Humanos vs micro-organismos: quem vencerá esta guerra?

Editoria

Prescription errors in community pharmacies: a serious problem of public health

The aim of this study was both to analyze prescription errors involving clonazepam and suggest improvements for patient safety. A descriptive and observational study with retrospective data collection was conducted at 30 community pharmacies in Natal city, Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil. Prescription notifications were analyzed for legible handwriting and completeness. A reviewer committee evaluated patient and purchaser’s identification, pharmaceutical form, dosing regimen, administration route, and prescription by generic name. Among the 313 collected notifications, 44.1 % were legible. A total of 55.91 % had at least one illegible item, 100 % contained incomplete information, and 97.12 % contained one or more abbreviations. The proportion of illegible handwriting related to the patient's identification was statistically significantly and greater than that related to the drug purchaser's identification. This study showed high percentages of prescribing problems, identified potential causes of them, and suggest future research about medication errors in Brazilian community pharmacies.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

A way to evaluate the peculiarities of drug information centers in university hospitals

The aim of this work was to identify the characteristics of the drug information provided by the Drug Information Center (DIC) of a university hospital. A cross-sectional study was conducted, identifying the profile of information requests (IRs) from January 2008 to December 2009, before and after restructuring. Several parameters were evaluated. The results revealed that this DIC showed a mean of 5.5 IR/month in 2008 and 20.3 in 2009. The majority of IRs came from medical residents (22.7 %) in 2008 and from pharmacists (32.5 %) in 2009. The most recurrent types of IRs were administration route/mode (16.8 %) in 2008 and drug stability (13.1 %) in 2009. The results revealed the importance of the DIC in the hospital, and the restructuring experience could be of help to other DICs in Brazil.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

A sinvastatina melhora a cicatrização de feridas infectadas da pele de ratos

This study explores the potential of the simvastatin to ameliorate inflammation and infection in open infected skin wounds of rats. Methods: Fourteen Wistar rats weighing 285±12g were used. The study was done in a group whose open infected skin wounds were treated with topical application of sinvastatina microemulsion (SIM, n=7) and a second group with wounds treated with saline 0.9 % (SAL, n=7). A bacteriological exam of the wounds fluid for gram positive and gram negative bacteria, the tecidual expression of TNFá and IL-1â by imunohistochemical technique, and histological analysis by HE stain were performed. Results: The expression of TNFa could be clearly demonstrated in lower degree in skin wounds treated with simvastatin (668.6 ± 74.7 ìm2) than in saline (2120.0 ± 327.1 ìm2). In comparison, wound tissue from SIM group displayed leukocyte infiltration significantly lower than that observed in SAL group (p<0.05). Culture results of the samples taken from wound fluid on fourth post treatment day revealed wound infection in only one rat of group simvastatin (SIM), where Proteus mirabilis, Escherchia coli and Enterobacter sp were isolated. In the rats whose wounds were treated with saline (SAL), polymicrobial infection with more than 100,000 CFU/g was detected in all the wounds. Conclusion: In addition to its antiinflammatory properties, the protective effects of simvastatin in infected open skin wounds is able to reduce infection and probably has antibacterial action. The potential to treat these wounds with statins to ameliorate inflammation and infection is promisin

How can micelle systems be rebuilt by a heating process?

The aim of this work was to evaluate how an aqueous micellar system containing Amphotericin B (AmB) and sodium deoxycholate (DOC) can be rebuilt after heating treatment. Also, a review of the literature on the physicochemical and biological properties of this new system was conducted. Heated (AmB-DOC-H) and unheated (AmB-DOC) micelles were then diluted at four different concentrations (50 mg · L−1, 5 mg · L−1, 0.5 mg · L−1, and 0.05 mg · L−1) to perform physicochemical studies and a pharmacotoxicity assay, in which two cell models were used for the in vitro experiments: red blood cells (RBC) from human donors and Candida parapsilosis (Cp). While potassium (K+) and hemoglobin leakage from RBC were the parameters used to evaluate acute and chronic toxicity, respectively, the efficacy of AmB-DOC and AmB-DOC-H were assessed by K+ leakage and cell survival rate from Cp. The spectral study revealed a slight change in the AmB-DOC aggregate peak from 327 nm to 323 nm, which is the peak for AmB-DOC-H. Although AmB-DOC and AmB-DOC-H exhibited different behavior for hemoglobin leakage, AmB-DOC produced higher leakage than AmB-DOC-H at high concentrations (from 5 mg · L−1). For K+ leakage, both AmB-DOC and AmB-DOC-H showed a similar profile for both cell models, RBC and Cp (P < 0.05). AmB-DOC-H and AmB-DOC also revealed a similar profile of activity against Cp with an equivalent survival rate. In short, AmB-DOC-H showed much less toxicity than AmB-DOC, but remained as active as AmB-DOC against fungal cells. The results highlight the importance of this new procedure as a simple, inexpensive, and safe way to produce a new kind of micelle system for the treatment of systemic fungal infections

Metal products used in cosmetic field for the treatment of diaper dermatitis

A dermatite de fraldas é uma erupção predominantemente eritrematosa, frequentemente transitória. Sua incidência varia entre as populações, no entanto, é uma condição comum e a mais freqüente doença em crianças entre 0 e 2 anos de idade. O zinco, presente em todos os tecidos, órgãos e fluidos do corpo, é co-fator de numerosas metaloproteínas necessárias às células e a deficiência deste mineral gera vários distúrbios de pele. Existem inúmeros produtos contendo zinco. Alguns combinam óxido de zinco com nistatina e formulações mais modernas associam ainda ativos com outras propriedades protetoras como auxílio ao tratamento. O objetivo deste artigo de revisão é descrever os mais recentes avanços em dermatite de fraldas. Sua etiopatogenia e diagnóstico assim como vários aspectos relacionados ao seu tratamento e profilaxia também serão discutidos. No final, as perspectivas acerca de novos tratamentos para tal patologia serão sugeridas.The diaper dermatitis is a predominantly erythematous rash, often impermanent. Despite its incidence among populations, diaper dermatitis remains a common condition and the most frequent disease in children aged between 0 and 2 years. The zinc, presented in all tissues, organs and fluids of the body, is a co-factor of many metal-protein, which is necessary for the cells. Its deficiency generates skin disorders. There are several zinc containing products. Some of these products combine zinc oxide formulations with nystatin and, more recently, some agents with protective properties that help with the dermatitis treatment. The aim of this review was to describe an update about the subject of diaper dermatitis, its etiopathology and diagnosis, and several concerns about its treatment and prophilaxis. At the end, a perspective about new treatments was suggested.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire