Curcumin-loaded nanoemulsion improves haemorrhagic stroke recovery in wistar rats.

Cerebrovascular diseases are currently a major global health problem. Considering the limitations of current therapy, the search for new alternatives for the treatment of these diseases is necessary and, in this context, curcumin, a molecule that has neuroprotective properties already described in the literature. A limiting factor when considering therapies for the nervous tissue is the presence of the blood-brain barrier which stimulates the search for new drug delivery strategies. In this context, nanoencapsulation seems to be a promising alternative. In this work, we compared the protective effects of free and nanoemulsified curcumin after intracerebral haemorrhage induced by collagenase (ICH) in Wistar rats. Injury area, motor activity, oxidative stress in the brain and serum biochemical parameters were investigated. Two hours after surgery, the first dose was injected intraperitoneally, followed by 24 and 48 h administration. Behavioural analysis was performed through 3 different tests: open field, beam walking and foot fault (24, 48 and 72 h respectively). At the end of the recovering time (3 days after injury), the animals were euthanized and the brain (for analysis of injury area and oxidative stress), blood (for biochemical parameters), kidney and liver (for histopathological examination) were investigated. Curcumin nanoemulsion 30 mg/kg was able to improve behavioural recovery, reduce the size of the haematoma and attenuate the weight loss caused by ICH. In terms of oxidative parameters, we observed that curcumin nanoemulsion modulated antioxidant responses with therapeutic potential against ICH. Only discrete results in few parameters were found with free-curcumin in the same dose.

Effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on the development of pig oocytes in vitro following parthenogenetic activation and on the lipid content of oocytes and embryos.

As oocytes and embryos of pigs have greater lipid content in the cytoplasm than those of other species, supplementation of the medium for in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) may help to improve embryo development. This study was conducted to evaluate effects of the inclusion of the docosaexaenoic (DHA) and of the eicosapentaenoic acids (EPA) in the IVM medium on the development of pig oocytes and on the lipid content of oocytes and embryos. In all experiments, control media consisted of porcine follicular fluid and oocytes were activated through parthenogenesis. In Experiment 1, there were four treatments for each PUFA: one control; and three treatments including EPA or DHA in the IVM medium at 12.5 µM, 25.0 µM and 50.0 µM). In Experiment 2, inclusion of 50 µM DHA was compared against the control. Cleavage rates in the IVM medium including 12.5 µM EPA and blastocyst development rates in media at any EPA concentration were less than for the control in Experiment 1 (P < 0.05). Compared to the control, inclusion of 50 µM DHA in the IVM medium was related to greater cleavage rates and greater number of embryo cells, in Experiment 1, and lesser lipid content in oocytes after 22 and 44 h and in embryos after 7 days, in Experiment 2 (both P < 0.05). Addition of DHA in the IVM medium may benefit the development of pig oocytes, but EPA appears to be cytotoxic.