The association of extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) with the use of antipsychotics was first discovered in the 1950s. To our knowledge, little research has been conducted with any retrospective observational database to evaluate the comparative risk of EPS between first-generation antipsychotic (FGA) and second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) users in the U.S. population. The purpose of the study was to compare EPS risk between FGA and SGA users using propensity score-matching (PSM) and instrumental variable (IV) analyses. A retrospective cohort design with an intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis (where the patients included in the cohort were assumed to take the medications without switching or dropping out) was chosen to examine the relationship between antipsychotic treatment and EPS risk. First-time antipsychotic users (as identified in the MEPS database), during the time frame 2002 to 2009, were included in the cohort. All subjects included in the cohort were followed over time to assess EPS risk. Propensity score-based logistic regression (using the Greedy 5[right arrow]1 digit match technique) was used to compare EPS risk between the SGA and FGA users after adjusting for demographic variables and risk factors (associated with EPS). In order to identify the presence of unobserved confounding, an instrumental variable analysis was attempted. Based on previous research findings, "delay in obtaining prescribed medicines" was selected as the instrument to evaluate the relationship between EPS risk and antipsychotic type. The feasibility of instrumental variable analyses was examined by evaluating the strength of the chosen instrument. The propensity score-based logistic regression analysis showed no difference in EPS risk [OR = 1.77, 95% CI = (0.49, 6.40)] between FGA and SGA users. The strength (partial r² = 0.0002) of the instrument was low. A weak instrument used in a regression model may produce biased estimates while evaluating treatment/outcome relationship; therefore, instrumental variable analysis was not conducted. EPS risk was found not to differ between the FGA and SGA users. However, clinicans may choose to evaluate other side-effects (in addition to EPS) of antipsychotics while making treatment decisions. Evaluation of economic, clinical and humanistic outcomes associated with treatment of antipsychotic-related side-effects (besides EPS) can provide clinicans the rationale for selecting one class of antipsychotics over the other. Interpretation of the study findings should be considered in light of the limitations of the MEPS database. Future research is necessary to identify a strong instrument to assess the presencec of unobserved confounding between antipsychotic exposure and EPS risk. Furthermore, additional research is warranted to assess differences in time to development of EPS between the FGA and SGA users. / text

No description available.

No description available.

Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating disease that affects approximately one percent of the US population and exerts a disproportionately high financial burden on the society. The objective of this study was to estimate the direct and indirect costs of schizophrenia among community-dwelling US residents and identify patient characteristics associated with high schizophrenia-related direct costs. Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia (ICD-9 code 295) or other non-organic psychoses (ICD-9 code 298) between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2008 were identified from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). To estimate direct costs, the following cost categories were identified: inpatient hospitalizations, outpatient visits, emergency department visits, office-based physician visits, home healthcare visits, and prescription medications. The following cost categories were identified to estimate indirect costs: caregivers’ costs and cost of lost productivity due to missed work days, reduced employment, and suicide. Logistic regression was used to compare patients belonging to the high-cost group and to the low-cost group. All analyses were carried out using SAS version 9.2 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, North Carolina). The weighted average number of patients with schizophrenia identified for each year was 757,893. The annual direct and indirect costs were estimated at $3.96 billion and $15.35 billion, respectively. The mean annual direct medical schizophrenia-related cost per patient was $5,586. For each one-year increase in age, patients were 5.7% less likely to be in the high-cost group. Patients with a spouse were 77.7% less likely than patients without a spouse to be in the high-cost group. Healthcare providers and policymakers can use these cost estimates to better understand the economic burden of schizophrenia and identify services and subgroups of patients associated with the highest costs. This would help in the provision of healthcare services to patients with schizophrenia and in the optimization of patient outcomes. / text

As elevadas taxas de colesterol plasmático representam um grande risco à saúde, uma vez que podem causar doenças cardiovasculares. Para o tratamento e prevenção da dislipidemia são utilizados medicamentos reguladores do colesterol, como as estatinas. Embora eficazes e extensamente utilizados, esses fármacos apresentam efeitos adversos se administrados na dosagem errada. Assim, faz-se necessário o desenvolvimento de um método de monitorização terapêutica a fim de se ajustar a concentração desses compostos no sangue. Este trabalho visa o desenvolvimento de um método para análise de pravastatina (PRA), atorvastatina (AT), fluvastatina (FLV) e sinvastatina (SV) em plasma humano usando cromatografia líquida acoplada à espectrometria de massas (LC-MS). Na etapa de preparo de amostras, de forma inédita, utilizou-se a técnica microextração por sorvente empacotado (MEPS) para a análise de plasma humano contendo quatro estatinas. Para a otimização das condições de extração avaliaram-se, por experimentos univariados, parâmetros como fase extratora, composição do solvente de eluição e de lavagem. Outros fatores como volume de amostra, ciclos de amostragem, ciclos de eluição e etapas de eluição foram avaliados empregando-se planejamento experimental multivariado. A extração foi realizada utilizando-se uma fase estacionária C18 Chromabond como sorvente. O método MEPS-LC-MS/MS desenvolvido foi validado baseando-se nas recomendações da agência nacional de vigilância sanitária (ANVISA) e apresentou linearidade, seletividade, precisão, exatidão e recuperação adequadas para as estatinas, excetuando-se para a sinvastatina. A faixa de linearidade obtida foi de 10-200 ng mL-1 (FLV e AT) e 20-200 ng mL-1 (PRA). Os limites de quantificação obtidos foram da ordem de 10 ng mL-1 (AT e FLV) e 20 ng mL-1 (PRA). Desta forma o método desenvolvido poderá ser utilizado para a determinação dos níveis de pravastatina, fluvastatina e atorvastatina em amostras de plasma humano. / Elevated plasma cholesterol level is a risk factor for coronary diseases, which are the most deadly sickness according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In order to fight the hypercholesterolemia in patients, statins are a well-established class of drugs to be prescribed. Even though they are efficient, some side effects can be associated with statin therapy, especially when interactions with other drugs occur. In these cases, monitoring the concentration can optimize the drug dosage to therapeutic effectiveness whilst minimizing the adverse effects. The aim of this work was to develop a method for analysis of pravastatin (PRA), atorvastatin (AT), fluvastatin (FLV) and simvastatin (SV) in human plasma. The experimental means chosen to attain the goal was liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) and for the sample preparation, microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS). To optimize the extraction conditions, parameters such as sorbent, elution and washing solution were evaluated. Other parameters such as sampling, elution cycles, sample volume and elution steps were evaluated using multivariate experimental design. The extraction was performed using C18 Chromabond as sorbent. The method was validated based on ANVISA recommendations and featured appropriated linearity, selectivity, accuracy, precision, and recovery, except for simvastatin. The calibration curve in plasma was obtained in the concentration range 10-200 ng mL-1 (FLV and AT) and 20-200 ng mL-1 (PRA) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 10 ng mL-1 (FLV and AT) and 20 ng mL-1 (PRA). The method developed proved to be suitable for the analysis of pravastatin, fluvastatin and atorvastatin in human plasma sample, but not simvastatin, and it can contribute to a more efficient usage of the statins in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia.

Potenciais evocados somatossensitivos e motores são modalidades de testes neurofisiológicos com capacidade para avaliar funcionalmente a integridade das vias sensoriais e motoras, respectivamente, podendo ser utilizados na avaliação neurológica, no estabelecimento de prognóstico e na monitoração da evolução de uma lesão na medula espinhal. Este trabalho visa descrever as técnicas de obtenção de potenciais evocados com estimulação elétrica em cães portadores de doença de disco intervertebral toracolombar, e verificar se há associação com os sinais clínicos e com os achados da tomografia computadorizada (TC). Cinco cães hígidos (grupo controle) e dez cães condrodistróficos com paralisia de membros pélvicos (grupo afetado) devido à extrusão de disco intervertebral toracolombar foram avaliados com relação à classificação neurológica, imagens por TC e potenciais evocados somatossensitivos e motores sob anestesia geral. Presença ou ausência de registros caudais à lesão, mensuração de latências e amplitudes foram efetuadas. Foram captados registros cranianos em todos os cães após estimulação dos membros torácicos, mas apenas em seis cães após estimulação dos membros pélvicos. Da mesma forma, todos os cães apresentaram registros em membros torácicos após estimulação transcraniana, mas apenas em seis cães nos membros pélvicos e esfíncter anal. Houve diferença significativa quanto à presença ou ausência de registros entre os grupos afetado e controle para os membros pélvicos. Os valores mensurados de latência e amplitudes entre os grupos também são discutidos. Potenciais evocados e motores são factíveis de serem produzidos em cães com e sem paralisia de membros pélvicos sob anestesia geral, e foram correlacionados aos sinais clínicos. / Somatosensory and motor evoked potentials are neurophysiologic tests that assesse the integrity of sensory and motor pathways, and may be used in the neurological assessment, prognosis establishment and spinal cord injury monitoration. This study aims to describe the technique for evoked potentials recording with electrical stimulation in healthy dogs and in dogs with thoracolumbar intervertebral disc disease, and determine whether there is any association with clinical signs and computed tomography (CT) findings. Five clinically normal dachshunds (control group) and ten chondrodystrophic dogs with hind limb paralysis (affected group) due to thoracolumbar intervertebral disc extrusions were evaluated according to their neurological status, CT scans and somatosensory and motor evoked potentials under general anesthesia. Recordings presence or absence caudal to lesion, onset latencies and peak-to-peak amplitudes were measured. Records were captured in the scalp in all dogs after front limb stimulation, but only in six dogs after hind limb stimulation. Likewise, in all dogs records were obtained in forelimbs after transcranial stimulation, but only in six dogs on pelvic limbs and on external anal sphincter muscle. There were significant differences in presence or absent recordings between affected and control groups related to pelvic limbs PESS and PEM. Latencies and amplitudes measured between groups are discussed. Somatosensory and motor evoked potentials are feasible to produce in dogs with or without hind limb paralysis under general anesthesia, and correlated with clinical signs.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo o desenvolvimento e validação de um método analítico para a especiação de mercúrio em água com preparação de amostra por microextração em sorvente empacotado (MEPS) e determinação das espécies de mercúrio utilizando cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência hifenada à espectrometria de massa com plasma indutivamente acoplado (HPLC-ICP-MS). Para isso foram otimizadas as condições do sistema cromatográfico, do sistema de detecção e do procedimento de extração, considerando os parâmetros que influenciam diretamente na eficiência da análise, como o solvente de eluição, o agente complexante, o número de ciclos de extração e a velocidade de amostragem da seringa semi-automática eVol®. As melhores condições para o preparo de amostra foram encontradas com o uso de ditizona 0,001% m/v como agente complexante e eluição com 50?L de fase móvel, composta por 2-mercaptoetanol 0,05% v/v + L-cisteína 0,4% m/v + acetato de amônio 0,06 mol.L-1. Esse método apresentou valores de limite de detecção (LOD) de 0,19ng/L, 0,13ng/L e 0,16ng/L e recuperação de 100 ± 3%, 112 ± 0,9% e 91 ± 0,9% para mercúrio inorgânico (IHg), metilmercúrio (MeHg) e etilmercúrio (EtHg), respectivamente. A precisão intra-dia para cada espécie apresentou valores inferiores a 6,2% e a precisão inter-dia, valores interiores a 8,3%. Finalmente, o método proposto é uma excelente alternativa para a especiação química de mercúrio em amostras de água, garantindo uma melhor sensibilidade e reduzido volume de amostra. Além disso, poderá ser uma boa opção para pré-concentração de espécies de mercúrio in loco em estudos de contaminação ambiental em locais de difícil acesso e com pouca infraestrutura. / The aim of this study was to develop and validate a novel preconcentration method for determination of mercury species in water using a microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) based protocol followed by high performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS). The optimized conditions of the HPLC and ICP-MS were determined and critical factors in MEPS protocol were established, including elution solvent, complexing agent, number of extraction cycles and sample flow rate of the semi-automated MEPS format (eVol®). The best sample preparation conditions were found with the use of dithizone 0,001% m/v as complexing agent and elution in 50?L of the mobile phase, containing 2-mercaptoethanol 0,05% v/v + L-cysteine 0,4% m/v + ammonium acetate 0,06 mol/L. The proposed method detection limit (LOD) was 0,19ng/L, 0,13ng/L and 0,16ng/L and the recovery was 100 ± 3%, 112 ± 0,9% and 91 ± 0,9% for inorganic mercury (IHg), methylmercury (MeHg) and ethylmercury (EtHg), respectively. The within-day precision was always lower than 6,2%, while the between-day precision was lower than 8,3% for the species determined. Finally, the proposed method is an excellent alternative for mercury speciation in water samples, ensuring a better sensitivity associated to small sample volume. Additionally, it may be a good option for preconcentration of mercury species in situ for environmental contamination studies in places of difficult access and poor infrastructure

A presen&ccedil;a de antibi&oacute;ticos em &aacute;guas superficiais e subterr&acirc;neas &eacute; motivo de preocupa&ccedil;&atilde;o, devido ao surgimento de bact&eacute;rias resistentes. Contudo, a maioria dos trabalhos publicados na literatura cient&iacute;fica mant&eacute;m o foco nos antibi&oacute;ticos inalterados, sendo que as mol&eacute;culas degradadas tamb&eacute;m est&atilde;o no ambiente. Esses produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o podem ser t&atilde;o ou mais prejudiciais do que as mol&eacute;culas que lhes deram origem. Esse trabalho teve por objetivo desenvolver m&eacute;todos de extra&ccedil;&atilde;o utilizando a microextra&ccedil;&atilde;o por sorvente empacotado (MEPS) para pr&eacute;-concentrar e recuperar produtos de fotodegrada&ccedil;&atilde;o de representantes das sulfonamidas (sulfametazina) e fluoroquinlonas (ciprofloxacino), duas das mais importantes classes de antibi&oacute;ticos. MEPS &eacute; considerada uma t&eacute;cnica promissora utilizando pequenos volumes de amostra e de solventes, al&eacute;m de empregar pequenas quantidades de fase extratora, que ainda pode ser reutilizada. Foram comparadas as fases Oasis&reg; HLB e nanotubos de carbono, sendo que a primeira apresentou melhores resultados. Seis produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o da sulfametazina (SMZ) e oito produtos do ciprofloxacino (CIP), al&eacute;m das mol&eacute;culas inalteradas, foram pr&eacute;-concentrados e analisados por cromatografia l&iacute;quida acoplada &agrave; espectrometria de massas de alta resolu&ccedil;&atilde;o (LC-ESI-ToF). Inicialmente, as concentra&ccedil;&otilde;es de f&aacute;rmaco inalterado utilizadas na fotodegrada&ccedil;&atilde;o foram de 25 mg L-1 (SMZ) e 10mg L-1 (CIP), para que os produtos fossem identificados. As taxas de recupera&ccedil;&atilde;o por MEPS ficaram acima de 50%, o que &eacute; um resultado promissor, considerando-se as diferen&ccedil;as estruturais dos produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o. Em concentra&ccedil;&otilde;es 100 vezes menores, MEPS conseguiu pr&eacute;-concentrar todos os produtos da SMZ e do CIP, facilitando sua detec&ccedil;&atilde;o. Ap&oacute;s desenvolver a pr&eacute;-concentra&ccedil;&atilde;o por MEPS em &aacute;gua purificada, foram realizados estudos de efeito de matriz em esgoto sint&eacute;tico. Enquanto somente um produto de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o da SMZ sofreu supress&atilde;o de ioniza&ccedil;&atilde;o, todos os outros (inclusive os de CIP) experimentaram um aumento de sinal devido &agrave; presen&ccedil;a dos interferentes de matriz. O m&eacute;todo desenvolvido para MEPS tamb&eacute;m foi testado para pr&eacute;-concentrar produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o anaer&oacute;bica da SMZ em reator biol&oacute;gico, obtendo-se &ecirc;xito. Dessa forma, MEPS desponta como uma t&eacute;cnica promissora para pr&eacute;-concentrar produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o e para que pesquisadores possam acompanhar a degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o de reatores biol&oacute;gicos, visto que requer pequenas quantidades de amostra, n&atilde;o alterando significativamente o volume do meio reacional. / Antibiotics are present both surface water and groundwater and this is motive of concern, due to their ability to cause bacterial resistance. Nevertheless, most of publications in scientific area focuses in unchanged compounds, even knowing the presence of degraded molecules in the environment. These degradation products might be so or more dangerous than unchanged compounds. In this work, extraction methods for degradation products were developed using microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS). MEPS is an eco-friendly technique due to little consumption of sample, solvents and sorbent. The degradation products of sulfamethazine (SMZ) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) were generated by photodegradation at 25 mg L-1 and <br clear=\"all\" /> 10 mg L-1 of unchanged drug, respectively. The number of degradation products was six for SMZ and eight for CIP. Oasis&reg; HLB and carbon nanotubes were tested as sorbents and the first got better results in preconcentration. The chromatographic analysis was performed by liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-ToF). Recovery rates obtained by MEPS were greater than 50%, which is a significant result, considering structural differences among degradation products. After setting extraction conditions, MEPS was able to recover degradation products at concentrations 100 times lower and more akin to those find in the environment. Using synthetic sewage as medium, matrix effect studies were performed. The prevalent effect was an increase of ionization in degradation products (both SMZ and CIP), just one SMZ product experienced suppression of ionization. At last, SMZ was degraded in an anaerobic reactor and the degradation products were preconcentrated by MEPS. Although the biological degradation products were not the same of photodegradation (except by one), MEPS was capable to preconcentrate them. Thereby, MEPS starts to dawn as a promising technique to preconcentrate degradation products, specially for researchers using biological reactors, since MEPS requires low volumes of sample and almost do not change the final bulk of reactor.

Bisfenóis, filtros UV de benzofenona, parabenos e antimicrobianos como triclocarban são amplamente utilizados em produtos alimentares, farmacêuticos, cosméticos e de cuidados pessoais e também são encontrados como contaminantes. A maioria destes compostos apresentam possíveis efeitos adversos à saúde, principalmente devido ao fato de sua potencial atividade desreguladora endócrina. Neste sentido, é crescente o interesse pelo desenvolvimento de métodos analíticos que sejam mais simples e que possam ter a capacidade de detecção do maior número de analitos possíveis simultaneamente para uso em estudos de biomonitoramento humano. O objetivo deste projeto foi desenvolver um novo método de preparo de amostras em microextração em sorvente empacotado (MEPS, do inglês \"microextraction by packed sorbent\") para a extração simultânea de substâncias potencialmente desreguladoras endócrinas (parabenos, bisfenóis, benzofenonas e triclocarban). Em 250 ?L de urina sintética (pH 5,3) foram adicionados os analitos a uma concentração de 20 ng/mL e diluídos com 250 ?L de água. Após este procedimento, os compostos foram extraídos manualmente da amostra de urina usando MEPS C18 com 5 ciclos de aspirar-dispensar de 100 ?L. A eluição dos analitos foi realizada utilizando 100 ?L (metanol/água 80:20), seguido de análise em LC-MS/MS. O cartucho MEPS, após a limpeza, foi reutilizado para extrações múltiplas sem a presença de efeito de memória. As separações cromatográficas foram conduzidas em uma coluna C18 a 40 °C. A fase móvel foi composta por um gradiente de metanol e água a uma vazão de 500 ?L/min. Os dados foram adquiridos no modo MRM com íons negativos como precursores. O método MEPS-LC-MS/MS proposto apresentou curva de calibração linear para todos os analitos com coeficiente de correlação (r) maior que 0,99 no intervalo do limite inferior de quantificação (LIQ) a 20,0 ng/mL. Os LODs variaram de 0,005-0,1 ng/mL e os LIQ variaram de 0,5-2,5 ng/mL. Além disso, a precisão foi expressa como o coeficiente de variação, onde os valores obtidos foram menores que 20% (n=3) nos LIQ e menores que 15% (n=3) nas concentrações de 10,0 e 20,0 ng/mL. A exatidão foi expressa na forma de erro padrão relativo, onde os valores obtidos não foram superiores a ±20% (n=3) para os LIQ e ±15% (n=3) nas concentrações 10,0 e 20,0 ng/mL. O procedimento MEPS proposto apresentou vantagens que incluem a possibilidade de extração e determinação simultânea de 16 analitos em urina, com redução dos volumes de amostra e solvente utilizados, além de vantagens como tempo reduzido de preparo de amostra, clean up da matriz e dispensa etapa prévia ao preparo de amostra / Bisphenol, benzophenone UV filters, parabens and antimicrobials as triclocarban are widely used in food, pharmaceuticals products, cosmetic and personal care products or they are fond as contaminants. Most of these compounds show possible health adverse effects, mainly due to the fact of its potential endocrine disrupting activity. Thus, there is an increasing interesting in new analytical method development that will be simple and able to detect largest number of analytes possible simultaneously to be used in human biomonitoring studies. The project goal was developed a new sample preparation methody in Microextraction in packed sorbent (MEPS) to simultaneous extraction followed by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry in tandem analysis (LC-MS/MS) of 16 substances potentially endocrine disrupting (parabens, bisphenols, benzophenones and triclocarban). In 250 ?L of synthetic urine (pH 5.3) were spiked with compounds at a concentration of 20 ng/mL and diluted with 250 ?L of water. After this procedure, the compounds were extracted manually from urine sample using MEPS C18 with 5 draw-eject 100 ?L cycles. The elution was performed using 100 ?L (methanol/water 80:20) followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. The MEPS cartridge, after cleaned, was used for multiple extractions without any carry-over effect. Chromatographic separations were carried out on a C18 column at 40 oC. The Mobile phase was composed by a gradient methanol and water at a flow rate of 500 ?L/min. Data were acquired the MRM mode with negative ions as precursors. The proposed MEPS-LC-MS/MS method showed calibration curve linear to all analytes with correlation coefficient higher than 0,99 in the range from low limit of quantification (LIQ) to 20,0 ng/mL. The LODs range from 0,005-0,1 ng/mL and LIQ range from 0,5 to 2,5 ng/mL. Moreover, the precision was reported as variation coefficient, where the values were less than 20% (n=3) to the LIQ and less than 15% (n=3) to 10,0 and 20,0 ng/mL concentrations. The accuracy was reported as relative standard error, where the values were less than ±20% to the LIQ and less than ±15% (n=3) to 10,0 and 20,0 ng/mL concentrations. The MEPS procedure proposed showed advantages including possibility to extraction and simultaneous determination of 16 analytes in urine, with sample and solvents volume reduction besides it shows advantages as time reducing in sample preparation, matrix clean up and dispense previous sample preparation step.

A presen&ccedil;a de antibi&oacute;ticos em &aacute;guas superficiais e subterr&acirc;neas &eacute; motivo de preocupa&ccedil;&atilde;o, devido ao surgimento de bact&eacute;rias resistentes. Contudo, a maioria dos trabalhos publicados na literatura cient&iacute;fica mant&eacute;m o foco nos antibi&oacute;ticos inalterados, sendo que as mol&eacute;culas degradadas tamb&eacute;m est&atilde;o no ambiente. Esses produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o podem ser t&atilde;o ou mais prejudiciais do que as mol&eacute;culas que lhes deram origem. Esse trabalho teve por objetivo desenvolver m&eacute;todos de extra&ccedil;&atilde;o utilizando a microextra&ccedil;&atilde;o por sorvente empacotado (MEPS) para pr&eacute;-concentrar e recuperar produtos de fotodegrada&ccedil;&atilde;o de representantes das sulfonamidas (sulfametazina) e fluoroquinlonas (ciprofloxacino), duas das mais importantes classes de antibi&oacute;ticos. MEPS &eacute; considerada uma t&eacute;cnica promissora utilizando pequenos volumes de amostra e de solventes, al&eacute;m de empregar pequenas quantidades de fase extratora, que ainda pode ser reutilizada. Foram comparadas as fases Oasis&reg; HLB e nanotubos de carbono, sendo que a primeira apresentou melhores resultados. Seis produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o da sulfametazina (SMZ) e oito produtos do ciprofloxacino (CIP), al&eacute;m das mol&eacute;culas inalteradas, foram pr&eacute;-concentrados e analisados por cromatografia l&iacute;quida acoplada &agrave; espectrometria de massas de alta resolu&ccedil;&atilde;o (LC-ESI-ToF). Inicialmente, as concentra&ccedil;&otilde;es de f&aacute;rmaco inalterado utilizadas na fotodegrada&ccedil;&atilde;o foram de 25 mg L-1 (SMZ) e 10mg L-1 (CIP), para que os produtos fossem identificados. As taxas de recupera&ccedil;&atilde;o por MEPS ficaram acima de 50%, o que &eacute; um resultado promissor, considerando-se as diferen&ccedil;as estruturais dos produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o. Em concentra&ccedil;&otilde;es 100 vezes menores, MEPS conseguiu pr&eacute;-concentrar todos os produtos da SMZ e do CIP, facilitando sua detec&ccedil;&atilde;o. Ap&oacute;s desenvolver a pr&eacute;-concentra&ccedil;&atilde;o por MEPS em &aacute;gua purificada, foram realizados estudos de efeito de matriz em esgoto sint&eacute;tico. Enquanto somente um produto de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o da SMZ sofreu supress&atilde;o de ioniza&ccedil;&atilde;o, todos os outros (inclusive os de CIP) experimentaram um aumento de sinal devido &agrave; presen&ccedil;a dos interferentes de matriz. O m&eacute;todo desenvolvido para MEPS tamb&eacute;m foi testado para pr&eacute;-concentrar produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o anaer&oacute;bica da SMZ em reator biol&oacute;gico, obtendo-se &ecirc;xito. Dessa forma, MEPS desponta como uma t&eacute;cnica promissora para pr&eacute;-concentrar produtos de degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o e para que pesquisadores possam acompanhar a degrada&ccedil;&atilde;o de reatores biol&oacute;gicos, visto que requer pequenas quantidades de amostra, n&atilde;o alterando significativamente o volume do meio reacional. / Antibiotics are present both surface water and groundwater and this is motive of concern, due to their ability to cause bacterial resistance. Nevertheless, most of publications in scientific area focuses in unchanged compounds, even knowing the presence of degraded molecules in the environment. These degradation products might be so or more dangerous than unchanged compounds. In this work, extraction methods for degradation products were developed using microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS). MEPS is an eco-friendly technique due to little consumption of sample, solvents and sorbent. The degradation products of sulfamethazine (SMZ) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) were generated by photodegradation at 25 mg L-1 and <br clear=\"all\" /> 10 mg L-1 of unchanged drug, respectively. The number of degradation products was six for SMZ and eight for CIP. Oasis&reg; HLB and carbon nanotubes were tested as sorbents and the first got better results in preconcentration. The chromatographic analysis was performed by liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-ToF). Recovery rates obtained by MEPS were greater than 50%, which is a significant result, considering structural differences among degradation products. After setting extraction conditions, MEPS was able to recover degradation products at concentrations 100 times lower and more akin to those find in the environment. Using synthetic sewage as medium, matrix effect studies were performed. The prevalent effect was an increase of ionization in degradation products (both SMZ and CIP), just one SMZ product experienced suppression of ionization. At last, SMZ was degraded in an anaerobic reactor and the degradation products were preconcentrated by MEPS. Although the biological degradation products were not the same of photodegradation (except by one), MEPS was capable to preconcentrate them. Thereby, MEPS starts to dawn as a promising technique to preconcentrate degradation products, specially for researchers using biological reactors, since MEPS requires low volumes of sample and almost do not change the final bulk of reactor.