In the present investigation, a new electrochemical sensor based on carbon paste electrode was applied to simultaneous determine the tramadol, olanzapine and acetaminophen for the first time. The CuO/reduced graphene nanoribbons (rGNR) nanocomposites and 1-ethyl 3-methyl imidazolinium chloride as ionic liquid (IL) were employed as modifiers. The electrooxidation of these drugs at the surface of the modified electrode was evaluated using cyclic voltammetry (CV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and chronoamperometry. Various techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), were used to validate the structure of CuO-rGNR nanocomposites. This sensor displayed a superb electro catalytic oxidation activity and good sensitivity. Under optimized conditions, the results showed the linear in the concentration range of 0.08–900 μM and detection limit (LOD) was achieved to be 0.05 μM. The suggested technique was effectively used to the determination of tramadol in pharmaceuticals and human serum samples. For the first time, the present study demonstrated the synthesis and utilization of the porous nanocomposites to make a unique and sensitive electrode and ionic liquid for electrode modification to co-measurement of these drugs.

In this work, a nanocomposite containing gold (Au) nanofibers decorated iron-metal–organic framework (Fe-MOF) was successfully synthesized for electrochemical detection of acetaminophen (AAP). The as-synthesized Au@Fe-MOF nanocomposite was confirmed by various characterization techniques. Morphological analysis showed that the Au nanofibers with an average size of less than 10 nm were dispersed on the Fe-MOF. Cyclic voltammetric analysis showed that the Au@Fe-MOF nanocomposite showed well-defined redox peaks with higher current than that of GCE and Fe-MOF. The Au@Fe-MOF/ GCE exhibited a linear range, sensitivity, and detection limit of 0.5–18 μM, 4.95 μM/μA/cm2, and 0.12 μM, respectively. The Au@Fe-MOF/GCE showed a very low response for the interference materials. The real sample analysis revealed that the Au@Fe-MOF/GCE showed good recovery towards the AAP in urine and paracetamol. Therefore, the developed sensor can be used for quality control of AAP.

This study evaluated the effect of a combination of acetaminophen (AAP), vitamin C (VC) and thioctic acid (TA) on reducing serum cortisol concentrations in mice with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccination. For 5 days from 3 days before FMD vaccination to 2 days after vaccination, mice were orally administered with AAP 600 mg/kg feed (n=25, AAPT), combination of AAP 600 mg and VC 200 mg per kg feed (n=25, AVCT) and combination of AAP 600 mg, VC 200 mg and TA 20 mg per kg feed (n=25, AVTT), respectively. From day 1 to day 7 after FMD vaccination, the cortisol concentration of all groups treated with the drug was significantly decreased compared to that of the positive control group with FMD vaccination (p<0.05). In conclusion, the combined treatment of AAP, VC and TA was the most effective in relieving stress from FMD vaccination compared to the single treatment.

In the present study, a novel electrochemical sensor for acetaminophen (AMP) which included quantum graphitic carbon nitride dots, g-C3N4QDs, was designed and conducted with molecular imprinted polymer (MIP). First, bulk g-C3N4 was generated with direct thermal polycondensation of melamine. After the treatment of the acidic solution containing H2SO4: HNO3 (1:1, v:v), the heating treatment at 200 °C on the dispersion provided g-C3N4QDs. In this respect, for nanomaterial characterization, some spectroscopic approaches were performed including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as electroanalytical methods such as electrochemical impedance (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). In accordance with the aims of the study, AMP imprinted electrode was formed after high electrocatalytic performance and linear range of 1.0 × 10– 11–2.0 × 10– 8 M and the LODs of 2.0 × 10– 12 was achieved. Eventually, an AMP-printed sensor was also used for AMP identification in pharmaceutical samples.

The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics of acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver damage, using fluorescence bioimaging, serum biochemistry, and histopathology. At six weeks of age, eighteen mice were divided into three groups as group 1 (G1) as control, group 2 (G2) as fluorescence probe control and group 3 (G3) as APAP-treated. G3 mice were orally treated with APAP (800 mg/kg b.w.), while G1 and G2 mice were treated with 0.9% saline. Twenty-two hours after APAP treatment, G2 and G3 mice were intravenously treated with Annexin-Vivo 750 as probe, while G1 mice were treated with saline. Fluorescence bioimaging was performed at two hours after probe treatment. The mice were sacrificed and serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and lactate dehydrogenase were analyzed. Liver damage was examined by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. In vivo bioimaging, fluorescence intensity of the region of interest (ROI) was significantly increased in the livers of G2 and G3 mice compared with those in G1 mice (p<0.05 and p<0.01). In addition, ex vivo bioimaging confirmed that the fluorescence intensity of the ROI was significantly increased in the livers of G2 and G3 mice compared with those in G1 mice (p<0.05 and p<0.01). All examined serum parameters of G3 were significantly increased compared with G1 and G2 (p<0.05 and p<0.01). H&E examination showed acute hepatic cell necrosis in the livers of G3 mice, while there was no cell death in the livers of G1 and G2 mice. TUNEL staining also showed many cell death features in G3 mice, whereas no pathological findings were shown in G1 or G2 mice. In summary, fluorescence bioimaging showed the possibility of cell death detection in the livers of mice treated with APAP, and this was corroborated by serum chemistry and histopathological examination.

This study examined the overdose toxicity of Super-Neophensan, containing florfenicol and acetaminophen, upon pigs. SNP-3.0 (n=10) was administered at the dosage level of 3 kg/ton feed for 7 consecutive days, which is 3 times the recommended dose based on the guidelines of the manufacturer, and the control group (CON) (n=10) was administered the normal diet without the drug. The body weight, weight gain and feed efficiency in SNP-3.0 treated with the drug for 14 days post-administration showed no significant differences compared with those in CON. In hematological and blood biochemical analyses, all parameters were not affected by over-dosage of the drug. In the same way, there were no significant differences between SNP-3.0 and CON on markers for liver and kidney functions. As no adverse effects were observed with the drug in an overdose oral toxicity test, this study suggests that the drug was identified as a safe agent in pigs administered with three times the recommended dose.

Acetaminophen (CAS 103-90-2) is one of the most used pharmaceuticals around the world. In Korea, it was produced 1,069 tons in 2003. This chemical is not eliminated in wastewater treatment plant and may flow into the ecosystem through various routes. Therefore, there is a possibility that it can make an adverse effect on aquatic organisms. To examine its ecological toxicity, we used three native Korean aquatic invertebrate species, Daphnia sp., Chironomus yoshimatsui, and Ephemera orientalis. The acute toxicity on Daphnia sp. was moderately high, and its 48 hour median immobilization concentration (EC50-immobilization) was 51.7 mg/L. On the other side, the reproductive toxicity was very high, and its EC50 of 25 day reproduction test was 0.005 mg/L. In E. orientalis egg hatching test, the median egg hatching inhibition concentration was 0.199 mg/L. C. yoshimatsui was most tolerant to acetaminophen, in which 48 hour median lethal concentration (LC50) was 400.0 mg/L and 45 day median emergence inhibition concentration (EC50-emergence) was 45.27 mg/L. From this results, we concluded that acetaminophen is hazardous to freshwater macroinvertebrates, especially to water flea. Therefore we need to study more about pharmaceuticals' ecotoxicology including acetaminophen and to assess their potential ecological risk.

The acetaminophen (APAP), an antipyretic and analgesic agent, induces the hepatotoxicity by increasing influx of calcium and destabilizing the cellular membrane which can be caused by N-acetyl p-benzoquinoneimine generated by cytochrome P-450 (CYP-450) when it is overdosed. Diltiazem (DIL), a calcium channel blocking agent, has been known to suppress the CYP-450 activities. To study the effect of DIL in APAP treated rats, the serum biotransformational enzyme analyses and the liver histopathologic examination were conducted on the rats which had been administered DIL at 3, 6, 9 and 12 hours after the 3,000 mg/kg of APAP administration. Following a single dose of DIL administered 12 hours after APAP administration, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities, malondialdehyde and calcium contents of liver and microsome were significantly reduced. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity was significantly increased. Histopathologic studies showed that DIL had prevented the development of centrilobular necrosis induced by APAP in liver tissue. Our results suggested that diltiazem could inhibit the formation of free radical and the influx of calcium and could increase GST activity. Therefore, diltiazem can be administered at the time of 12 hours after overdosed APAP to diminish the liver damage.

This study investigated the treatment of acetaminophen in municipal wastewater by conventional ozonation, ozone-based advanced oxidation, ozone/UV, and the electro-peroxone process. The ozone/UV process and electro-peroxone process of electric power consumption increased 1.25 and 2.04 times, respectively, compared to the ozone process. The pseudo-steady OH radical concentration was the greatest in the　electro-peroxone process and lowest in the ozone process. The specific energy consumption for TOC decomposition of the ozone/UV process and electro-peroxone process were 22.8% and 15.5% of the ozone process, respectively. Results suggest that it is advantageous in terms of degradation performance and energy consumption to use a combination of processes in municipal wastewater treatment, rather than an ozone process alone. In combination with the ozone process, the electrolysis process was found to be more advantageous than the UV process.