Establishment and characterization of an in vitro 3D ovarian cancer model for drug screening assays.

The acquired drug chemoresistance represents the main challenge of the ovarian cancer treatment. In addition, the absence of an adequate in vitro model able to reproduce the native tumor environment can contribute to the poor success rate of pre-clinical studies of new compounds. Three-dimensional (3D) culture models have been recently used for drug screening purposes due to their ability to reproduce the main characteristics of in vivo solid tumors. Here we describe the establishment and characterization of 3D ovarian cancer spheroids using different adenocarcinoma tumor cell lines (SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3 cells) in two different 3D scaffold-free methods: forced-floating in ultra-low attachment (ULA) plates and hanging drop (HD). Spheroids were evaluated in both 3D cultures in order to establish the best condition to perform the drug response analysis with Paclitaxel, a common drug used to treat ovarian cancer. SKOV-3 and OVCAR-3 spheroids with the desired characteristics (roundness close to 1.0 and diameter in the 200-500 µm range) were obtained using both methods after addition of the methylcellulose (MC) in the culture medium (0.25% and 0.5%, w/v). We also observed the presence of microvilli on the surface of the spheroids, higher presence of apoptotic cells and higher drug resistance, when compared with 2D cultures. The 3D cultures obtained seem to provide more reliable results in terms of drug response than those provided by 2D monolayer culture. The forced floating method was considered more suitable and straightforward to generate ovarian cancer spheroids for drug screening/cytotoxicity assays.

Influence of Pharmaceutical Care intervention and communication skills on the improvement of pharmacotherapeutic outcomes with elderly Brazilian outpatients.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to evaluate the influence of Pharmaceutical Care intervention on the results obtained with a group of elderly outpatients and to analyze the communication skills used by healthcare professionals (research pharmacists, dispensing pharmacists, and physicians) during counseling about healthcare and drug therapy. METHODS: The instruments were applied to 30 elderly outpatients assisted at the pharmacy of a primary healthcare unit in Ribeirão Preto (SP), Brazil. The group of patients received follow-up for a period of 12 months. RESULTS: It was observed that Pharmaceutical Care intervention and humanized communication, of an educational nature, optimized the use of medication, reduced symptoms caused by drug therapy, and improved the health conditions of the patients. CONCLUSION: Pharmaceutical Care intervention was essential for the establishment of therapeutic relationships and influenced the care given to elderly people as well as the achievement of positive health outcomes. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: After this study, Pharmaceutical Care programs were implemented in different PHCU's of Ribeirão Preto and pharmacists are following-up 300 elderly patients.