Nanotechnology-based Drug Delivery Systems for Dermatomycosis Treatment

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Avaliação do polimorfismo no gene da metilenotetrahidrofolato redutase e concentração de folato e vitamina B12 em pacientes portadores do HIV-1 em tratamento com anti-retrovirais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Efeitos do treinamento muscular inspiratório domiciliar sobre a atividade eletromiográfica dos músculos respiratórios em asmáticos: estudo piloto

Asthma treatment aims to achieve and maintain the control of the disease for prolonged periods. Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) may be an alternative in the care of patients with asthma, and it is used as a complementary therapy to the pharmacological treatment. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a domiciliary program of IMT on the electromyographic activity of the respiratory muscles in adults with asthma. This is a clinical trial in which ten adults with asthma and ten healthy adults were randomized into two groups (control and training). The electrical activity of inspiratory muscles (sternocleidomastoid (ECM) and diaphragm) was obtained by a surface electromyography. Furthermore, we assessed lung function (spirometry), maximal inspiratory pressure - MIP - (manometer). The functional capacity was evaluated by six minute walk test. Participants were assessed before and after the IMT protocol of 6 weeks with POWERbreathe® device. The training and the control groups underwent IMT with 50% and 15 % of MIP, respectively. The sample data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0, attributing significance of 5 %. Were used t test, ANOVA one way and Pearson correlation. It was observed an increase in MIP, after IMT, in both training groups and in healthy sham group (P < 0.05), which was accompanied by a significant increase in ECM activity during MIP in healthy training group (1488 %) and in asthma training group (ATG) (1186.4%). The ATG also showed a significant increase in diaphragm activity in basal respiration (48.5%). Functional capacity increased significantly in the asthma sham group (26.5 m) and in the asthma training group (45.2 m). These findings suggest that IMT promoted clinical improvements in all groups, especially the ATG, which makes it an important complementary treatment for patients with asthma

Desenvolvimento de sistemas farmacêuticos emulsionados para veiculação gênica

Broadly speaking, the concept of gene therapy involves the transfer of a genetic material into a cell, tissue, or organ in order to cure a disease or at least improve the clinical status of a patient. Making it simple, gene therapy consists in the insertion of functional genes into cells containing defective genes by substituting, complementing or inhibiting them. The achievement of a foreigner DNA expression into a population of cells requires its transfer to the target. Therefore, it is a key issue to create systems able to transfer and protect the DNA until it reaches the target, the vectors. The disadvantages related to the use of viral vectors have encouraged efforts to develop emulsions as non-viral vectors. In fact, they are easily produced, present controllable stability and enable transfection. The aim of this work was to develop an emulsion for gene therapy and evaluate its ability to compact nucleic acids by the development of a complex with the plasmid pIRES2-EGFP. The first step was to determine the Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance (HLB) of the Captex® 355 (oily internal phase of the emulsion) through long and short term stability assays. Based on the results, emulsions composed of Captex® 355, Tween 20® and Span 60® with 10.7 HLB were produced by three different methods: phase inversion, spontaneous emulsification and sonication. The results showed that the lowest diameter and best stability of the emulsions were achieved by the sonication method. The cationic emulsions were made by adding DOTAP to the basic emulsion. Its association with pIRES2-EGFP was evaluated by electrophoresis. Several rates of emulsion and DNA were evaluated and the results showed that 100% of the complex was formed when the rate DOTAP/DNA(nmol/µg) was 130. In conclusion, the overall results show the ability of the proposed emulsion to compact pIRES2-EGFP, which is a requirement to a successful transfection. Therefore, such formulation may be considered a promising candidate for gene therapy

Avaliação por ressonância magnética funcional e estimulação magnética transcraniana da intervenção única da terapia espelho em pacientes após acidente vascular cerebral isquêmico

Mirror therapy (MT) is being used as a rehabilitation tool in various diseases, including stroke. Although some studies have shown its effectiveness, little is known about neural mechanisms that underlie the rehabilitation process. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing cortical neuromodulation after a single MT intervention in ischemic stroke survivors, by means of by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Fifteen patients participated in a single thirty minutes MT session. fMRI data was analyzed bilaterally in the following Regions of Interest (ROI): Supplementary Motor Area (SMA), Premotor cortex (PMC), Primary Motor cortex (M1), Primary Sensory cortex (S1) and Cerebellum. In each ROI, changes in the percentage of occupation and beta values were computed. Group fMRI data showed a significant decreased in the percentage of occupation in PMC and cerebellum, contralateral to the affected hand (p <0.05). Significant increase in beta values was observed in the following contralateral motor areas: SMA, Cerebellum, PMC and M1 (p<0,005). Moreover, a significant decrease was observed in the following ipsilateral motor areas: PMC and M1 (p <0,001). In S1 a bilateral significant decrease (p<0.0005) was observed.TMS consisted of the analysis of Motor Evoked Potential (MEP) of M1 hotspot. A significant increase in the amplitude of the MEP was observed after therapy in the group (p<0,0001) and individually in 4 patients (p <0.05). Altogether, our results imply that single MT intervention is already capable of promoting changes in neurobiological markers toward patterns observed in healthy subjects. Furthermore, the contralateral hemisphere motor areas changes are opposite to the ones in the ipsilateral side, suggesting an increase system homeostasis.

Avaliação clínica do efeito da irradiação pós-opratória do laser de baixa intensidade na cicatrização de gengivoplastias em humanos

Many studies have been made to understand the process of tissular cicatrization, as well as the possible effects of laser therapy in the wound healing. However, the influence of low frequency laser irradiation in the repairing process is not completely understood. Our study has the purpose to assess clinically the effect of postoperative irradiation of the low frequency laser in humans, and the gingival repairing process postgingivoplasty performed with the extern bevel technique. Twenty-four patients with inflammatory gingival hyperplasia were enrolled in this study, which did not reduce with basic periodontal procedures, and patients with melanin pigmentation, with esthetic indications. After surgery the test group, randomly selected by a drawing, received laser application with energy density of 4 J/cm2, immediately after surgery and each 48 hours, during a week, with a total of 4 sections. The control group did not receive irradiation. The visual clinical analyses were performed by a single blind examiner, in the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 15th and 21st days post surgery. For statistic analyses of the data was used a Q-square test. Concerning the color, the results showed a better wound healing during days 6 to 8. when assessed the degree of progress of surgical wound, the results showed that the test group had a better cicatrization compared with the control group in the 2nd, 6th, 8th and 15th days post surgery, and at the 21st day both groups had the same results. Our results confirm that the laser had clinical influence in the repairing process after gingivoplasty surgery during days 2 to 15 post surgery

Elaboração e avaliação de indicadores comportamentais de aderência ao tratamento hemodialítico

Introduction: This work intents to characterize behavioral indicators of tack to the hemodialysis treatment in a sample of carrying patients of chronic kidney failure (CKF) in the great Natal/RN. The therapeutical adherence represents the agreement degree between the patient behavior and the health team lapsings. The CKF is the gradual and irreversible loss of the renal function, being the hemodialysis treatment an important alternative to assist or to substitute the kidneys. Method: The sample consisted in 80 chronic kidney patients in hemodialysis treatment in two located clinical centers in the region of the great Natal, RN. It was used as instruments (a) a protocol of clinical data collection, (b) the Millon Index of Personality Styles (MIPS) and (c) a script of halfstructuralized interview. Results: The results show a balance between the genders (51% of female and 48.8% of the male sex), average age and equal average time of dialysis respectively to the 43,4 years (±13,25 years) and 22,04 years (±4,24 years). The marital status of half of the sample is married, predominating basic education (43.6%) and a familiar income until a minimum wage (43.8%). It had been defined six physicianlaboratorial indicators to evaluate the therapeutical adherence, further the use of the evaluation of the health team and the patient themselves. Thus, there was an average adherence around 55.97% of the sample ±18.37%). However only between selfassessment of the patients about the adherence and the assessment made by blood pressure post-dialysis indicated a significant association (p=0,029, qui-square test). On the other hand, there was a significant association (p <0.05, chi-square test) among the criteria for treatment adherence and issues investigated in the interview - the perception on the quality of the health services provided to patients, the difficulties following the prescribed diet, the characterization of the days between dialysis sessions and the perception of patients about the dialysis sessions. It was also noted a significant association (p <0.05, Levene test) between adherence to therapy and scales that constitute the MIPS. The health team characterized the patients more adherent behavior as an attitude of acceptance of the treatment, looking actively for their implementation, for more information and knowledge, and establishing a positive communication with the team and with other patients. Similar results were confirmed by the MIPS evaluation. According to that assessment the more compliant patients adopt a more optimistic attitude, trying to act or adapt themselves to their environment, processing cognitively both concrete and objective information, such as more speculative and symbolic information. In addition they establish a gregarious, cooperative, submissive and flexibly pattern of interpersonal relationships to social demands. These characteristics managed to explain 55.7% of the adherence variation according the health team and 23.3% of the variation according the CaxP laboratory indicator. Conclusions: The MIPS shown to be able to identify the most and least adherent to therapy patients. The use of different adherence indicators is important for an evaluation covering the different facets of this process. The adhesion levels are observed within registered by the relevant literature. There is need for further studies with a larger sample to deepen the data findings in this work

Os significados de ludoterapia para as protagonistas do processo: crianças em atendimento

The ludic therapy in a Phenomenological-Existential perspective is conceived as a psychotherapeutic process in which, the listening and talking, mediated by playing activities, allow the child to deal with their grief/suffering. This study is based on the need to broaden the understanding of this modality of clinical intervention by emphasizing the speech of the protagonists in the process: children in therapy. The objective was to understand the ludic therapy from the children s perspective, knowing the meanings assigned to the therapeutic process, to the psychologist and to the involvement of the children in clinical consultations. The main ideas that underlie this research are presented in three theoretical chapters covering, respectively, the suffering of children and the demand for psychotherapy, the Phenomenological-Existential clinical psychology, and the psychotherapy for children, in Brazil, under this theoretical-methodological approach. The study was qualitative, on a phenomenological basis, and included six children as participants, aged between six and ten years, undergoing ludic therapy for at least six months, and referred by their own therapists. In the research s corpus construction, individual meetings were held and mediated by tools to support expressiveness (ludic and pictures/figures boxes), added by the storytelling of an incomplete story about a child s visit to the therapy session, and the request for the elaboration of a message to be passed to a child who will go to see a psychologist. The analysis of the data was based on a variant of the phenomenological method proposed by Amedeo Giorgi. The results reveal a lack of knowledge by the children about the psychologist s activities. Thus, the children develop fantasies about this intervention modality because of lack of information. These observations are consistent with the historical meanings assigned to clinical psychology, involving ideas of normality and guilt. The meanings associated with the motives for a referral to a psychologist highlight the conflict "be a problem versus having a problem" and an elitist conception of clinical psychology. Children understand the characteristics of the therapeutic process, such as the specifics of the therapist-client relationship and the notion of freedom. They also demonstrate remarkable pleasure in the therapeutic process. Finally, it was concluded that the meanings attributed to the ludic therapy by the children are consistent with that proposed in the literature about the children s psychotherapy process in the Phenomenological-Existential perspective. Moreover, the relevance of both the children s experience in the therapeutic setting and the meanings of these proceedings understood by the children are highlighted by the listening to the protagonists in the ludic therapeutic process. The comprehension of these aspects and their transference from the clients experience to the reflective field, promote advances in the understanding of child psychotherapy and indicate the need for further studies with children using this approach.

Contando histórias de cuidado à infância em unidade de terapia intensiva pediátrica

The tales of children's literature, in their plots, mark existential dilemmas belonging in human‟s lives, such as death, situations of separation, loss, abandonment, fear, challenges, achievements and other elements that make them suitable material to assist children in their developmental process. Such elements, present in children‟s storybooks, are close to the experiences lived by the children in the context of hospitalization in a special manner. With that said this study focus on the understanding of the therapeutic possibilities of the tales of children's literature in the care of hospitalized children in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (UTIPED) based on the Heidegger's concept of Care and adopting the Phenomenology as the method. The UTIPED of a state public hospital located in the municipality of Natal/RN was elected as the study site and four hospitalized children aged between six and nine years, all males, presenting different clinical conditions were selected to participate in the study following age and clinical conditions as the selective criteria. The procedure of corpus construction included eight individual sessions of storytelling accompanied by the use of ludic resources. The phenomenological understanding about the therapeutic possibilities of tales was structured under three main elements: (1) the ludic axis; (2) the reflective axis; and (3) the affective axis. The appropriateness of the proposed therapy in the context of the UTIPED and the potential of the tales as a protection factor to the child was evident. The storytelling activity framed a scenario of care unusual in the context of intensive care units, establishing a symbolic space for children‟s expression. Therefore, this study indicates this therapeutic proposal for children‟s care in the UTIPED that considers their evolutionary stage, their clinical conditions at the time and especially their emotional needs during their immersion in a diverse and foreign environment which is filled with potentially harmful elements to their full development.

Tratamento médico e fonoaudiológico da disfonia espasmódica: uma revisão bibliográfica

A disfonia espasmódica (DE) é um distúrbio vocal caracterizado por voz tensa-estrangulada, com quebras de sonoridade e que compromete a comunicação do indivíduo. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar uma revisão bibliográfica dos tratamentos médico e fonoaudiológico proposto para a DE no período entre 2006 e 2010. Os tratamentos descritos foram: injeção de toxina botulínica (TB), miectomia, neurectomia, denervação e reinervação laríngea seletiva adutora, tireoplastia, miotermia tiroaritenóidea com radiofrequência, injeção de lidocaína, homeopatia e tratamento fonoaudiológico (fonoterapia). O uso de injeção de TB mostrou resultados que indicaram a satisfação dos pacientes tratados, embora alguns dos artigos apontassem a necessidade de reaplicação da toxina frequentemente, como desvantagem. Os procedimentos cirúrgicos foram considerados duradouros e indicados para os pacientes que não quiseram se submeter às aplicações de TB. Tais estudos, no entanto, apresentaram contingência de pacientes restrita e os resultados foram baseados, na maioria das investigações, no julgamento dos próprios pacientes sobre a sua qualidade vocal. Os tratamentos, com uso de lidocaína e homeopatia, mostraram resultados positivos em relação à qualidade vocal dos pacientes e foram sugeridos como uma opção, também, para aqueles que não gostariam de ser submetidos ao tratamento cirúrgico ou à aplicação de TB. Os poucos estudos que reportam fonoterapia assinalaram bons resultados quando a mesma foi associada à injeção de TB, mostrando a escassez de informações nesta área. Futuras pesquisas envolvendo a fonoterapia no tratamento da DE são necessárias.

Efeitos do ultra-som terapêutico sobre o crescimento longitudinal do fêmur e da tíbia em ratos

Objectives: To determine the effects of ultrasound therapy on the femur and tibia growth in young rats. Method: Four-week-old male Ratus Norvegicus totaling 115 animals, divided into four groups, were submitted to ultrasound therapy (0.8 MHz, fixed tube head, continuous pulse, for 10 minutes, once a day, ten times) on the medial face of the right knee, with powers of 0.0 W/cm2 (group 31), 0.5 W/cm2 (group G2), 1.0 W/cm2 (group G3), and 1.5 W/cm2 (group G4). Histological slides of the epiphysis, growth plate and metaphysis and the femoral and tibial length measurements were studied in the sixth, thirteenth and twenty-sixth weeks of life. The data were submitted to factorial analysis of variance according to a one-way layout. Results: No statistically significant bone growth alteration was established between any of the three treated groups and the control group. However, alterations in femoral and tibial growth suggesting a decrease in G4 in relation to 02 and G3 were noted. In G4, histopathological alterations, such as cellular necrosis and post-necrosis bone neoformation were found. Conclusion: According to this study, no statistical evidence of bone growth stimulus or inhibition resulting from the application of ultrasound therapy was found when comparing the treated groups with the control group. Histological alterations regarded as pathological were only observed in G4. Also, smaller significant bone growth was found in G4 compared to G2 and G3. Level of Evidence: Level II, cross-sectional study.

Gastrointestinal transit and disintegration of enteric coated magnetic tablets assessed by ac biosusceptometry

The oral administration is a common route in the drug therapy and the solid pharmaceutical forms are widely used. Although much about the performance of these formulations can be learned from in vitro studies using conventional methods, evaluation in vivo is essential in product development. The knowledge of the gastrointestinal transit and how the physiological variables can interfere with the disintegration and drug absorption is a prerequisite for development of dosage forms. The aim of this work was to employing the ac biosusceptometry (ACB) to monitoring magnetic tablets in the human gastrointestinal tract and to obtain the magnetic images of the disintegration process in the colonic region. The ac biosusceptometry showed accuracy in the quantification of the gastric residence time, the intestinal transit time and the disintegration time (DT) of the magnetic formulations in the human gastrointestinal tract. Moreover, ac biosusceptometry is a non-invasive technique, radiation-free and harmless to the volunteers, as well as an important research tool in the pharmaceutical, pharmacological and physiological investigations. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pituitary Apoplexy After a Single Dose of Long-Acting Octreotide

Pituitary apoplexy (PA) is a rare and potentially life-threatening syndrome resulting from an acute infarction or hemorrhage of the pituitary gland. Although the pathogenesis is not fully understood, some predisposing factors such as pituitary stimulation tests, diabetes mellitus, anticoagulant or antiplatelet aggregation therapy, head trauma, and high blood pressure may play a role in its pathophysiology. Octreotide is the mainstay of medical treatment for acromegaly. The majority of reported complications of octreotide therapy are gastrointestinal. We report the case of a 51-year-old acromegalic woman who developed pituitary apoplexy within the context of high blood pressure and a single dose of long-acting octreotide. Our data suggest that the combination of hypertension and octreotide therapy enhances the risk of pituitary apoplexy.

Treatment of venous ulcers with surgical adhesives derived from snake venom

A Brazilian dictionary states that "ulcer", from the Latin word ulcuserise, is a superficial lesion on skin or mucous membrane characterized by an inflammatory process and loss of tissue. Ulcers are a relatively frequent problem that may be worsen by infection or long-time duration. In these cases, they can represent a serious public health issue, since the increased case number contributes to the burden on the public health service. In recent decades, wound treatment has advanced in technological and scientific aspects regarding both development of new products and techniques. Ongoing research in this area is providing new products for wound treatment. Among newly tested substances that have presented successful results is fibrin glue, a snake venom derivative that promotes reduction of infection and edema as well as bleeding control and pain decrease. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate fibrin glue effects on ulcers of venous origin in 24 patients that were divided into two groups. The first one (G1) consisted of 11 patients treated without the adhesive while the second group (G2) was composed of 13 persons who were under therapy with the adhesive. The results of this study revealed that patients treated with fibrin glue evolved to a satisfactory healing when compared to the other group. Therefore, fibrin glue is an appropriate alternative for treating leg ulcers with several advantages: easy application, less pain, early hospital discharge, not transmiting diseases, lower cost than the adhesive currently available in Brazil and, finally, it is a Brazilian technology.

A adesão ao tratamento na hipertensão arterial: análise da produção científica

O estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a produção científica publicada entre 1991 e 1995, para identificar como o assunto adesão ao tratamento anti-hipertensivo vem sendo abordado. Foram analisados 107 artigos científicos. Os resultados mostraram que a adesão foi abordada da seguinte maneira: 68% relacionaram ao paciente, 63% ao tratamento farmacológico, 62% a aspectos gerais, 39% ao tratamento não farmacológico, 34% a fatores institucionais, e 8% relativos à, doença. A adesão ao tratamento anti-hipertensivo tem sido um desafio no controle da hipertensão arterial e conhecer como este assunto está sendo enfocado na literatura pode contribuir para aumentar adesão ao tratamento na hipertensão arterial.