Drug-facilitated robbery or sexual assault: problems associated with amnesia.

Amnesia following sedative-hypnotic drug exposure is discussed. Anterograde amnesia clearly occurs with many benzodiazepines. Several drugs are assessed: benzodiazepines and two hypnotics in particular that are structurally unrelated to the benzodiazepines but share some of their properties: zolpidem and zopiclone.

Method for monitoring alginate released in biological fluids by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection.

The use of alginate-entrapped cells in cell therapy requires a method for monitoring possible released compound within biological fluids following either their implantation or inoculation in artificial organs. Oligomannuronic and oligoguluronic acids were prepared by enzymatic depolymerization with alginate lyase from Pseudomonas alginovora, characterized by high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection and quantitated in human, pig and rabbit blood, urine and tissue samples. The method was tested for linearity and detection limit, accuracy, intra- and inter-day precision.