Flora and fauna from terrestrial and marine environments provide libraries of natural compounds for drug discovery. The last four decades have seen major advances in ocean exploration that have allowed chemists and biologists to explore previously inaccessible and rare marine organisms. The study of under-explored marine organisms can result in the discovery of structurally novel and unusual natural products with drug potential. Prior to 2005, no natural products had been reported from the Fijian red macroalgae Callophycus serratus or Neurymenia fraxinifolia. As a result of the work described in this thesis and others in the same research group, 33 unique brominated meroditerpenes have been isolated and elucidated alpha-pyrone natural products were discovered from N. fraxinifolia, enriching the natural product library for drug development. Several natural products isolated from C. serratus exhibited sub-micromolar inhibition against the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, including a drug-resistant strain. Derivatization of the natural product bromophycolide A into fluorescent probes allowed the determination of a non-enzymatic mechanism of action against the human malaria parasite P. falciparum. Through a combination of detailed SAR mapping, molecular fluorescent imaging of live cells, UV-vis spectroscopic analyses, and protein affinity techniques, the mechanism of action of bromophycolide A against P. falciparum was determined to involve inhibition of heme crystallization. These studies identify a new class of natural products that target heme detoxification in both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant P. falciparum and suggest an avenue to circumvent drug resistance.

Το φυσικό προϊόν αρτεμισινίνη και τα παράγωγά της αποτελούν σήμερα φάρμακα επιλογής για την αντιμετώπιση της ελονοσίας ενώ πολλά απ’αυτά παρουσιάζουν και ιδιαίτερα σημαντική αντικαρκινική δράση. Στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας έγινε χημική τροποίηση του μορίου της αρτεμισίνης, προκειμένου να συντεθούν διμερή συζεύγματά της με πολυαμίνες (πουτρεσκίνη, σπερμιδίνη, σπερμίνη). Αρχικά, η αρτεμισινίνη τροποποιήθηκε κατάλληλα έτσι ώστε να φέρει συνδέτη με δεσμό C-O (10-oξo) ή C-C (10-καρβο) στη θέση-10 και N-C με αλλαγή του ετεροατόμου στην θέση-11, προκειμένου στη συνέχεια να προσδεθεί στις πολυαμίνες μέσω δεσμού ουρεθάνης. Για το λόγο αυτό, συντέθηκαν ενεργοποιημένα ανάλογα της αρτεμισινίνης, τα οποία μετά από αντίδραση με κατάλληλα προστατευμένες πολυαμίνες, οδηγούν στο σχηματισμό διμερών πολυαμινικών συζευγμάτων της αρτεμισινίνης. Επιπλέον, για προκαταρκτικές βιολογικές μελέτες, συντέθηκε ένα ασύμμετρο πολυαμινικό σύζευγμα της αρτεμισινίνης με το αντικαρκινικό φάρμακο χλωραμβουκίλη, χρησιμοποιώντας το 10-oξo ενεργοποιημένο ανάλογο και την πουτρεσκίνη. / The natural product Artemisinin and its derivatives are currently the drugs of choice for the treatment of malaria, which some of them showing important anticancer activity. In the context of the present dissertation, three chemical modifications of the molecule of artemisinin were accomplished towards the synthesis of several Artemisinin dimer conjugates with polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, spermine). Initially, artemisinin was modified at position 10 and 11, in order to synthesize analogues bearing suitable linkers, through C-O (10-oxo), C-C (10-carbo) and C-N (11-aza, by replacement of O with N in the ring A of Artemisinin) bonds, able to form carbamate bonds with amino groups of polyamines. For this purpose, the corresponding activated intermediates were synthesized, which upon reaction with suitably protected polyamines afforded the Artemisinin symmetric conjugates. In addition, for the sake of preliminary biological evaluation a new asymmetric conjugate consisted of an 10-oxo Artemisinin and a chlorambucil moiety, using putrescine as a polyamine-type linker, was synthesized.

Les objectifs de ce travail étaient d’évaluer qualitativement et quantitativement l’effet d’antipaludiques « classiques » (primaquine, Malarone®, amino-4-quinoléines) et « d’avenir » (artésunate, ferroquine, seuls ou associés) sur les formes hépatiques et les stades sexués du parasite responsable de la transmission du paludisme. Le modèle expérimental comprend des souris swiss femelle infestées par Plasmodium yoelii et Anopheles stephensi comme moustique vecteur. L’action de la Malarone® (proguanil-atovaquuone) sur les stades hépatiques est quasi totale et plus importante que celle, incomplète, de la primaquine, de la ferroquine ou de l’artésunate. Si les molécules précédentes (ferroquine, artésunate), prescrites à doses subcuratives, entraînent souvent une augmentation de la gamétocytogénèse, elles altèrent certains stades de gamétocytes et inhibent statistiquement chez le moustique la formation d’oocystes et leur nombre et, par là même, interviennent négativement dans la transmission du parasite. / The objective of this study is to evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively the effect of "classic" (primaquine, Malarone®, amino-4-quinoline) and "future" (artesunate, ferroquine, alone or associated) antimalarials on the liver forms and sexual stages of the parasite responsible for malaria transmission. The experimental model was : swiss mouse female infected with Plasmodium yoelii and Anophelesstephensi as the vector. The action of Malarone® (proguanil-atovaquuone) on liver stages is almost complete and more than that, incomplete, primaquine, the ferroquine or artesunate. If the previous molecules (ferroquine, artesunate), prescribed at subcurative doses, often lead to an increase in gametocytogenesis, they alter certain stages of gametocytes and statistically inhibit the formation of oocysts in the mosquito; hence, their number involve negatively in the transmission of the parasite.

Objetivos: Desenvolver, caracterizar e avaliar a eficácia in vivo e o perfil farmacocinético de suspensões de nanocápsulas (NC) poliméricas contendo quinina (QN). Metodologia: As NC-QN foram preparadas através de nanoprecipitação com diferentes concentrações de QN: 2 (NC2-QN), 3 (NC3-QN) e 4 mg/mL (NC4-QN). A NC4-QN também foi revestida com quitosana. Todas as formulações foram caracterizadas através de taxa de encapsulação, teor, diâmetro, índice de polidispersão, potencial zeta e pH, sendo a estabilidade avaliada por 30 dias. A avaliação da eficácia foi realizada com diferentes doses de cada formulação, em modelo de malária experimental em ratos Wistar infectados com Plasmodium berguei. A dose de NC-QN com a qual se obteve 100 % de cura dos animais foi selecionada para a avaliação farmacocinética. Nesses experimentos, os animais sadios ou infectados receberam a QN livre ou a NC2-QN, 25 mg/kg, iv bolus. As amostras de plasma coletadas em tempos pré-determinados foram quantificadas por CLAE com método validado para a determinação da QN. Os protocolos com animais foram aprovados pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da UFRGS (#2005477). Resultados e discussão: As suspensões coloidais preparadas com diferentes concentrações de QN apresentaram diâmetro adequado, população modispersa, potencial zeta diferente de zero, doseamento e taxa de encapsulação superior a 90 %. Somente a NC2-QN, na dose de 75 mg/kg/dia, q8h, curou todos os animais. Nas doses de 30 e 60 mg/kg/dia, q8h, 28,6 e 85,7% dos animais sobreviveram, respectivamente, com a NC2-QN. Houve uma diminuição significativa no t½ das NC2-QN (32,9 ± 8,9 min) em relação ao fármaco livre (69,8 ± 44,6 min), no grupo de animais infectados (α = 0,05) em função de uma tendência de aumento do CLtotal (7,1 ± 3,3 versus 9,9 ± 2,1 L/h/kg) do fármaco nanoencapsulado. Conclusões: A nanoencapsulação da QN reduziu a dose efetiva do fármaco no modelo animal avaliado em 30 % e aumentou a sobrevivência dos animais infectados em cerca de 60 %, apresentando-se como uma alternativa potencial para o tratamento da malária. / Objectives: The aims of this study were to develop and characterize polymeric nanocapsules (NC) containing quinine (QN) and to evaluate their efficacy in vivo as well as the pharmacokinetic profile of the nanoencapsulated drug. Methodology: NC-QN were prepared by nanoprecipitation with different drug concentration 2 (NC2- QN), 3 (NC3-QN) and 4 mg/mL (NC4-QN). All formulations were characterized in terms of encapsulation efficacy, drug loading, zeta potential, particle size, polydispersion index, and pH. The stability nanocapsules suspensions were evaluated during 30 days. An experimental malaria model with Plasmodium berghei was used to evaluate NC-QN efficacy in Wistar rats. Different doses were tested for each formulation. The pharmacokinetic evaluation was performed with the dose of NC–QN which presented 100 % efficacy in malaria model. The NC2-QN or QN free were administrated by i.v. route (25 mg/kg) to health and infected rats. Blood samples were collected at pre-determinated time points and quantified by an HPLC validated method. Animal protocols were approved by UFRGS Ethics in Research Committee (# 2005477). Results and discussion: All suspensions presented adequate particle size, monodisperse population, negative zeta potential, drug content and encapsulation efficiency higher than 90 %. The formulation NC2-QN (75 mg/kg/day) administrated q8h daily during 7-9 days post-infection cured all infected rats. For NC2-QN, 30 and 60 mg/kg/day, q8h, 28.6 and 85.7 % of survival were observed, respectively. NC2-QN presented significant decrease in QN t½ compared to the free drug (32.9 ± 8.9 min and 69.8 ± 44.6 min, respectively), in infected rats (α = 0,05). This occurs due to the tendency of increase in CLtotal (7.1 ± 3.3 to 9.9 ± 2.1 L/h/kg, for free QN and NC2-QN, respectively). CLtotal increased in the encapsulated group. Conclusion: Nanoencapsulation reduced QN effective dose in 30 % and increased in 60 % the survival of the infected animals. Theses results indicate that NC-QN is a potential strategy to be investigated for malaria treatment.

The World Health Organization estimates that about 10-30% of pharmaceuticals in the world are either substandard or counterfeit. The number is even higher in the developing countries. From a public health perspective, a key contributor to the development and proliferation drug resistant strains of infections, including tuberculosis (TB), malaria and other infections that are leading killers in resource limited settings is poor quality medicines. Most of the main causes are profit driven corruption in many pharmaceutical companies, the poor manufacture and quality control, and/or the inappropriate storage conditions. Poor quality drugs lead to loss of life, create morbidity, strain the financial structure of the health system and lead to long-term drug resistance that affects us all. The current technology for screening poor quality drugs can be divided into 2 categories: the high end, precise and high cost technologies (such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography) and lower cost and qualitative technologies (such as Thin-Layered Chromatography). The high-end methods can give a precise measurement of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) concentration and the presence of impurities in the tablets, but require trained personnel, advanced machine and lab set up, not suitable for field testing where most of poor quality pharmaceuticals have been found. The lower cost techniques require little training and simple equipment to operate at a relatively inexpensive price, but only gives qualitative results. In addition, most of current methods do not look at the dissolution profile of the tablets simultaneously with the concentration of API. Therefore, we propose to develop an assay that can quantify the concentrations of multiple APIs simultaneously and measure dissolution rates. In order to address current gaps in knowledge, my research proposal has three main parts in the assay development: 1) Development of an fluorescent/luminescent assay for detection of counterfeit/substandard antimalarial using small-molecules-based methods and field testing in Ghana; 2) Development of a fluorescent assay for detection of water-soluble pharmaceuticals using SELEX; and 3) Design a detection platform using microfluidic chips for real time quantification of multiple active pharmaceutical ingredients. For proof-of-concept, an antimalarial drug (artesunate and amodiaquine) and antibacterial antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim) are selected to demonstrate the probe development and test the chip performance. Overall, the assay will be rapid, robust, portable, inexpensive, multiplexed, quantitative, specific, and sensitive. At a big picture level, emphasizing drug quality and creating robust mechanisms of drug testing will improve health outcomes and enhance treatment efficacy in resource limited settings.

The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics and findings of antimalarial drug efficacy studies conducted in Ethiopia and to use the findings to formulate recommendations for antimalarial drug efficacy monitoring and use of evidence to inform antimalarial treatment policy for the Ethiopian setting. This study reviewed 44 antimalarial efficacy studies conducted in Ethiopia from 1974 to 2011. The analysis of results indicated that chloroquine as the first-line antimalarial drug for the treatment of malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum had a 22% therapeutic failure in 1985. Chloroquine was replaced with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine in 1998, more than 12 years later, when its therapeutic failure had reached 65%. Sulfadoxinepyrimethamine at the time of its introduction had a treatment failure of 7.7%; it was replaced after seven years in 2004 by artemether-lumefantrine; by then its treatment failure had reached 36%. The WHO recommends the replacement of a first-line antimalarial drug when more than 10% of treatment failure is reported. The replacement drug should have a therapeutic efficacy of more than 95%; while the change itself should be completed within two years. The prolonged delay to replace failing antimalarial drugs in Ethiopia seems to have been influenced mainly by the lack of systematic antimalarial drug efficacy data collection and pragmatic use of the data and evidence gathered.Almost eight years after its introduction, isolated studies show that the efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine has decreased from 99% in 2003 to around 96.3% in 2008. Though this decrease is not statistically significant (chi-square 1.5; P=0.22) and has not reached the threshold of 10%, it is plausible that its efficacy may drop further. This is mainly due to regulatory provisions in the country that allow marketing of oral artemisinin mono-therapies that are not recommended for malaria treatment, use of less effective antimalarial combination drugs in the neighboring countries and widespread drug quality problems. The situation calls for and this study recommends the establishment of stringent drug efficacy monitoring and early warning system and alignment of the antimalarial drug regulatory practices with recommendations of the WHO. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Vani Xavier de Oliveira Junior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência & Tecnologia - Química, 2015. / A malária é uma doença infecciosa aguda, causada por protozoários do gênero Plasmodium. Devido à resistência a fármacos antimaláricos adquirida pelo plasmódio, torna-se importante o desenvolvimento de alternativas para o tratamento, uma dessas é o uso de peptídeos. A ação antiplasmódica da angiotensina II e de seus análogos foi relatada, demonstrando a capacidade desses em inibir o desenvolvimento do Plasmodium gallinaceum em mosquitos Aedes aegypti. Para proteger os peptídeos da ação de proteases e promover uma liberação prolongada no organismo, podem ser utilizados co-polímeros sintéticos termorreversíveis. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo o encapsulamento dos análogos antiplasmódicos da angiotensina II, com a preparação de formulações para liberação prolongada de peptídeos, visando a administração intramuscular. Os peptídeos foram sintetizados em fase sólida, pela estratégia Fmoc, purificados por Cromatografia Líquida de Alta Eficiência e caracterizados por Espectrometria de Massas. A administração intramuscular de peptídeos livres em pintainhos, para avaliar a atividade antimalárica, não foi satisfatória, uma vez que infectados a partir da picada do mosquito, todos os animais apresentaram malária. Para encapsulamento dos peptídeos, os sistemas poloxamer-peptídeos foram preparados por dispersão direta (na concentração de 2 mg/g de gel) nas soluções de poloxamer 407 isoladamente ou em sistemas binários com poloxamer 403 ou poloxamer 188. A caracterização dos sistemas foi realizada por espectroscopia de correlação de fótons. A 25°C, as formulações com os peptídeos encapsulados apresentaram diâmetro médio que variou entre 33 ¿ 197 nm e, a 37°C, o diâmetro variou entre 21 ¿ 40 nm. Os resultados obtidos nos ensaios de liberação mostraram que o fluxo de liberação para as formulações de poloxamer foram menores que o valor obtido para o peptídeo livre indicando que os sistemas podem ser modelos eficientes de liberação para essa classe de compostos. / Malaria is an acute infectious disease caused by protozoa of the genus Plasmodium. Due to resistance to antimalarial drugs acquired by Plasmodium protozoa, it is important to develop alternatives for the treatment, one of them is the use of peptides. The antiplasmodial action of angiotensin II and its analogs has been reported, it demonstrates their capacity to inhibit the development of Plasmodium gallinaceum in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. In order to protect the peptides from protease action and promote slow release in the organism, thermoreversible synthetic copolymers can be used. This study aims the encapsulation of the antiplasmodial analogs of angiotensin II by the preparation of formulations for slow release of peptides aiming intramuscular administration. The peptides were synthesized by solid phase method by Fmoc strategy, purified by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and characterized by mass spectrometry. Intramuscular administration of peptides in chickens aiming the evaluation of the antimalarial activity was not satisfactory and all animals had malaria. For the encapsulation of peptides, the peptide-poloxamer systems were prepared by direct dispersion (at 2 mg/g of gel) in solutions of poloxamer 407 or in binary systems with poloxamer 403 or poloxamer 188. The systems characterization was performed by photon correlation spectroscopy. At 25°C, the formulation showed an average diameter ranging 33 - 197 nm and at 37°C, the diameter ranged 21- 40 nm. The results of the release tests showed that the flow of release for poloxamer formulations were lower than the value obtained for free peptide indicating that these systems are an effective model for this class of compounds.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Vani Xavier de Oliveira Jr. / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do ABC. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência e Tecnologia/Química, 2016. / A malária é uma doença infecciosa e potencialmente grave, causada pelo parasita do gênero Plasmodium, segundo a Organização Mundial de Saúde, atingiu cerca de 214 milhões de pessoas em todo mundo em 2015. Neste contexto, diversos compostos antimaláricos estão sendo estudados, dentre esses a angiotensina II (AII). Análogos desse composto estão sendo sintetizados pelo grupo de pesquisa, para a obtenção de peptídeos com atividade antimalárica e míninos efeitos colaterais, visando à obtenção de uma possível vacina. Nesse trabalho, os análogos da AII sintetizados foram divididos em dois grupos, no primeiro foram efetuadas substituições pontuais em cada um dos resíduos de aminoácidos, alterando a sua polaridade; no segundo foram realizadas substituições dos resíduos pelos seus isômeros D. Os peptídeos foram sintetizados pelo método da fase sólida, na estratégia Fmoc, purificados por HPLC e caracterizados por LC/ESI-MS e dicroísmo circular (CD). Os ensaios biológicos foram realizados em esporozoítas P. gallinaceum, sendo a ação analisada por microscopia de fluorescência. Os resultados demonstraram uma redução na atividade antimalárica e alterações na conformação da molécula dos análogos. Dentre os estudos realizados, a substituição do resíduo de isoleucina por arginina apresentou o maior resultado - 70% de atividade antiplasmódica e a conformação da AII nativa foi mantida, enquanto que a substituição por ácido aspártico apresentou o resultado mais baixo, apenas 29% de atividade. O estudo da mudança na quiralidade da molécula demonstrou que houve uma redução drástica na atividade biológica (abaixo de 50%). Com exceção do análogo com a substituição da valina que apresentou uma atividade biológica de aproximadamente de 60%. Palavras-chave: Malária, peptídeos e angiotensina. / Malaria is an infectious and potentially serious disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium, according to the World Health Organization, reached about 214 million people worldwide in 2015. In this context, several antimalarial compounds are being studied, among others, the angiotensin II (AII). Analogs of this compound are being synthesized by the research group, to obtain peptides with antimalarial activity and Brazilian minimum side effects, in order to obtain a vaccine. In this work, the synthesized AII analogues were divided into two groups, the first point substitutions were made at each of amino acid residues by changing its polarity; the second substitutions were performed by the waste isomers D. The peptides were synthesized by the solid phase method, the Fmoc strategy, purified by HPLC and characterized by LC / ESI-MS and circular dichroism (CD). The biological tests were carried out in sporozoites P. gallinaceum, the action being analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. The results demonstrated a reduction in the antimalarial activity and changes in the conformation of the molecule analogs. Among the studies, the replacement of the isoleucine residue for arginine showed the highest result - 70% of antiplasmodial activity and conformation of the native IIA was maintained, while substitution of aspartic acid showed the lowest result, only 29% activity. The study of the change in chirality of the molecule showed that there was a drastic reduction in biological activity (below 50%). With the exception of the analogue with the substitution of valine which had a biological activity of approximately 60%.

Objetivos: Desenvolver, caracterizar e avaliar a eficácia in vivo e o perfil farmacocinético de suspensões de nanocápsulas (NC) poliméricas contendo quinina (QN). Metodologia: As NC-QN foram preparadas através de nanoprecipitação com diferentes concentrações de QN: 2 (NC2-QN), 3 (NC3-QN) e 4 mg/mL (NC4-QN). A NC4-QN também foi revestida com quitosana. Todas as formulações foram caracterizadas através de taxa de encapsulação, teor, diâmetro, índice de polidispersão, potencial zeta e pH, sendo a estabilidade avaliada por 30 dias. A avaliação da eficácia foi realizada com diferentes doses de cada formulação, em modelo de malária experimental em ratos Wistar infectados com Plasmodium berguei. A dose de NC-QN com a qual se obteve 100 % de cura dos animais foi selecionada para a avaliação farmacocinética. Nesses experimentos, os animais sadios ou infectados receberam a QN livre ou a NC2-QN, 25 mg/kg, iv bolus. As amostras de plasma coletadas em tempos pré-determinados foram quantificadas por CLAE com método validado para a determinação da QN. Os protocolos com animais foram aprovados pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da UFRGS (#2005477). Resultados e discussão: As suspensões coloidais preparadas com diferentes concentrações de QN apresentaram diâmetro adequado, população modispersa, potencial zeta diferente de zero, doseamento e taxa de encapsulação superior a 90 %. Somente a NC2-QN, na dose de 75 mg/kg/dia, q8h, curou todos os animais. Nas doses de 30 e 60 mg/kg/dia, q8h, 28,6 e 85,7% dos animais sobreviveram, respectivamente, com a NC2-QN. Houve uma diminuição significativa no t½ das NC2-QN (32,9 ± 8,9 min) em relação ao fármaco livre (69,8 ± 44,6 min), no grupo de animais infectados (α = 0,05) em função de uma tendência de aumento do CLtotal (7,1 ± 3,3 versus 9,9 ± 2,1 L/h/kg) do fármaco nanoencapsulado. Conclusões: A nanoencapsulação da QN reduziu a dose efetiva do fármaco no modelo animal avaliado em 30 % e aumentou a sobrevivência dos animais infectados em cerca de 60 %, apresentando-se como uma alternativa potencial para o tratamento da malária. / Objectives: The aims of this study were to develop and characterize polymeric nanocapsules (NC) containing quinine (QN) and to evaluate their efficacy in vivo as well as the pharmacokinetic profile of the nanoencapsulated drug. Methodology: NC-QN were prepared by nanoprecipitation with different drug concentration 2 (NC2- QN), 3 (NC3-QN) and 4 mg/mL (NC4-QN). All formulations were characterized in terms of encapsulation efficacy, drug loading, zeta potential, particle size, polydispersion index, and pH. The stability nanocapsules suspensions were evaluated during 30 days. An experimental malaria model with Plasmodium berghei was used to evaluate NC-QN efficacy in Wistar rats. Different doses were tested for each formulation. The pharmacokinetic evaluation was performed with the dose of NC–QN which presented 100 % efficacy in malaria model. The NC2-QN or QN free were administrated by i.v. route (25 mg/kg) to health and infected rats. Blood samples were collected at pre-determinated time points and quantified by an HPLC validated method. Animal protocols were approved by UFRGS Ethics in Research Committee (# 2005477). Results and discussion: All suspensions presented adequate particle size, monodisperse population, negative zeta potential, drug content and encapsulation efficiency higher than 90 %. The formulation NC2-QN (75 mg/kg/day) administrated q8h daily during 7-9 days post-infection cured all infected rats. For NC2-QN, 30 and 60 mg/kg/day, q8h, 28.6 and 85.7 % of survival were observed, respectively. NC2-QN presented significant decrease in QN t½ compared to the free drug (32.9 ± 8.9 min and 69.8 ± 44.6 min, respectively), in infected rats (α = 0,05). This occurs due to the tendency of increase in CLtotal (7.1 ± 3.3 to 9.9 ± 2.1 L/h/kg, for free QN and NC2-QN, respectively). CLtotal increased in the encapsulated group. Conclusion: Nanoencapsulation reduced QN effective dose in 30 % and increased in 60 % the survival of the infected animals. Theses results indicate that NC-QN is a potential strategy to be investigated for malaria treatment.

Objetivos: Desenvolver, caracterizar e avaliar a eficácia in vivo e o perfil farmacocinético de suspensões de nanocápsulas (NC) poliméricas contendo quinina (QN). Metodologia: As NC-QN foram preparadas através de nanoprecipitação com diferentes concentrações de QN: 2 (NC2-QN), 3 (NC3-QN) e 4 mg/mL (NC4-QN). A NC4-QN também foi revestida com quitosana. Todas as formulações foram caracterizadas através de taxa de encapsulação, teor, diâmetro, índice de polidispersão, potencial zeta e pH, sendo a estabilidade avaliada por 30 dias. A avaliação da eficácia foi realizada com diferentes doses de cada formulação, em modelo de malária experimental em ratos Wistar infectados com Plasmodium berguei. A dose de NC-QN com a qual se obteve 100 % de cura dos animais foi selecionada para a avaliação farmacocinética. Nesses experimentos, os animais sadios ou infectados receberam a QN livre ou a NC2-QN, 25 mg/kg, iv bolus. As amostras de plasma coletadas em tempos pré-determinados foram quantificadas por CLAE com método validado para a determinação da QN. Os protocolos com animais foram aprovados pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da UFRGS (#2005477). Resultados e discussão: As suspensões coloidais preparadas com diferentes concentrações de QN apresentaram diâmetro adequado, população modispersa, potencial zeta diferente de zero, doseamento e taxa de encapsulação superior a 90 %. Somente a NC2-QN, na dose de 75 mg/kg/dia, q8h, curou todos os animais. Nas doses de 30 e 60 mg/kg/dia, q8h, 28,6 e 85,7% dos animais sobreviveram, respectivamente, com a NC2-QN. Houve uma diminuição significativa no t½ das NC2-QN (32,9 ± 8,9 min) em relação ao fármaco livre (69,8 ± 44,6 min), no grupo de animais infectados (α = 0,05) em função de uma tendência de aumento do CLtotal (7,1 ± 3,3 versus 9,9 ± 2,1 L/h/kg) do fármaco nanoencapsulado. Conclusões: A nanoencapsulação da QN reduziu a dose efetiva do fármaco no modelo animal avaliado em 30 % e aumentou a sobrevivência dos animais infectados em cerca de 60 %, apresentando-se como uma alternativa potencial para o tratamento da malária. / Objectives: The aims of this study were to develop and characterize polymeric nanocapsules (NC) containing quinine (QN) and to evaluate their efficacy in vivo as well as the pharmacokinetic profile of the nanoencapsulated drug. Methodology: NC-QN were prepared by nanoprecipitation with different drug concentration 2 (NC2- QN), 3 (NC3-QN) and 4 mg/mL (NC4-QN). All formulations were characterized in terms of encapsulation efficacy, drug loading, zeta potential, particle size, polydispersion index, and pH. The stability nanocapsules suspensions were evaluated during 30 days. An experimental malaria model with Plasmodium berghei was used to evaluate NC-QN efficacy in Wistar rats. Different doses were tested for each formulation. The pharmacokinetic evaluation was performed with the dose of NC–QN which presented 100 % efficacy in malaria model. The NC2-QN or QN free were administrated by i.v. route (25 mg/kg) to health and infected rats. Blood samples were collected at pre-determinated time points and quantified by an HPLC validated method. Animal protocols were approved by UFRGS Ethics in Research Committee (# 2005477). Results and discussion: All suspensions presented adequate particle size, monodisperse population, negative zeta potential, drug content and encapsulation efficiency higher than 90 %. The formulation NC2-QN (75 mg/kg/day) administrated q8h daily during 7-9 days post-infection cured all infected rats. For NC2-QN, 30 and 60 mg/kg/day, q8h, 28.6 and 85.7 % of survival were observed, respectively. NC2-QN presented significant decrease in QN t½ compared to the free drug (32.9 ± 8.9 min and 69.8 ± 44.6 min, respectively), in infected rats (α = 0,05). This occurs due to the tendency of increase in CLtotal (7.1 ± 3.3 to 9.9 ± 2.1 L/h/kg, for free QN and NC2-QN, respectively). CLtotal increased in the encapsulated group. Conclusion: Nanoencapsulation reduced QN effective dose in 30 % and increased in 60 % the survival of the infected animals. Theses results indicate that NC-QN is a potential strategy to be investigated for malaria treatment.