title: Screening of counterfeit cephalosporin and discrimination from penicillins by high-throughput chemical color tests.
abstract: To combat the global upsurge in counterfeiting of antibiotics, rapid screening tests offering identification and binary (yes/no) information are required. Cephalosporins are susceptible to counterfeiting due to high prescription rates and prices. We propose a scheme consisting of a pair of chemical color tests for the screening of cephalosporins. The first test is based on the reducing behavior of cephalosporins towards iodate and iodine under strongly acidic conditions. The second test involves alkaline desulphurization and makes the scheme highly selective for cephalosporins. Penicillins and other antibiotics do not interfere with the proposed scheme. The tests have virtues of simplicity, ruggedness, and high-throughput.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, RTM Nagpur University, Nagpur-440033 India.
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Parwate
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Shukla
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002511:Cephalosporins; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D007454:Iodides; D010406:Penicillins; D055656:Prescriptions
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D002511:Cephalosporins; D007454:Iodides; D010406:Penicillins