Zoonotic Epidemic of Sporotrichosis: Cat to Human Transmission

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)|Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Fiocruz MS, Oswaldo Cruz Fdn, Evandro Chagas Natl Inst Infect Dis, Lab Clin Res Dermatozoonosis Domest Anim, Rio De Janeiro, BrazilFed Univ Sao Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Microbiol Immunol & Parasitol, Div Cell Biol, Sao Paulo, BrazilCell Biology Division, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, São Paulo, BrazilCNPq: 478262/2013-2FAPERJ: E-23/102.255/2013FAPESP: 2015/19746-8CAPES: BEX 2325/11-0CAPES: 88887.091508/2014-00Web of Scienc

Lipid Nanocarriers for Hyperproliferative Skin Diseases

Hyperproliferative skin diseases (HSD) are a group of diseases that include cancers, pre-cancerous lesions and diseases of unknown etiology that present different skin manifestations in terms of the degree and distribution of the injuries. Anti-proliferative agents used to treat these diseases are so diverse, including 5-aminolevulinic acid, 5-fluorouracil, imiquimod, methotrexate, paclitaxel, podophyllotoxin, realgar, and corticosteroids in general. These drugs usually have low aqueous solubility, which consequently decreases skin permeation. Thus, their incorporation in lipid nanocarriers has been proposed with the main objective to increase the effectiveness of topical treatment and reduce side effects. This manuscript aims to describe the advantages of using lipid nanoparticles and liposomes that can be used to load diversity of chemically different drugs for the treatment of HSD. Keywords: lipid nanoparticles; liposomes; hyperproliferative skin diseases; antiproliferative drugs; skin cance

Surface engineering of silica nanoparticles for oral insulin delivery: characterization and cell toxicity studies

The present work aimed at studying the interaction between insulin and SiNP surfaced with mucoadhesive polymers (chitosan, sodium alginate or polyethylene glycol) and the evaluation of their biocompatibility with HepG2 and Caco-2 cell lines, which mimic in vivo the target of insulin-loaded nanoparticles upon oral administration. Thus, a systematic physicochemical study of the surface-modified insulin-silica nanoparticles (Ins-SiNP) using mucoadhesive polymers has been described. The surfacing of nanoparticle involved the coating of silica nanoparticles (SiNP) with different mucoadhesive polymers, to achieve high contact between the systems and the gut mucosa to enhance the oral insulin bioavailability. SiNP were prepared by a modified Stöber method at room temperature via hydrolysis and condensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). Interaction between insulin and nanoparticles was assessed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) studies. The high efficiency of nanoparticles' coating resulted in more stable system. FTIR spectra of insulin-loaded nanoparticles showed amide absorption bands which are characteristic of α-helix content. In general, all developed nanoparticles demonstrated high biocompatible, at the tested concentrations (50-500 μg/mL), revealing no or low toxicity in the two human cancer cell lines (HepG2 and Caco-2). In conclusion, the developed insulin-loaded SiNP surfaced with mucoadhesive polymers demonstrated its added value for oral administration of proteins

Cultura organizacional e o bem-estar dos terapeutas ocupacionais Portugueses

Mestrado em Gestão e Avaliação de Tecnologias em SaúdeO comportamento individual e organizacional são influenciados pela cultura organizacional que configura as formas distintas de expressão e de interação social, que explicam hábitos, costumes e crenças, partilhados pelos membros do mesmo grupo. O presente estudo tem como objetivo principal verificar se a cultura organizacional influencia o bem-estar no trabalho percecionado pelos terapeutas ocupacionais. Pretende-se ainda perceber se as características pessoais e profissionais destes profissionais de saúde, influenciam o seu Bem-Estar no Trabalho. Por último, pretende-se identificar a dimensão que mais contribui para o Bem-Estar no Trabalho. Para a recolha de dados foi realizada por meio de um questionário online constituído por duas secções: a primeira incluiu o Organizacional Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) e a segunda, o questionário Bem-Estar no Trabalho para Profissionais de Saúde (BET-Prof.Saúde). A análise dos dados obtidos foi realizada através de análise estatística descritiva de tendência central, por meio do cálculo de frequências, percentagens, médias e desvio padrão, de modo a poder-se caracterizar a amostra e de testes paramétricos (T-Student, Correlação de Spearman, Oneway A-Nova). Foi ainda utilizada a Regressão Linear para análise do modelo de Bem-Estar no Trabalho. Obteve-se uma amostra de 147 participantes, dos quais 88% eram do sexo feminino e 22% do sexo masculino, com idade compreendida entre os 22 e os 63 anos (m=35,20; ± dp=9,648). Tendo em conta os resultados obtidos, concluiu-se que a cultura organizacional, mais precisamente as culturas de Clã e Adocrática, estão associadas positivamente a melhores níveis de Bem-Estar no Trabalho e que o inverso acontece quando predominam as culturas Hierárquica e de Mercado. As dimensões Engagement, Suporte Social e Clima de Equipa, podem ser influenciadas pelas características profissionais dos indivíduos (local de trabalho, tipo de contrato e função de chefia) e são as que mais se relacionam de forma positiva e significativa com o Bem-Estar no Trabalho.ABSTRACT - Individual and organizational behavior are influenced by the organizational culture that shapes the different forms of expression and social interaction that explain habits, customs, and beliefs shared by members of the same group. The main objective of this study is to verify if the organizational culture influences the well-being of work perceived by the occupational therapists. It is also intended to understand if the personal and professional characteristics of these health professionals influence their well-being at work. Finally, it is intended to identify the dimension that contributes most to Well-being at Work. Data collection was done through an online questionnaire consisting of two sections: the first included the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) and the second, the questionnaire Bem-Estar no Trabalho para Profissionais de Saúde (BET-Prof.saúde). The analysis of the data obtained was performed through a descriptive statistical analysis of central tendency, by means of the calculation of frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation, in order to be able to characterize the sample and of parametric tests (T-Student, Spearman Correlation, Oneway A-Nova). Linear Regression was also used to analyze the well-being model at work. A sample of 147 participants was obtained, of which 88% were female and 22% male, aged between 22 and 63 years (m = 35,20; ± DP = 9,648). Considering the results obtained, it was concluded that the organizational culture, more precisely the cultures of Clã and Adhocratic, is positively associated with better levels of well-being at work and that the opposite occurs when Hierarchical and Market cultures predominate. The Engagement, Social Support, and Team Climate dimensions can be influenced by the individual’s professional characteristics (workplace, type of contract, and leadership role) and are the ones that are most positively and significantly related to Well-being at work.N/

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography determination of Praziquantel in tablets and raw materials

Un método específico y sensible de cromatografía líquida de alta eficiencia fue desarrollado para el análisis del praziquantel en materias primas y tabletas. También fue encontrado que los excipientes en la preparación comercial de la tableta no interfirieron en el análisis en la longitud de onda seleccionada. La validación del método dio buenos resultados e incluyó la linearidad, la precisión, la exactitud, la especificidad y la recuperación.A specific and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the assay of praziquantel in raw materials and tablets. It was also found that the excipients in the commercial tablet preparation did not interfere with the assay in the wavelenght selected. The method validation yielded good results and included the range, linearity, precision, accuracy, specificity and recovery.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Application of an HPLC method for analysis of propolis extract

Propolis obtained from honeybee hives has been widely used in medicine, cosmetics, and industry due to its versatile biological activities (antioxidant, antimicrobial, fungicidal, antiviral, antiulcer, immunostimulating, and cytostatic). These activities are mainly attributed to the presence of flavonoids in propolis, which points out the interest in quantifying these constituents in propolis preparations, as well as validation of analytical methodologies. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods have been reported to quantify isolated flavonoids or these compounds in complex biological matrices, such as herbal raw materials and extractive preparations. An efficient, precise, and reliable method was developed for quantification of propolis extractive solution using HPLC with UV detection. The chromatograms were obtained from various gradient elution systems (GES) tested in order to establish the ideal conditions for the analysis of propolis extractive solution, using methanol and water: acetonitrile (97.5 : 2.5, v/v) as mobile phase. Gradient reversed phase chromatography was performed using a stainless steel column (250 x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 mum) filled with Chromsep RP 18 (Varian), column temperature at 30.0 +/- 0.1degreesC and detection at 310 nm. The main validation parameters of the method were also determined. The method showed linearity for chrysin in the range 0.24-2.4 mug mL(-1) with good correlation coefficients (0.9975). Precision and accuracy were determined. The obtained results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method. The analytical procedure is reliable and offers advantages in terms of speed and cost of reagents

Determination of oxamniquine in capsules by HPLC

A sensitive, accurate, reliable and easy method was developed for the quantification of oxamniquine in capsules using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. This technique provided conditions for the separation of the active ingredient from the dosage form by extraction in methanol. Isocratic reversed phase chromatography was performed using methanol, water, and triethanolamine (60:40:0.099, v/v/w) (System C) or methanol, acetonitrile, water and formic acid (40:30:30:0.083, v/v/w) (System D) as mobile phase, a stainless steel column (125 x 4 mm i.d., 5 mum) filled with LiChrospher 100 RP-18 (Merck), column temperature of 28 +/- 2 degreesC and detection at 260 nm. The calibration curves were linear over a wide concentration range (1.0-20.0 mug ml(-1) of oxamniquine) to the Systems C and D with good correlation factor (0.9990 and 0.9982, respectively). The average content obtained were 100.1 +/- 1.5% (System C) and 102.4 +/- 0.8% (System D). The presence of lactose, starch, magnesium stearate and sodium laurylsulphate did not interfere in the results of the analysis. The above findings showed the proposed method to be both simple and added advantage of allowing for fast analysis. (C) 2001 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved

Gelatin microparticles containing propolis obtained by spray-drying technique: preparation and characterization

Gelatin microparticles containing propolis extractive solution (PES) were prepared by spray-drying technique. The optimization of the spray-drying operating conditions and the proportions of gelatin and mannitol were investigated. Regular particle morphology was obtained when mannitol was used, whereas mannitol absence produced a substantial number of coalesced and agglomerated microparticles. Microparticles had a mean diameter of 2.70 mum without mannitol and 2.50 mum with mannitol. The entrapment efficiency for propolis of the microparticles was upto 41 % without mannitol and 39% with mannitol. The microencapsulation by spray-drying technique maintained the activity of propolis against Staphylococcus aureus. These gelatin microparticles containing propolis would be useful for developing intermediary or eventual propolis dosage form without the PES' strong and unpleasant taste, aromatic odour, and presence of ethanol. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography determination of Praziquantel in tablets and raw materials

Un método específico y sensible de cromatografía líquida de alta eficiencia fue desarrollado para el análisis del praziquantel en materias primas y tabletas. También fue encontrado que los excipientes en la preparación comercial de la tableta no interfirieron en el análisis en la longitud de onda seleccionada. La validación del método dio buenos resultados e incluyó la linearidad, la precisión, la exactitud, la especificidad y la recuperación.A specific and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the assay of praziquantel in raw materials and tablets. It was also found that the excipients in the commercial tablet preparation did not interfere with the assay in the wavelenght selected. The method validation yielded good results and included the range, linearity, precision, accuracy, specificity and recovery.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Effect Of Praziquantel In Liposomes On Schistosoma Mansoni Eggs At Different Development Stages [efeito Do Praziquantel Incorporado A Lipossomas Nos Diferentes Estágios De Desenvolvimento Dos Ovos De Schistosoma Mansoni]

Mansonian schistosomiasis is caused by an intravascular digenetic trematode Schistosoma mansoni. Praziquantel (PZQ) and oxamniquine (OXA) are the drugs of choice for the treatment of this disease. However, both drugs are subject to some limitations in their action and cases of tolerance and resistance have been reported. Moreover, tolerance and resistance cases have been reported. For this reason, there is an urgent need for research on new alternatives aimed at improving the action of existing drugs, such as the incorporation of these drugs into liposomes. In this study, the efficiency of action of liposome- encapsulated praziquantel (lip.PZQ) on oviposition by S. mansoni, strain BH, was assessed in Mus musculus mices (SPF Swiss mice). Four PZQ and lip.PZQ doses (47; 60; 250 e 300mg/kg) were tested. Some mice were treated 30 days post-infection and others after 45 days. 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