Lipid-core nanocapsules containing simvastatin improve the cognitive impairment induced by obesity and hypercholesterolemia in adult rats.

The development of cognitive impairment may be related to high levels of plasma cholesterol and obesity. Simvastatin (SV) and lovastatin (LV) are drugs that can potentially be used for the treatment of cognitive deficit. This study aimed to develop and characterize lipid-core nanocapsules (LNC) containing SV (SV-LNC) or LV (LV-LNC), evaluating the effects of SV-LNC in an animal model of cognitive deficit. The formulations SV-LNC and LV-LNC presented a particle average size around 200 nm, a low-polydispersity index, and negative zeta potential. Analysis of differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy showed that there is no reaction among LNC components: LV was crystallized in the suspensions, and SV was molecularly dispersed. The encapsulation efficiency of the SV was high (98.9 ± 1.4%), while that of the LV was low (21.5 ± 1.5%).Based on these results, SV-LNC was used in the preclinical studies. Animals fed with a hyperlipidic diet (HD) developed obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and cognitive impairment, which was corroborated by the brain lesions indicated by histological analysis of some of the animals that received the high-fat diet. We observed that free simvastatin (CS3) was able to reduce the enzymatic activity of pyruvate kinase, an important enzyme for brain energy homeostasis, without affecting the memory of the animals that received a standard diet. However, it failed to improve the cognitive damage caused by a diet high in cholesterol and saturated fats. On the other hand, when simvastatin is "camouflaged" in the lipid-core nanocapsules (HNS3), this cognitive impairment improves. Thus, SV-LNC is a promising alternative therapy for the treatment of cognitive impairment.

Prevalência de resistência constitutiva e induzível à clindamicina em cocos Gram positivos isolados de pacientes hospitalizados em Santa Maria, RS / Prevalence of clindamycin constitutive and inducible resistance in Gram positive cocci isolated from hospitalized patients in Santa Maria, RS

O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a prevalência de resistência constitutiva e induzível à clindamicina em pacientes hospitalizados . Foram analisados 63 isolados de diversos sítios infecciosos de pacientes internados em um hospital privado de Santa Maria - RS, Brasil. Para determinação dos mecanismos de resistência foi utilizado o método de difusão em disco (D-teste). Foi verificado que três cepas de Staphylococcus aureus (4,8%) apresentaram-se positivas no D-teste, ou seja, exibiram resistência induzível à clindamicina (MLSBi), possivelmente pela presença do gene em (A), em microrganismos dessa espécie. Ademais, foi observado a presença de resistência constitutiva (MLSBc)em 22 amostras, caracterizando, possivelmente, a presença do gene em (B), em Streptococcus sp e em (C), em Staphylococcus sp. A prevalência do mecanismo de resistência, mediado por bomba de efluxo, em 19 amostras foi caracterizada, provavelmente pela presença do gene mrsA. A introdução de mudanças, na rotina do laboratório, através da inclusão do D-teste deve ser encorajada. A pesquisa desses mecanismos de resistência são de elevada importância na escolha e eficácia terapêutica, pois representam, na prática, uma maior segurança para os pacientes e evitam a troca desnecessária de medicação e, consequentemente, a falha terapêutica.