical practitioner and specialty groups when appropriate. Writing committees are specifically charged to perform a formal literature review, weigh the strength of evidence for or against a particular treatment or procedure, and include estimates of expected health outcomes where data exist. Patient-specific modifiers, comorbidities, and issues of patient preference that might influence the choice of particular tests or therapies are considered as well as frequency of follow-up and cost effectiveness. When available, information from studies on cost will be considered; however, review …

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ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 guidelines for management of patients with ventricular arrhythmias and the prevention of sudden cardiac death

The concept of metabolite profiling has been around for decades, but technical innovations are now enabling it to be carried out on a large scale with respect to the number of both metabolites measured and experiments carried out. Here we provide a detailed protocol for gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based metabolite profiling that offers a good balance of sensitivity and reliability, being considerably more sensitive than NMR and more robust than liquid chromatography-linked mass spectrometry. We summarize all steps from collecting plant material and sample handling to derivatization procedures, instrumentation settings and evaluating the resultant chromatograms. We also define the contribution of GC-MS-based metabolite profiling to the fields of diagnostics, gene annotation and systems biology. Using the protocol described here facilitates routine determination of the relative levels of 300-500 analytes of polar and nonpolar extracts in approximately 400 experimental samples per week per machine.

Gas chromatography mass spectrometry–based metabolite profiling in plants

In the context of post-marketing surveillance supporting public-health authorities to take evidence-based decisions to fight the spread of poor-quality medicines, the quality of antimalarial artemether-lumefantrine (AL) medicines was assessed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). A total of 150 samples of AL-containing products was collected from private pharmaceutical outlets in 8 main cities: Goma, Kikwit, Kinshasa, Kisangani, Lubumbashi, Matadi, Mbandaka, and Mbuji-Mayi. All drug samples were successively analyzed by visual inspection, thin-layer chromatography (TLC), and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) following The International Pharmacopoeia. Of the 150 collected drug samples, 3 (2%) failed the visual inspection as they had shelf lives different from those of other samples with the same brand name. Four samples (2.7%) did not pass the TLC test as they contained only 1 or even none of the 2 declared active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). HPLC assays showed that 46 (30.7%) samples had artemether contents below 90% and 17 (11.3%) above 110% of the content claimed on the label. For lumefantrine, 32 (21.7%) samples had contents below 90%, and 8 (5.3%) had contents above 110%. This survey in DRC gives evidence that poor-quality antimalarial medicines are widely present. Based on 3 detection techniques, the study shows the necessity to equip developing countries with modern techniques such as HPLC, which, if combined with affordable techniques like TLC, could provide a pertinent analytical strategy to combat drug counterfeiting and poor manufacturing.

Quality of the antimalarial medicine artemether – lumefantrine in 8 cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

NMR spectroscopy is famous for structure elucidation of small and large molecules, such as peptides and small proteins. NMR can also be used for quantitative purposes, e.g., the determination of the content of a drug and of its low-level impurities. This is because the area of a signal is proportional to the number of nuclei giving rise to it. A prerequisite for quantification is a pure signal, i.e., no overlap with signals of the same or other compounds. Even though the chemical shift of an atom is mainly determined by its neighboring atoms, a signal can be moved using different solvents, different concentrations, and by means of shift reagents for signal separation.



For quantification purposes, the acquisition and processing parameters have to be set carefully. Special attention has to be paid to the complete T1 relaxation. Quantification can be achieved by means of relative or absolute methods, using either internal or external standards.


Keywords:

quantitative NMR spectroscopy;
acquisition and processing parameters;
signal separation;
referencing;
absolute and relative methods

Quantitative NMR Spectroscopy in Pharmaceutical R&D

Improving anti-trypanosomal activity of alkamides isolated from Achillea fragrantissima.

A simple capillary zone electrophoresis method has been developed for the separation of polyethylene glycols (PEGs) consisting of differing amounts of polymers with different monomer numbers up to an average molecular mass of 1500. To provide both charge and detectability, the analytes were derivatized with phthalic anhydride according to a conventional method and a newly developed microwave-assisted method. While obtaining nearly equal amounts of single and double esterificated PEGs with the conventional method, the fraction of single derivatized PEGs is considerably reduced by microwave-assisted reaction. In order to compare the capillary zone electrophoresis results, an HPLC method with evaporative light scattering detection has been established. This method was successfully applied to the analysis of underivatized PEG 400, 1000 and 1500.

Ulrike Holzgrabe

Papers

Quality of the antimalarial medicine artemether – lumefantrine in 8 cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Quantitative NMR Spectroscopy in Pharmaceutical R&D

Improving anti-trypanosomal activity of alkamides isolated from Achillea fragrantissima.

Analysis of the molecular size distribution of polyethylene glycols by CE-UV versus HPLC with evaporative light scattering detection.

Opioid-agonisten und -antagonisten, opioid-rezeptoren