Abstract:Presently the search for new drugs from natural resources is of growing interest to the pharmaceutical industry. Natural products have been the source of new drugs since ancient times. Plants are a good source of secondary metabolites which have been found to have beneficial properties. The present study is a review of the chemistry and pharmacology of Citrus sinensis. This review reveals the therapeutic potential of C. sinensis as a source of natural compounds with important activities that are beneficial for human health that could be used to develop new drugs.

Addressing the aspect of unused drug disposition constitutes a challenge for Mexican government, due to health implications related to inadequate disposition. No matter how efficient the programs of collection and disposal of expired drugs are, none of them can collect all unused or expired drugs, that is the reason why the best approach might be to prevent this need.

Bioassay guided fractionation of an antimycobacterial extract of Foeniculum vulgare var dulce (Apiaceae) led to the isolation and characterization of 5-hydroxyfurano-coumarin. The chemical structure of this compound was elucidated by 1 H and 13 C (1D and 2D) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In addition, the active fractions were analyzed by GC-MS and seventy eight compounds were identified; the major compounds were 1,3-benzenediol, 1-methoxycyclohexene, o -cymene, sorbic acid, 2-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one, estragole, limonene-10-ol and 3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one. Twenty compounds identified in the active fractions were tested against one sensitive and three MDR strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using the Alamar Blue microassay. Compounds that showed some degree of antimycobacterial activity against all strains tested were the following: linoleic acid (MIC 100 µg/mL), oleic acid (MIC 100 µg/mL), 1,3-benzenediol (MIC 100–200 µg/mL), undecanal (MIC 50–200 µg/mL), and 2,4-undecadienal (MIC 25–50 µg/mL), the last being the most active compound. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the presence of 5-hydroxy-furanocoumarin in F. vulgare .

In the present work, sol-gel method was used to incorporate in a ceramic material a non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (piroxicam) as model drug. The incorporation of the drug in the SiO 2 network was carried out at different sol-gel synthesis parameters, such as pH (3 and 5) and the alkoxide/water ratio (1:6 and 1:8). The biomaterial obtained was analyzed by thermal analysis TGA-DTA, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD); specific surface area and porosity were analyzed from nitrogen adsorption isotherm. Better drug incorporation into the material was achieved at the synthesis conditions of pH 5 and 1:6 alkoxide/water molar ratio.

The Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) is a large public university situated in Monterrey, Mexico. Most of the programmes, including a pharmacy related programme (Químico Farmacéutico Biólogo/Chemist Pharmacist Biologist), were running at the university until the pandemic. A lockdown was put in place where it was established that schools and non-essential jobs should be carried out from home. Since then, the UANL has started a training effort to migrate all current classes to online emergency educational schemes. Microsoft Teams was designated as the main platform. Students and faculty members were trained in its use and, after one month, classes were successfully restarted on this platform. The chosen platform was used to create virtual classrooms, problem-based learning was encouraged, and videos and discussion panels were used especially in place of pre-COVID-19 planned laboratory classes. The semester ended with good results, but faculty member training continues and the adaptation to a better organised online programme is now running. Options to try to compensate the lack of in person laboratory classes are still being explored.