Volume 35, Issue 4

Counterfeit medicines pose a major threat to public health worldwide. These pharmaceuticals are mostly manufactured without respecting Good Manufacturing Practices. Moreover, they are not subjected to any form of quality control, and therefore their safety, efficacy, and quality cannot be guaranteed. Extensive research on counterfeit medicines has already been performed and published in literature. This review aims at providing an updated overview of the use of fingerprints and subsequent multivariate (chemometrical) data analysis in the field of counterfeit medicine detection. Fingerprinting could be a useful tool in the analysis of counterfeit medicines because it generates a holistic view of a sample, rather than focusing on specific and predefined characteristics, such as identification and quantification of present active pharmaceutical ingredients. This review first provides an introduction into the counterfeiting problem. Next, the concept of fingerprinting and the basic principles of chemometrics are explained, followed by a description of the successful application of fingerprints in the field of Pharmacognosy. The last part of this review provides an overview describing the use of fingerprints in counterfeit medicine research.

Electromembrane extraction (EME) was invented in 2006 as a miniaturized sample preparation technique for the separation of ionized species from aqueous samples. This concept has been investigated in different areas of analytical chemistry by different research groups worldwide since the introduction. Under the influence of an electrical field, EME is based on electrokinetic migration of the analytes through a supported liquid membrane (SLM), which is an organic solvent immobilized in the pores of the polymeric membrane, and into the acceptor solution. Up to date, close to 150 research articles with focus on EME have been published. The current review summarizes the performance of EME with different organic solvents and discusses several criteria for efficient solvents in EME. In addition, the authors highlight their personal perspective about the most promising organic solvents for EME and have indicated that more fundamental work is required to investigate and discover new organic solvents for EME.

The investigation of environmental nano- and submicron particles is needed for the assessment of their impact on the environment and human health as well as for understanding various natural and anthropogenic processes. Nano- and submicron particles have an increased mobility, may serve as a “carrier” for toxic and nutrient substances, and hence are of particular interest. So far, there is a lack of knowledge about source, behavior, fate, and toxicity of environmental nano- and submicron particles. This article is focused on the separation and characterization methods, which are currently used for their investigation. The application of sedimentation, centrifugation, membrane filtration, and field- and flow-based techniques to the separation of nano- and submicron particles are discussed. The advantages and limitations of the techniques are briefly summarized. Among characterization/analysis methods, a special attention is given to electron microscopy, light scattering as well as atomic absorption spectroscopy, optical emission, and mass spectrometry.

Aptamers are a kind of special nucleic acids that have the ability to bind various targets (e.g. small molecules, macromolecules, and cells) with high affinity and specificity. As a type of efficient recognition component in analytical designs and applications, aptamers have gained intense achievements in the designs of biosensors. Especially, the past few years have witnessed the fast development of electrochemical aptasensors. In this mini-review, we summarize recent progresses in electrochemical biosensors based on aptamers. Different targets and the corresponding detection principles are introduced. The methods to enhance detectable signals are mentioned including the employment of nanomaterials. Also, some possible limitations and future perspectives are discussed.