Methacrylate micro/nano particles prepared by spray drying: a preliminary in vitro/in vivo study.

Delivery systems controlling drug release only in the colon holds great promises since they improve utilization of drug and decrease the dosing times comparison with conventional forms. The aim of the present study was to prepare polymeric microparticles on the basis of Ciprofloxacin via oral route for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Ciprofloxacin was selected because of its extensive coverage for intestinal flora, relatively favorable side-effect profile and preliminary data suggesting its efficacy in the treatment of active Crohn's Disease. Microparticles were prepared using different acrylic compounds, namely Eudragit® RL (PO) and RS (PO) and a mixture of both. Spray-drying was used as a preparation method of Ciprofloxacin/Eudragit® microparticles using a Mini Spray Dryer B-290 (Büchi, Postfach, Switzerland). In vitro dissolution studies were performed to choose the best formulation and selected microparticles were characterized by size and morphology by environmental scanning electron microscopy. Yield and encapsulation efficiency were calculated and in vivo/ex vivo experiments were investigated both of which suggest that selected microparticles can be used for colon targeting of drugs increasing residence time of the drug in the affected area.

Neuro-Behçet con afectación encefálica y espinal / Brain and spinal involvement in Neuro-Behçet disease

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Distonía focal del pie de inicio en el adulto / Adult-onset primary focal foot dystonia

Introducción. La distonía focal idiopática del pie de inicioen el adulto es una entidad rara de la que hasta la fechasólo se han encontrado siete casos publicados en la literatura.Dado que las formas idiopáticas en el adulto son excepcionales,su presentación obliga siempre a descartar formassecundarias. Caso clínico. Mujer de 51 años con distonía focal delpie de 3 años de evolución. La paciente presentaba posturaen flexión plantar e inversión del pie que empeoraba con laacción. Las exploraciones complementarias dirigidas a descartarcausas secundarias fueron negativas. A lo largo de suevolución el fenómeno distónico permaneció limitado al piey no desarrolló otra sintomatología neurológica. La pacientese benefició de tratamiento con toxina botulínica. Conclusiones. La distonía focal primaria idiopática delpie en el adulto es excepcional. El patrón más común es laflexión plantar y de los cinco dedos. El dolor asociado es unsíntoma relativamente frecuente. La patogenia es sólo parcialmenteconocida, los estudios neurofisiológicos y de resonanciafuncional demuestran que existe una pérdida delcontrol inhibitorio a nivel espinal y troncoencefálico, unaplasticidad cortical anómala y una integración sensitivomotoradefectuosa. La respuesta al tratamiento con fármacosorales es escasa, pero los pacientes pueden beneficiarsede la infiltración con toxina botulínica en los músculos implicados

Introduction. Adult-onset primary focal foot dystoniais a rare event. Up to now, only 7 cases have been reportedin the literature. Since the idiopathic-type fooddystonia is uncommon in adults, secondary types mustbe ruled out. Clinical report. We present the case of a 51 yearwoman with a 3 year history of focal food dystonia. Shehad abnormal posture of the foot with plantar flexionand inversion, which worsened with action. Complementarystudies aimed at ruling out secondary causes wereall negative. The dystonia remained limited to her foodand she did not develop any other neurological symptoms.She benefited from botulinum toxin treatment. Conclusions. Primary focal foot dystonia is uncommonin adults. The most common pattern is plantar andfive toes flexion. Associated pain is common. Its pathogenesisis only partially understood, the neurophysiologicstudies and functional resonance showing a loss ofinhibitory control at spine and brainstem levels, abnormalcortical plasticity and altered sensorimotor integration.The response of this disorder to drugs is poor, however,the patients may benefit from botulinum toxininfiltrations of the muscles involved

[Adult-onset primary focal foot dystonia]. / Distonía focal del pie de inicio en el adulto.

INTRODUCTION: Adult-onset primary focal foot dystonia is a rare event. Up to now, only 7 cases have been reported in the literature. Since the idiopathic-type food dystonia is uncommon in adults, secondary types must be ruled out. CLINICAL REPORT: We present the case of a 51 year woman with a 3 year history of focal food dystonia. She had abnormal posture of the foot with plantar flexion and inversion, which worsened with action. Complementary studies aimed at ruling out secondary causes were all negative. The dystonia remained limited to her food and she did not develop any other neurological symptoms. She benefited from botulinum toxin treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Primary focal foot dystonia is uncommon in adults. The most common pattern is plantar and five toes flexion. Associated pain is common. Its pathogenesis is only partially understood, the neurophysiologic studies and functional resonance showing a loss of inhibitory control at spine and brainstem levels, abnormal cortical plasticity and altered sensorimotor integration. The response of this disorder to drugs is poor, however, the patients may benefit from botulinum toxin infiltrations of the muscles involved.

Enfermedad celiaca y diabetes / Celiac disease and diabetes

La enfermedad celiaca (EC) es una inflamación crónica autoinmunitaria del intestino delgado, causada por una intolerancia al gluten en pacientes predispuestos genéticamente. La mayoría de pacientes con EC no presentan síntomas típicos, como diarrea, desnutrición o dolor abdominal, sino que son asintomáticos u oligosintomáticos, con clínica de osteoporosis, anemia ferropénica, elevación de transaminasas, etc. En estos casos, el diagnóstico únicamente puede realizarse mediante un cribado utilizando la serología, la determinación de haplotipos y la biopsia intestinal. La asociación con otras enfermedades autoinmunitarias es frecuente, fundamentalmente con la diabetes mellitus tipo 1 (DM1). La prevalencia de la EC en pacientes diagnosticados de DM1 es aproximadamente del 6,5%, y la mayoría de ellos no presenta síntomas digestivos. No se conoce el nexo de unión para ambas enfermedades, pero se especula que la exposición al gluten durante largos periodos de tiempo se relaciona con la presencia de anticuerpos anticélula pancreática, que podrían favorecer el desarrollo de la diabetes mellitus. La mayoría de los pacientes con DM1 celiacos que siguen una dieta exenta de gluten se benefician de un mejor control de la glucemia. Dado que en la mayoría de pacientes se diagnostica una DM1 antes que una enfermedad celiaca, es aconsejable en la actualidad realizar una técnica de cribado con marcadores serológicos de EC y, si los resultados son positivos, una biopsia del intestino delgado. El beneficio que tendría el diagnóstico de la EC en esta población de tan alto riesgo sería evitar, a largo plazo, complicaciones tan graves como la osteoporosis y el linfoma intestinal

Celiac disease is characterized by chronic autoimmune inflammation of the small bowel, produced by gluten intolerance, in genetically predisposed individuals. Most celiac patients do not present typical symptoms such as diarrhea, malnutrition or abdominal pain. They have usually few symptoms or none at all, although clinical evidence of osteoporosis, iron-deficiency anemia, elevated transaminases, etc., may be found. In these cases, the diagnosis has to be based on serological screening, haplotype determination and intestinal biopsy. It is frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases, especially with type 1 diabetes. The prevalence of celiac disease in patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes is 6.5% and, in most cases, the patients are asymptomatic in terms of gastrointestinal problems. The link between the two diseases is unknown, but it is speculated that exposure to gluten over long periods of time is related to the presence of antibodies against pancreatic cells that could favour the development of diabetes. The majority of celiac patients with type 1 diabetes who follow a gluten-free diet also achieve a better glycemic control. Given that most of the patients are diagnosed as having type 1 diabetes prior to the diagnosis of celiac disease, it is currently recommended to perform a screening using serological markers for celiac disease and, if positive, a biopsy of the small intestine should be performed. The benefit of confirming the diagnosis of celiac disease in this high-risk population would be the avoidance, over the long-term, of complications as serious as osteoporosis and intestinal lymphoma

Encefalopatía hipóxico-isquémica tras una sesión de rayos ultravioleta / Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy after ultraviolet radiation session

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Caracterización y estudio de solubilidad de mezclas binarias de flunarizina / polietilenglicol 4000 / Characterization and solubility study of binary mixtures of flunarizine/ polyethylene glycol 4000

En este trabajo estudiamos las interacciones de la flunarizina con polietilenglicol 4000 en dispersiones sólidas preparadas siguiendo el método de disolución propuesto por Sekiguchi y Obi. Como elementos de comparación se han utilizado mezclas físicas de ambos componentes, preparados en las mismas proporciones de fármaco/polímero: 10/ 90, 20/80, 30/70, 40/60, 50/50,60/40 y 80/20.Las propiedades fisicoquímicas de las dispersiones sólidas y mezclas físicas se investigan mediante espectroscopía infrarroja, difracción de rayos X, calorimetría diferencial de barrido y solubilidad en equilibrio. Los espectros de infrarrojo indican que no ha habido interacción química entre la flunarizina y el PEG. Los difractogramas muestran que a determinadas proporciones, el PEG se introduce en la estructura de la flunarizina y los estudios térmicos parecen indicar la formación de una mezcla eutéctica a la proporción 28,96 por ciento de flunarizina y 71,04 por ciento de PEG 4000. Todas las muestras presentan una solubilidad superior a la del fármaco puro y en ambos tipos de muestras el incremento es mayor al aumentar la proporción de polímero. El análisis de comparación múltiple aplicado independientemente a las dispersiones sólidas y mezclas físicas, indica que no existe diferencia estadísticamente significativa (p<0,05) entre las muestras de proporciones 30/70, 40/60. 50/50 y 60/40, pero sí hay diferencias entre éstas y las de proporciones 10/90, 20/80 y 80/20 (AU)

Plasmid associated virulence properties of environmental isolates of Aeromonas hydrophila.

The plasmid profiles, and their association with antimicrobial resistance, of 60 strains of Aeromonas hydrophila isolated from fish, shellfish and water were investigated. Only two strains were susceptible to all the antimicrobial agents tested; the highest incidences of resistance were to tetracycline (96.7%), prystanamycin (93.3%), ampicillin (91.7%) and cephalothin (91.7%). Forty strains harboured one or more plasmids and the plasmid profile most frequently detected (15%) was the association of three small plasmids of 4.2, 3.2 and 2.8 Mda. Curing experiments indicated that the plasmid-free derivative strains simultaneously lost their resistance determinants to tobramycin, neomycin, gentamicin and kanamycin. More than 90% of the strains tested produced siderophores and displayed haemolytic activity. However, the relationship between these virulence characters and the presence of plasmids was different; in 74.5% of the strains there was siderophore production and plasmids were detectable, whereas only 60% of the strains simultaneously possessed plasmids and haemolytic activity.