Sulforaphane-loaded ultradeformable vesicles as a potential natural nanomedicine for the treatment of skin cancer diseases

Sulforaphane is a multi-action drug and its anticancer activity is the reason for the continuous growth of attention being paid to this drug. Sulforaphane shows an in vitro antiproliferative activity against melanoma and other skin cancer diseases. Unfortunately, this natural compound cannot be applied in free form on the skin due to its poor percutaneous permeation determined by its physico-chemical characteristics. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate ethosomes® and transfersomes® as ultradeformable vesicular carriers for the percutaneous delivery of sulforaphane to be used for the treatment of skin cancer diseases. The physico-chemical features of the ultradeformable vesicles were evaluated. Namely, ethosomes® and transfersomes® had mean sizes <400 nm and a polydispersity index close to 0. The stability studies demonstrated that the most suitable ultradeformable vesicles to be used as topical carriers of sulforaphane were ethosomes® made up of ethanol 40% (w/v) and phospholipon 90G 2% (w/v). In particular, in vitro studies of percutaneous permeation through human stratum corneum and epidermis membranes showed an increase of the percutaneous permeation of sulforaphane. The antiproliferative activity of sulforaphane-loaded ethosomes® was tested on SK-MEL 28 and improved anticancer activity was observed in comparison with the free drug

Safety and effectiveness of biosimilar enoxaparin (Inhixa) for the prevention of thromboembolism in medical and surgical inpatients

In 2016, biosimilar enoxaparin (Inhixa®, Techdow) was introduced in European markets with the same indications as branded enoxaparin (Clexane®, Sanofi). Its use is constantly increasing in clinical practice, however, little information from post-marketing clinical trials is available on its safety and effectiveness. We conducted an observational, retrospective study to assess the safety and effectiveness of Inhixa in preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE) in medically ill patients and in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. We then compared our results with the incidence of symptomatic VTE and bleeding events during treatment with Clexane by pooling the results of clinical studies carried out in the same settings. We enrolled 381 patients, 189 admitted to a Medical Department and 192 to a Surgical Department from two single institutions. The incidence of major bleeding events was 1.8% globally (95% IC 0.7–3.8), 1.6% in medical patients (95% IC 0.3–4.6) and 2.1% in surgical patients (95% IC 0.6–5.3). VTE rate was 0.5% in the whole population (95% IC 0.1–1.9) and 0.5% (95% IC 0.01–2.9) in each group, respectively. The pooled estimate of the incidence of major bleeding with Clexane was 0.5% (IC 95%: 0.2–1.1) in medical patients and 2.6% (IC 95% 1.3–5.1) in surgical patients. The incidence of thrombotic events was 0.6% (IC 95%: 0.2–1.8) and 0.7% (CI95% 0.3–1.6), respectively. The incidence of bleeding and thrombosis in medical and surgical patients receiving Inhixa was low suggesting biosimilar enoxaparin is a valid alternative to branded enoxaparin

Langmuir-Blodgett films of a modified tetraphenylporphyrin

Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-[4-(1-Heptyloxy) phenyl]porphyrin (H2 THOPP) in a 1/4 molar ratio with arachidic acid have been deposited onto quartz and silver substrates at the surface pressure of 25 mN/m. A detailed analysis of the Langmuir isotherms is presented. Optical absorption spectra show aggregation of the porphyrins in the LB film. The deposited layers have been characterised by Reflectance Anisotropy Spectroscopy (RAS), showing a large anisotropy signal measured in the Soret band energy region. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

Preparation and self-assembly of chiral porphyrin diads on the gold electrodes of quartz crystal microbalances: A novel potential approach to the development of enantioselective chemical sensors

Porphyrin diad 1 was synthesized by reaction of the acyl chloride of porphyrin 2 and trans-1,2-dithiane-4,5-diol. The Co complex of this diad was studied as a potential enantioselective receptor for chiral recognition in solution and in the solid state. In solution both enantiomers of limonene induce significant changes in the visible and circular dichroism (CD) spectra of [Co-2(1)], while a different behavior is observed in the case of the enantiomeric pair of trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane. A different efficiency of [Co-2(1)] chiral recognition is obtained for these compounds, with a remarkable degree of enantiodiscrimination observed in the case of limonene. Self-assembled monolayers of [Co-2(1)] were deposited onto the gold electrodes of quartz crystal microbalances to be used as sensing materials of nanogravimetric sensors operating in the gas phase. The enantio-discrimination properties of these sensors towards the enantiomeric pairs of chiral analytes have been studied. While in the case of analytes bearing donor ligand atoms we did not observe a remarkable enantioselectivity, a significant degree of chiral discrimination was observed in the case of limonene this result is particularly encouraging for the potential development of enantioselective chemical sensors for use in an array configuration

The application of reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy to organics deposition

We present the use of Reflectance Anisotropy Spectroscopy (RAS) as a probe to study the deposition of organics We started the study of ordered layers deposited onto disordered substrates by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) and Langmuir-Schaefer (LS) techniques, nevertheless we believe that the goal is the application of RAS to OMBE (Organic Molecular Beam Epitaxy), to monitor the growth process in real time and in situ, similarly to the deposition of inorganic semiconductors. After a short introduction, we discuss an example testing the RAS sensitivity to the structure of the growing layers: in particular, we report recent data about the polarization dependence of the optical reflectivity for LS PdC10OAP porphyrin layers. Deposition has been carried out at two values of the surface pressure (Π1=30 mN/m; Π2=10 mN/m), corresponding to different layer structures. The RAS spectra measured in two cases are successfully explained in terms of the particular morphological characteristics of the layer

Thickness Dependence of the Optical Anisotropy for Porphyrin Octaester Langmuir-Schaefer Films

We have studied the optical anisotropy of porphyrin layers with different thicknesses deposited onto gold substrates by the Langmuir-Schaefer technique. In coincidence with the Soret band of the molecule, the optical spectral line shape as determined by reflectance anisotropy spectroscopy exhibits a characteristic, large structure, which changes from a "peaklike" to a "derivative-like" shape at a well-defined thickness (8-10 monolayers). We interpret this result in the framework of electronic effects due to structural changes in the layers, yielding solid-state effects originating from the coupling of the pi orbitals of the porphyrin macrocycles