Antidepressant extract

It is being recognized increasingly that regulation can have a positive impact on laboratory productivity.36 System suitability testing has been proposed as superior to and supplemental to calibration in the UV-VIS detector.37 Large variations in both response factor and in relative response factors were observed on different instruments. Even on the same instrument, UV-VIS spectra can be extremely dependent on solution conditions, as was observed in a separation of hypericin, the antidepressant extract of St. John s wort.38... 

Description of Method. Fluoxetine, whose structure is shown in Figure 12.31a, is another name for the antidepressant drug Prozac. The determination of fluoxetine and its metabolite norfluoxetine. Figure 12.31 b, in serum is an important part of monitoring its therapeutic use. The analysis is complicated by the complex matrix of serum samples. A solid-phase extraction followed by an HPLC analysis using a fluorescence detector provides the necessary selectivity and detection limits. 

Another interesting example of the use of solid state extraction cartridges is the determination of the tricyclic antidepressant drugs in blood serum (2). 

The solid phase used in this extraction is a weak ion exchanger and the material is preconditioned with a wash of 0.5 ml of 0.5M phosphoric acid followed by 1 ml of deionized water. A volume of 0.5 ml of the serum containing the tricyclic antidepressant drug standards is mixed with 0.5 ml of deionized water and allowed to percolate slowly through the packing. 

The separation was carried out on a bonded phase LC-PCN column carrying cyanopropylmethyl moieties on the surface. Thus, in contrast to the extraction process, which appears to be based on ionic interactions with the weak ion exchange material, the LC separation appears to be based on a mixture of interactions. There will be dispersive interactions of the drugs with the hydrocarbon chains of the bonded moiety and also weakly polar interactions with the cyano group. It is seen that the extraction procedures are very efficient and all the tricyclic antidepressant drugs are eluted discretely. 

Andrea Cipriani et al., 2009. The calculations are simple and straightforward. Table 3 of The Lancet article reports response rates for head-to-head comparisons of different antidepressants, along with the number of subjects on which each response rate was based. I merely extracted the response rates in all of the head-to-head comparisons of an SSRI with an NDRI, multiplied each response rate by the number of subjects it was based on, summed the product and divided... 

Fig. 19.1 Differential displays comparing RNAs from saline (S)-, imipramine (I)- or fluoxetine (F)-treated rats. Total RNA was extracted from hypothalami of animals treated with the different drugs for two months. Autoradiograms of amplified -[35S]-dATP-labeled PCR (polymerase chain reaction) products after electrophoresis in 6% polyacrylamide gels are shown for two different primer combinations that identified one upregulated (arrowhead) and one downregulated (arrow) fragment in the groups treated with antidepressants (from [4] with permission).

The active components of the herbaceaous perennial plant Hypericum perforatum are antiinflammatory, antidepressive and healing agents, therefore, their analysis is of considerable importance for health care. Samples were prepared by extracting the dried flowering tops by hot methanol. RP-HPLC separations were performed in an ODS column (250 X 4.6 mm i.d. particle size 5 pm) thermostated at 30°C. The steps of gradient elution are listed in Table 2.49. 

Antidepressant Some animal models show antidepressant effects of lobelia extract (Subarnas et al. 1992). Similar to imipramine and mianserin, beta-amyrin palmitate shows antidepressant-like effects in the forced-swimming test (Subarnas et al. 1993a). Whereas mianserin and beta-amyrin palmitate reduce locomotor activity induced by methamphetamine, imipramine increases it. It potentiates sodium pentobarbital-induced sleep more potently than imipramine, but less than mianserin. Collectively, the effects of beta-amyrin palmitate in behavioral and physiological assays suggests it may work in a manner more similar to mianserin than imipramine. However, the mechanism of antidepressant-like effects of lobelia is uncertain. It may be through the beta-amyrin palmitate s ability to release norepinephrine (Subarnas et al. 1993b). An antidepressant effect of lobelia has not been established in humans. 

In a manner similar to imipramine, an ethanol extract of valerian root was found to prevent immobility induced by a forced-swimming test in rats, suggesting a potential antidepressant effect of valerian (Sakamoto et al. 1992). 

Although the individual inhibition of either MAO or COMT may be comparatively minor in isolation, their combined inhibition along with other monoamine or nonmonoamine actions could have additive if not synergistic effects. For example, a fraction with combined hypericin and flavonoids had antidepressant effects in an animal model (Butterweck et al. 1997). Hypericum is a particular case wherein a single isolated principle may be sufficient for the desired effect, but less effective than the entire plant extract. 

Antidepressant effects Hypericum has been shown to have antidepressant effects in several animal models. An extract fraction high in naphthodianthrones showed antidepressant effects in the forced-swim test, and was attenuated by a dopamine antagonist (sulpiride) (Butterweck et... 

Studies in mice have shown a hypericum extract to increase exploration in an unfamiliar environment, prolong sedative sleep time, and antagonize the effects of reserpine. Other antidepressant-like effects are found on the water-wheel test, and chronic administration decreased aggression in socially isolated male mice (Okpanyi and Weischer 1987). 

Butterweck V, Wall A, Lieflander-Wulf U, Winterhoff H, Nahrstedt A. (1997). Effects of the total extract and fractions of Hypericum perforatum in animal assays for antidepressant activity. Pharmacopsychiatry. 30(suppl. 2) 117-24. 

Chatterjee SS, Bhattacharya SK, Wonnemann M, Singer A, Muller WE. (1998a). Hyperforin as a possible antidepressant component of hypericum extracts. Life Sci. 63(6) 499-510. 

Hansgen KD, Vesper J, Ploch M. (1994). Multicenter double-blind study examining the antidepressant effectiveness of the hypericum extract LI 160. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 7(suppl 1) S15-8. 

Solid phase extraction (SPE) has been used to efficiently extract several types of antidepressants, which can then be conveniently analyzed on GC-NPD. One assay extracted and analyzed viloxazine, venlafaxine, imipramine, desipramine, sertraline, and amoxapine from whole blood in one procedure (Martinez et al., 2002). The same laboratory analyzed fluoxetine, amitriptyline, nortriptyline, trimipramine, maprotiUne, clomipramine, and trazodone in whole blood in one assay (Martinez et al., 2003). SPE has also been used for the simultaneous analysis of TCAs and their metabolites by de la Torre et al. (1998). 

Duverneuil and coworkers (2003) have developed a method for the determination of 11 of the most commonly prescribed non-tricyclic antidepressants and some of their metabolites these include paroxetine, fluoxetine, norfluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, fluvoxamine mirtazapine, venlafaxine, and 0-des-methylvenlafaxine. The method involves an LLE procedure followed by an HPLC separation with photodiode-array UV detection at three different wavelengths (220, 240, and 290 nm). The total run time was 18 min. The extraction recoveries were calculated to be in the range of 74-109% and the lower limit of detection (LLOD) reported was 2.5-5 ng/ml. A method published by Tournel and associates (2001) also reported the simultaneous determination of several newer antidepressants by RP-HPLC with UV detection. The compounds were isolated from human serum using an LLE process. The LLOQ ranged from 15-50 ng/ml depending on the analyte of interest. The total run time for all compounds eluted was approximately 20 min. 

Several natural products have been evaluated in rodent models of nicotine withdrawal. An extract of Hypericum perforatum (St. John s Wort, a putative antidepressant, and inhibitor of serotonin reuptake) reversed somatically expressed withdrawal behaviors and locomotor depression in spontaneous withdrawal (Catania et al. 2003). A benzoflavone compound isolated from Passiflora incarnata, interfered with the induction of physical dependence. Coadministration with chronic nicotine prevented various subsequent indicators of withdrawal syndrome in the mouse, including jumping, locomotor inactivity, immobility in the swim test and naloxone-precipitated escape jumping (Dhawan et al. 2002). 

Lajeunesse A, Gagnon C, Sauve S (2008) Determination of basic antidepressants and their N-desmethyl metabolites in raw sewage and wastewater using solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass. Anal Chem 80 5325-5333... 

Ephedra (Ephedra sinica)/Ma Huang Uses Stimulant, aid in wt loss, bronchial dilation Dose Not OK d/t reported deaths (>100 mg/d can be life-threatening). US sales banned by FDA in 2004 bitter orange w/ similar properties has replaced this compound in most wt loss supplements Caution Advise cardiac events, strokes, death SE Nervousness, HA, insomnia, palpitations, V, hypoglycemia Interactions Digoxin, antihypertensives, antidepressants, diabetic medications EMS Tinctures extracts contain EtOH may X glucose linked to several deaths behavioral mood changes... 

Many constituents with potential biological activity have been extracted from the flowers and leaves, the parts of the plant used for medicinal purposes. These include naphthodianthrones, flavonoids, phlorogluci-nols, and xanthones. Hypericin, one of the naphthodianthrones, has traditionally been considered the main active ingredient, but it is not known whether this is the compound with antidepressant activity. Recent data suggest that a component called hyperforin may be more important than hypericin for the antidepressant activity. 

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