Mitotane liposomes for potential treatment of adrenal cortical carcinoma: ex vivo intestinal permeation and in vivo bioavailability.

The adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC) treatment, for which mitotane (o,p'-DDD) is the drug of choice, still remains a challenge both because of the well-known solubility problems of the drug, and its serious side effects. Mitotane is currently administered as oral tablets. The loading of mitotane into nanocarriers has been suggested as a way to circumvent the low solubility of the drug and its limited oral bioavailability. In this work, we have developed liposomes containing mitotane to enhance its intestinal absorption and oral bioavailability. Liposomes were produced by spray-drying of a mixture of phospholipids and the developed formulation was optimized by studying the degree of crystallinity, spray-drying conditions, phospholipid/mitotane ratio, and influence of mannitol in the hydrating ethanolic solution. An optimal liposomal formulation was produced with a phospholipid:mitotane combination (3.34:1), exhibiting a mean hydrodynamic diameter around 1 µm and spherical shape. The produced mitotane liposomes were re-suspended by hydrating the spray-dried powders in a stirred tank, and tested their intestinal permeability (ex vivo) and relative bioavailability (in vivo), against a free drug solution (with or without Trigliceril®CM). Our results support the conclusion that the loading of mitotane in liposomes enhanced its intestinal absorption and relative bioavailability.

Praziquantel-Solid Lipid Nanoparticles Produced by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction: Physicochemical Characterization, Release Profile, and Cytotoxicity.

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) can be produced by various methods, but most of them are difficult to scale up. Supercritical fluid (SCF) is an important tool to produce micro/nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution and high encapsulation efficiency. The aim of this work was to produce cetyl palmitate SLNs using SCF to be loaded with praziquantel (PZQ) as an insoluble model drug. The mean particle size (nm), polydispersity index (PdI), zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency (EE) were determined on the freshly prepared samples, which were also subject of Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), drug release profile, and in vitro cytotoxicity analyses. PZQ-SLN exhibited a mean size of ~25 nm, PdI ~ 0.5, zeta potential ~-28 mV, and EE 88.37%. The DSC analysis demonstrated that SCF reduced the crystallinity of cetyl palmitate and favored the loading of PZQ into the lipid matrices. No chemical interaction between the PZQ and cetyl palmitate was revealed by FTIR analysis, while the release or PZQ from SLN followed the Weibull model. PZQ-SLN showed low cytotoxicity against fibroblasts cell lines. This study demonstrates that SCF may be a suitable scale-up procedure for the production of SLN, which have shown to be an appropriate carrier for PZQ.

Perfil sensorial e preferência do iogurte de leite de búfala / Sensorial profile and preference of yogurt made with buffalo milk

Este estudo teve como objetivo levantar atributos sensoriais e avaliar a preferência do consumidor por amostras de iogurte preparados a partir de leites de búfala, de vaca e da mistura dos dois leites. De acordo com os resultados da análise descritiva quantitativa, os três iogurtes diferiram significativamente (p,0,05) entre si para os atributos cor (amarela) e aparência (espumosa). O iogurte de leite de búfala diferiu dos demais quanto ao aroma (característico de coalhada), sabor (gorduroso e amargo) e viscosidade, porém para cremosidade o iogurte integral de leite de búfala não diferiu do misto. No teste de preferência os iogurtes sem adição de sabor não apresentaram diferença significativa entre si, sendo menos preferidos que os produtos adicionados de sabor goiaba que também não diferiram estatisticamente entre si. Os resultados do Mapa Interno de Preferência dos seis iogurtes testados mostraram clara preferência dos participantes pelos iogurtes aromatizados com gioaba. Dentre esses, verificou-se tendência da preferência do iogurte de leite de búfala, seguido pelos iogurte de leite de búfala, seguido pelos iogurtes misto e de leite de vaca

[A biotype study of Gardnerella vaginalis isolated from patients with and without symptoms of bacterial vaginosis]. / Estudio de los biotipos de Gardnerella vaginalis, aisladas de pacientes con y sin síntomas de vaginosis bacteriana.

METHODS: A simple and reproducible proposed for Benito et al. scheme for identification biotypes of Gardnerella vaginalis has been developed, based on reactions for lipase, hippurate, hydrolysis, and beta-galactosidase. RESULTS: 11 biotypes were found among 130 strains from women with and without bacterial vaginosis (non-specific vaginitis) 1A, 5B; 8B, 5C, 8C, 1E, 6G and 7G in women with vaginosis and the biotypes 1A, 5B, 8B, 1C, 8F and 6H in women without vaginosis. These biotypes 1A; 5B and 8B were found in two groups. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that some biotypes of G. vaginalis are associated with bacterial vaginosis.