NLC-Based Sunscreen Formulations with Optimized Proportion of Encapsulated and Free Filters Exhibit Enhanced UVA and UVB Photoprotection.

The topical use of sunscreens is recommended for avoiding the damaging effects of UV radiation. However, improvements are still needed in the existing products to enhance their photoprotection effectiveness and safety. This involves minimizing the use of chemical UV filters while providing enhanced and prolonged photoprotection. This work investigated novel sunscreen formulations and their UV protection effects by encapsulating Uvinul® A, Tinosorb® S, and Uvinul® T150 into nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) based on bacuri butter and raspberry seed oil. First, the impact of critical formulation and process parameters on NLCs' particle size was evaluated using a 22 Face Centered Central Composite Design. Then, formulations were evaluated in terms of critical quality factors, in vitro skin permeation, and in vitro and in vivo photoprotection activities. The developed NLCs-containing formulations exhibited appropriate size (122-135 nm), PdI (<0.3), encapsulation efficiency (>90%), and drug content (>80%), which were preserved for at least 90 days under different stability conditions. Moreover, these NLCs-based formulations had equivalent skin permeation to emulsion-based controls, and the addition of NLCs into sunscreen cream bases in the optimum proportion of 20% (w/w) resulted in enhanced UVA and UVB photoprotection levels, despite a 10% reduction in the total filters content. Altogether, these results describe the application of nanoencapsulated organic UV filters in innovative sunscreen formulations to achieve superior photoprotection and cosmeceutical properties.

Breast Cancer in the Bahamas in 2009-2011.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting women in the Bahamas, which consists of many islands. This is the first attempt to identify which island has the highest occurrence of breast cancer. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the sociodemographical and spatial features of breast cancer in the Bahamas in 2009-2011. METHODS: A review of the medical records of all women with a confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer during the period January 1, 2009-December 31, 2011, was undertaken. Data were first obtained from the National Oncology Board of the Bahamas and validated by a review of the medical records. The patient address was geocoded and mapped using ArcGIS 10.0 Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) to satellite images obtained from The Nature Conservancy in the Bahamas. RESULTS: We recruited 270 patients who satisfied the entry criteria. The cumulative incidences of breast cancer for the years 2009-2011 were 51.4, 45.4, and 51.4, respectively. Breast cancer occurred most often in women of African origin with a mean age at diagnosis of 56.6 ± 13.8 years. Ductal carcinoma was the most common histological type observed with most cancers occurring in Grade II or higher and presenting as late stage (≥ Stage II). Surgery was the preferred method of treatment with modified radical mastectomy being the procedure of choice. Spatial distribution of cases across the Bahamas revealed one cluster, which is present on the island of New Providence. Further analysis of New Providence showed a consistently skewed kernel density in the central and eastern regions, compared with a scattered distribution in the southern and western regions. CONCLUSION: The island of New Providence had the highest occurrence of breast cancer among all the islands of the Bahamas. The increasing incidence of breast cancer in young women is likely to impose a significant burden on the future of Bahamian health care.

Haitian ethnomedical systems and biomedical practitioners: directions for clinicians.

Since the 1980s, there has been a dramatic increase in immigration to the United States from Haiti. New and recent immigrants from Haiti are likely to have little prior experience with biomedical care and are also likely to have suffered from the physical and mental effects of poverty, malnutrition, and violence. Access to care for this vulnerable population may be hampered by a lack of available services as well as a general lack of understanding of Haitian spiritual and ethnophysiologic beliefs by biomedical practitioners. The purpose of this article is to present an overview of Haitian spiritual and ethnophysiologic beliefs within their historic context, provide an introduction to Haitian ethnomedicine, and offer suggestions for clinicians and researchers who work with this population.

Isolation of Cryptosporidium parvum and Cyclospora cayetanensis from vegetables collected in markets of an endemic region in Peru.

Cryptosporidium parvum and Cyclospora cayetanensis are protozoan pathogens that cause prolonged diarrhea in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts. Cryptosporidium parvum can be transmitted via the fecal-oral route, while the exact mechanisms of transmission of Cyclospora cayetanensis have not been fully determined. Humans appear to be the sole host for the latter and a distinct seasonality has been observed in endemic areas around the world. Samples of vegetables were collected at several small markets in a periurban slum in Peru during the seasons of high and low incidence. The vegetables were washed, the supernatants were collected and centrifuged, and the pellets were resuspended in a solution of 2.5% potassium dichromate. Pellets were examined using direct microscopic observation, acid-fast staining, and immunofluorescent assays for C. parvum and Cyclospora cayetanensis oocysts. Samples were collected during three time periods: the season of low incidence, the beginning of the season of high incidence, and end of the season of high incidence. Of the total vegetables examined, 14.5% contained C. parvum oocysts and 1.8% had Cyclospora oocysts. Thus, market vegetables may provide a route by which Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora can be transmitted. Our study also suggests that washing vegetables does not completely remove Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora oocysts.

Prevalence of depression and alcohol and other drug dependence in addictions treatment populations.

The diagnosis of depression has been viewed as an important factor in the treatment response for those who have alcohol and other drug dependence. The objective of the study was to examine the prevalence of a lifetime history of major depression in inpatients with a substance use disorder in addictions treatment. An evaluation study of 6,355 patients was conducted in inpatient and outpatient addictions treatment programs from 41 sites. Subjects were required to have a substance use disorder and to be evaluated for a lifetime diagnosis of major depression according to DSM-III-R criteria. The rate of a lifetime diagnosis of major depression was 43.7%. The most common diagnosis was alcohol dependence, followed by cocaine dependence, and cannabis dependence). Depression was associated in significantly greater numbers with diagnoses involving drugs other than alcohol, in females greater than in males, with number and frequency of use, and in inpatient programs more than outpatient programs. The rates for continuous abstinence at one year did not differ between those with and without a lifetime history of depression.

Urinary iron speciation in nephrotic syndrome.

In nephrotic syndrome, iron is presented to the tubule fluid in a nonreactive form in association with transferrin as a result of the glomerular protein leak. At an alkaline pH, iron remains bound to transferrin throughout the nephron and is excreted as such in the urine. As urine pH decreases below 6, iron is dissociated from transferrin. In the dissociated form, iron exists in the urine in a soluble, ultrafiltrable, and labile state. It is suggested that iron is maintained in this state by chelation to a relatively small organic compound, such as citrate. This non-transferrin-bound iron is capable of catalyzing bleomycin degradation of DNA, suggesting that this labile form of iron is able to catalyze free radical formation and cause tubule cell injury. Urine from proteinuric states represents one of the few, if not only, biologic fluids containing large amounts of reactive iron species. This may explain the mechanism by which proteinuric states cause tubulointerstitial disease and renal failure.

Inverse relationship in Jamaica between plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration and coronary-disease risk as predicted by multiple risk-factor status.

1. The relation between plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration and multiple coronary-risk factor status has been assessed in fifty-two middle-aged clinically healthy men from urban and rural Jamaica. 2. Rural hill-farmers had a superior exercise performance (assessed by the responses to submaximal test exercise), less body fat, and lower fasting levels for plasma total cholesterol, low-density liproprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total triglyceride and blood glucose than urban businessmen. Mean plasma HDL cholesterol was considerably higher in farmers then businessmen. 3. Multilinear regression analysis showed HDL cholesterol concentration to be independently and inversely correlated with plasma triglyceride, LDL cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure and that these relationships applied across the urban and rural sub-groups. There was also some evidence that HDL cholesterol concentration increased with stature. When these factors were taken into account, age, ethnic group, adiposity, weight, exercise performance, smoking history and blood glucose made no further significant contribution to the prediction of HDL cholesterol concentration. 4. Thus plasma HDL cholesterol concentration was highest in those subjects with the lowest coronary-risk as predicted by their multiple risk-factor status, an observation which supported other evidence that coronary-risk is inversely related to plasma HDL concentration. 5. The results raise the possibility that coronary-risk can be more simply estimated from the plasma HDL cholesterol concentration than from a consideration of other major lipid risk factors and blood pressure.

Inverse relationship in Jamaica between plasma high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration and coronary-disease risk as predicted by multiple risk-factor status

The relation between plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration and multiple coronary-risk factor status has been assessed in fifty-two middle-aged clinically healthy men from urban and rural Jamaica. Rural hill-farmers had a superior exercise performance (assessed by the responses to submaximal test exercise), less body fat, and lower fasting levels for plasma total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total triglyceride and blood glucose than urban businessmen. Mean plasma HDL cholesterol was considerably higher in farmers then businessmen. Multilinear regression analysis showed HDL cholesterol concentration to be independently and inversely correlated with plasma triglyceride, LDL cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure and that these relationships applied across the urban and rural sub-groups. There was also some evidence that HDL cholesterol concentration increased with stature. When these factors were taken into account, age, ethnic group, adiposity, weight, exercise performance, smoking history and blood glucose made no further significant contribution to the prediction of HDL cholesterol concentration. Thus plasma HDL cholesterol concentration was highest in those subjects with the lowest coronary-risk as predicted by their multiple risk-factor status, an observation which supported other evidence that coronary-risk is inversely related to plasma HDL concentration. The results raise the possibility that coronary risk can be more simply estimated from the plasma HDL cholesterol concentration than from a consideration of other major lipid risk factor and blood pressure (AU)