Solubility and crystal nucleation in organic solvents of two polymorphs of curcumin

peer-reviewedTwo crystal polymorphs of 1,7-bis-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione (curcumin) have been obtained by crystallization from ethanol (EtOH) solution. The polymorphs have been characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction and shown to be the previously described forms I and III. The solubility of both polymorphs in EtOH and of one polymorph in ethyl acetate (EA) has been measured between 10 degrees C and 50 degrees C with a gravimetric method. Primary nucleation of curcumin from EtOH solution has been investigated in 520 constant temperature crystallization experiments in sealed, magnetically stirred vials under different conditions of supersaturation, temperature, and agitation rate. By a thermodynamic analysis of the melting data and solubility of form I, the solid-state activity is estimated from 10 degrees C up to the melting point. The solubility is lower in EtOH than in EA, and in both solvents, a positive deviation from Raoult's law is observed. Form I has lower solubility than form III and is accordingly thermodynamically more stable over the investigated temperature interval. Extrapolation of solubility regression models indicates that there should be a low-temperature enantiotropic transition point, below which form I will be metastable. By slurry conversion experiments, it is established that this temperature is below -30 degrees C. All nucleation experiments resulted in the stable form I. The induction time is observed to decrease with increasing agitation rate up to a certain point, and then increase with further increasing agitation rate; a trend previously observed for other compounds. By correlating the induction time data obtained at different supersaturation and temperature, the interfacial energy of form I in EtOH is estimated to be 3.0 mJ/m(2). (c) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 104:2183-2189, 2015ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

Curcuminoid Binding to Embryonal Carcinoma Cells: Reductive Metabolism, Induction of Apoptosis, Senescence, and Inhibition of Cell Proliferation

Curcumin preparations typically contain a mixture of polyphenols, collectively referred to as curcuminoids. In addition to the primary component curcumin, they also contain smaller amounts of the co-extracted derivatives demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Curcuminoids can be differentially solubilized in serum, which allows for the systematic analysis of concentration-dependent cellular binding, biological effects, and metabolism. Technical grade curcumin was solubilized in fetal calf serum by two alternative methods yielding saturated preparations containing either predominantly curcumin (60%) or bisdemethoxycurcumin (55%). Continual exposure of NT2/D1 cells for 4–6 days to either preparation in cell culture media reduced cell division (1–5 µM), induced senescence (6–7 µM) or comprehensive cell death (8–10 µM) in a concentration-dependent manner. Some of these effects could also be elicited in cells transiently exposed to higher concentrations of curcuminoids (47 µM) for 0.5–4 h. Curcuminoids induced apoptosis by generalized activation of caspases but without nucleosomal fragmentation. The equilibrium binding of serum-solubilized curcuminoids to NT2/D1 cells incubated with increasing amounts of curcuminoid-saturated serum occurred with apparent overall dissociation constants in the 6–10 µM range. However, the presence of excess free serum decreased cellular binding in a hyperbolic manner. Cellular binding was overwhelmingly associated with membrane fractions and bound curcuminoids were metabolized in NT2/D1 cells via a previously unidentified reduction pathway. Both the binding affinities for curcuminoids and their reductive metabolic pathways varied in other cell lines. These results suggest that curcuminoids interact with cellular binding sites, thereby activating signal transduction pathways that initiate a variety of biological responses. The dose-dependent effects of these responses further imply that distinct cellular pathways are sequentially activated and that this activation is dependent on the affinity of curcuminoids for the respective binding sites. Defined serum-solubilized curcuminoids used in cell culture media are thus suitable for further investigating the differential activation of signal transduction pathways

Educomunicação e suas áreas de intervenção: Novos paradigmas para o diálogo intercultural

oai:omp.abpeducom.org.br:publicationFormat/1O material aqui divulgado representa, em essência, a contribuição do VII Encontro Brasileiro de Educomunicação ao V Global MIL Week, da UNESCO, ocorrido na ECA/USP, entre 3 e 5 de novembro de 2016. Estamos diante de um conjunto de 104 papers executivos, com uma média de entre 7 e 10 páginas, cada um. Com este rico e abundante material, chegamos ao sétimo e-book publicado pela ABPEducom, em seus seis primeiros anos de existência. A especificidade desta obra é a de trazer as “Áreas de Intervenção” do campo da Educomunicação, colocando-as a serviço de uma meta essencial ao agir educomunicativo: o diálogo intercultural, trabalhado na linha do tema geral do evento internacional: Media and Information Literacy: New Paradigms for Intercultural Dialogue

Desenvolvimento, caracterização e análise sensorial de formulações alimentares com proteínas do soro de leite ou albumina para crianças

O presente trabalho visou verificar a elaboração, a caracterização e a avaliação da aceitação de duas formulações alimentares achocolatadas (uma contendo albumina e a outra, concentrado proteico de soro de leite - WPC) para crianças de 7 a 10 anos. O desenvolvimento das formulações baseou-se nas recomendações nutricionais para a faixa etária. Foram avaliados os seguintes parâmetros físico-químicos: composição química, estabilidade, pH, viscosidade e fluidez. A análise sensorial englobou as escalas hedônica de atitude, intenção de consumo e doçura e foi realizada por um grupo de 142 julgadores de um centro universitário, com média de 24,5 ± 7,3 anos de idade e 66,2% do sexo feminino. Todos os dados obtidos foram submetidos à análise estatística, adotando-se p < 0,05 como nível de significância. A composição química não diferiu em base seca (p > 0,05). Observaram-se 3,88 (albumina) e 4,79 (WPC) vezes mais proteínas em 100 mL de amostra do que em bebidas comerciais. A primeira formulação mostrou-se mais viscosa (137,33 cP versus 22,33 cP da formulação com WPC) e menos fluida (percorreu 40 mL em 69 segundosversus 29 segundos da formulação com WPC). Quanto ao pH, o produto com albumina apresentou característica alcalina (8,60) e o com WPC ácida (6,28). Ambas as formulações permaneceram estáveis e homogêneas após 24 horas de visualização. A análise sensorial mostrou que as formulações foram similares em todos os testes aplicados (p > 0,05), sendo que as características mais bem avaliadas foram o sabor, a textura e a doçura, para ambas. Houve boa aceitação das formulações, com nota mediana de 7 e valores acima de 80% para a soma das respostas positivas nos testes. Conclui-se que as formulações alimentares analisadas apresentaram boas características físico-químicas e mostraram-se equilibradas nutricionalmente, com potencial para comercialização

The sensitive capillary electrophoretic-LIF method for simultaneous determination of curcuminoids in turmeric by enhancing fluorescence intensities of molecules upon inclusion into (2-hydroxypropyl)-β-cyclodextrin

Curcuminoids have received great attention in the past decades due to their health benefit properties. The aim of this study is to develop a very simple, rapid, and sensitive capillary zone electrophoresis technique coupled with a laser induced fluorescence detector (LIF) for the simultaneous determination of three major curcuminoids of turmeric, namely, curcumin, demethoxy curcumin (DMC), and bisdemethoxy curcumin (BDMC). Background electrolyte was selected as borate at pH 9.6 and (2-hydroxypropyl)-beta-cyclodextrin (2-HP-beta-CD) was added to prevent rapid alkali degradation of curcuminoids in buffer and to increase fluorescence intensities of molecules. With the addition of 2-HP-beta-CD to the separation electrolyte, the fluorescence signal intensities of curcuminoids were enhanced considerably by 30, 40, and 54 fold for curcumin, DMC, and BDMC, respectively. The three curcuminoids of turmeric were fully separated and quantified in less than 4.5 min. The repeatability of the peak areas of curcuminoids for intra-day and inter-day experiments was in the satisfactory range of 2.26 and 2.55%, respectively. The LOD and LOQ values for the developed method were equal to or less than 0.081 and 0.270 mu g/mL, respectively, for all curcuminoids. The developed method was successfully applied to find curcuminoids amount in turmeric samples and herbal supplements

Formação profissional ética: um compromisso a partir das diretrizes curriculares? Ethical professional education: a commitment based on the curricular guidelines?

Esta reflexão problematiza o discurso e a prática que se estabelecem em torno do tema da formação ética dos profissionais da saúde e, mais particularmente, do cirurgião-dentista, situando o atual momento de implantação das Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais no ensino superior brasileiro. Procura-se, desta forma, indicar alguns limites e possibilidades para uma formação ética condizente com o novo perfil profissional almejado.<br>This reflection questions the discourse and practice surrounding the ethical education of health professionals and, more particularly, of dentists, situating the current state of deployment of the National Curriculum Guidelines in Brazilian Higher Education. The goal is to point to a few limits and possibilities for an ethical education in line with the new professional profile that is sought