Formulation of Topical Dosage Forms Containing Synthetic and Natural Anti-Inflammatory Agents for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Topical anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is of major interest because of their fewer side effects compared to oral therapy. The purpose of this study was to prepare different types of topical formulations (ointments and gels) containing synthetic and natural anti-inflammatory agents with different excipients (e.g.,: surfactants, gel-forming) for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The combination of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs), diclofenac sodium, a topical analgesic agent methyl salicylate, and a lyophilized extract of Calendula officinalis with antioxidant effect were used in our formulations. The aim was to select the appropriate excipients and dosage form for the formulation in order to enhance the diffusion of active substances and to certify the antioxidant, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory effects of these formulations. To characterize the physicochemical properties of the formulations, rheological studies, and texture profile analysis were carried out. Membrane diffusion and permeability studies were performed with Franz-diffusion method. The therapeutic properties of the formulations have been proven by an antioxidant assay and a randomized prospective study that was carried out on 115 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results showed that the treatment with the gel containing diclofenac sodium, methyl salicylate, and lyophilized Calendula officinalis as active ingredients, 2-propenoic acid homopolymer (Synthalen K) as gel-forming excipient, distilled water, triethanolamine, and glycerol had a beneficial analgesic and local anti-inflammatory effect.

Application of fluorescence spectroscopy using classical right angle technique in white wines classification.

The potential of excitation - emission matrices (EEM) measurements using classical right angle technique, in conjunction with chemometrics, was prospected for white wine classification with respect to their cultivar and geographical origin. For this purpose, wines belonging to four cultivars (Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Sauvignon) from two different countries (Romania and France) were investigated. The excitation - emission matrices were statistically processed using parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). According to Soft Independent Modeling Classification Analogy (SIMCA) model, for cultivar differentiation, only 3 out of 107 wine samples (1 Pinot Gris (Romania); 1 Riesling (Romania) and 1 Sauvignon (France)) were misclassified while for geographical origin assessment, only 2 wines (1 Romania and 1 France) were misclassified. This study  demonstrates the potential of excitation - emission fluorescence matrices spectroscopy using the classical right angle technique in wine authentication, without sample dilution.

Histoenzymatic and immunohistochemical study during antiangiogenetic treatment in breast cancer cells.

Breast cancer is the second most frequent cause of death by cancer. In Romania, its incidence is around 4200 new cases per year and the mortality is around 2500 cases per year. During the past few years a great number of anti-neoplastic therapies with higher specificity and efficiency were developed. Monitoring the effects of these polychemotherapies is of great importance together with the study of their influence on cellular metabolism. The purpose of the study was to establish the changes in the cellular energy metabolism and apoptotic potential in the anti-neoplastic therapy with bevacizumab. The results obtained show that the apoptotic potential of malignant cells increases significantly during the anti-angiogenic treatment, with reduction of tumor vasculature and that the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway is activated by releasing cytochrome c from the mitochondrial inter-membrane space.