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Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology / Deon van der Merwe / 1,4-Dioxane is a potentially carcinogenic solvent. It is a problematic groundwater contaminant because of its unique physical-chemical properties. It is found in a wide range of consumer products as a by-product contaminant. This research aimed to investigate contaminant properties and behavior of dioxane in the environment and also in the human body. The dioxane ability to decontamination by adsorption processes was evaluated with four adsorbents. The adsorption efficiencies of activated carbon (AC), metal oxide nanomaterials (TiO[subscript]2 and MgO), and diatomaceous earth (DE) were assessed in aqueous and vapor phases using infrared spectroscopy. AC showed the highest adsorptive capacity for dioxane at equilibrium in both phases. The rate and extent of dermal absorption are important in the analysis of risk from dermal exposure to dioxane. For this purpose, a new flow through diffusion system (FTDS) was developed by modifying a Bronaugh flow through diffusion cell with flow capacity in both the donor and receptor compartments and using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) as the analytical technique. FTDS can provide ‘real time’ quantitative high-density permeation data over time and is characterized by the simplicity of its use and the low cost of test samples. The in vitro dermal absorption study of dioxane across human skin showed that the absorption parameters of dioxane were 1.16 ± 0.22 hr, 5.7 X 10[superscript]-4 ± (0.62) cm/hr, 0.286 ± 0.035 mg/cm2/hr, 4.8 X 10-5 (± 0.32) cm[superscript]2/hr, and 1.99 ± 0.086 mg for lag time, permeability, steady-state flux, diffusivity, and total amount absorbed over 8 hr, respectively. The study of the effect of the surfactant sodium lauryl sulphate and solvent systems water, ethanol, propylene glycol, and ethyl acetate on permeation profiles revealed that these solvents and surfactants increased the permeation of dioxane significantly. The FT-IR spectra of stratum corneum treated with solvents showed that there was broadening of the CH[subscript]2 asymmetric stretching vibration of the CH[subscript]2 peak near 2920 cm[superscript]-1 only in samples treated with ethanol. The lipid extract precipitates were detected and were mostly composed of the stratum corneum lipid part.

Nanoparticles are thought to present a unique hazard to human health. Furthermore, the increasing use of nanomaterials in consumer products has not been accompanied by relevant risk assessments. It is conceivable that skin flexion may assist the translocation of nanoparticles across the stratum corneum. However, current in vitro methodology to study dermal absorption involves the exclusive use of immobile skin within diffusion cells. Therefore, a novel skin-flexing diffusion cell system (“CutaFlex™”) was developed to incorporate reproducible skin flexing (2 flexes min-1; 6 mm maximum amplitude). The initial aims of this Thesis were to characterise the CutaFlex™ system to eliminate the possibility of flexion-induced (experimental) skin damage, demonstrate equivalence with historical permeability data to model compounds and assess the effect of skin flexing on barrier disruption. Subsequent work aimed to investigate the hypothesis that nanoparticles require dermal flexion to penetrate intact skin. In supporting these aims, this Thesis also performed work to assess the correlation between direct measurements of skin barrier function (using tritiated water) and transepidermal water loss (TEWL), the effect of flexing on the performance of topical skin protectants (barrier creams) and to further validate in vitro diffusion cell measurements against in vivo data acquired under identical conditions. The results demonstrated that skin flexing did not alter skin barrier function and that the CutaFlex™ system was in general agreement with historical measurements of skin permeability. Furthermore, controlled chemical or physical damage to the stratum corneum was not exacerbated by skin flexing. Skin flexion did not facilitate the dermal absorption of a range of nanoparticles (quantum dots). However, differences in the partitioning of nanoparticles into the stratum corneum were observed (independent of the degree of flexing), with greater amounts of negatively charged nanoparticles found in the superficial layers of the stratum corneum in comparison with positive or neutral nanoparticles. Flexing had a modest effect on the performance of a skin barrier cream which was limited to low dose applications; an effect tentatively ascribed to flexion-induced movement of cream to previously untreated areas. A poor correlation was found between 3H2O water permeability and TEWL flux. Most importantly, there was excellent agreement between in vitro skin permeability studies and in vivo studies (which used a surrogate measure of skin permeability). To summarise, the data in this Thesis has led to the development and characterisation of a novel diffusion cell (CutaFlex™), capable of simultaneously flexing skin whilst performing dermal absorption measurements comparable with the OECD-compliant models.

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Com o crescente aumento do mercado cosmético e com o consequente aumento da exposição da população às diversas moléculas que os compõem, se faz fundamental os cuidados no desenvolvimento e na avaliação da segurança de produtos cosméticos. Diferentes ferramentas estão disponíveis para compor a estratégia de avaliação de segurança, sendo uma delas a avaliação da retenção e permeação cutânea in vitro, técnica que não apenas fornece dados para a avaliação da eficácia de princípios ativos, como também permite um aprofundamento na avaliação toxicológica dos ingredientes e produtos cosméticos. Assim como cresce o interesse da população por produtos cosméticos, observa-se também um aumento considerável na procura por produtos contendo ingredientes botânicos, o que torna ainda mais desafiadora a avaliação de segurança. Sendo as isoflavonas de soja bastante consumidas na alimentação e, em alguns casos, aplicadas a cosméticos, e tendo elas propriedades dérmicas interessantes, este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar o perfil de retenção e permeação cutânea in vitro da daidzeína, umas das mais importantes isoflavonas já descritas e estudadas. Para tal, desenvolveu-se uma nanoemulsão cosmética e aplicou-se um extrato botânico de soja rico em daidzeína. Desenvolveu-se e validou-se um método analítico por cromatografia líquida acoplada a detector de arranjo de diodos, e ainda procedeu-se a caracterização da nanoemulsão, a avaliação teórica de segurança de todos os seus ingredientes, além dos estudos de retenção e permeação cutânea in vitro, foco central deste trabalho. Como resultados, teve-se que a técnica de emulsificação à quente seguida de sonicação adotada para o preparo da nanoemulsão foi eficiente, possibilitando a obtenção de uma nanoemulsão pouco polidispersa e com tamanho de partícula médio abaixo de 200 nm. A retenção e permeação cutânea foram dependentes do tempo de aplicação, sendo que a nanoemulsão proporcionou uma maior retenção e menor permeação cutâneas da daidzeína comparado com solução controle no tempo de 6 h. A nanoemulsão desenvolvida mostrou-se adequada para a liberação tópica da daidzeína presente em extrato vegetal. Os testes in vitro de retenção e permeação cutânea são cruciais para esta etapa de desenvolvimento das formulações, quando os aspectos liberação tópica e possível toxicidade sistêmica são avaliados. / With the continuous growth of the cosmetic market, and so the increase in the exposure of the population to the different molecules present on these products, the care in the development and the safety assessment of cosmetics plays an important role. Different tools are available to compose the safety assessment strategy, one of which is the dermal absorption in vitro assay. This technique does not only give information regarding the efficacy of active ingredients, but also allow a deep toxicological evaluation of cosmetic ingredients and products. As the interest of the population on cosmetic products grows, also grows people\'s search for products containing botanical ingredients, fact that turns the safety assessment more challenger. As the soy isoflavones are part of the diet and sometimes used in cosmetic products, and as they present interesting dermal properties, this work aimed to study the profile of skin retention and dermal absorption of the daidzein, one of the most important isoflavones ever described and studied. For that, a cosmetic nanoemulsion was developed, in which a soy botanical extract rich in daidzein was added. An analytical method was developed and validated, based in liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector. Besides the in vitro studies of skin retention and dermal absorption, main focus of this project, the characterization of the nanoemulsion and the theoretical safety assessment of all of its ingredients were also performed. Regarding the results, the technique of hot emulsification followed by sonication used for the preparation of the nanoemulsion could be considered efficient based on the fact that it was less polidisperse and with a medium particle size below 200 nm. The skin retention and permeation were dependent on the time of application, and, it was observed that the nanoemulsion has led to greater retention and lesser skin permeation of daidzein incorporated into the nanoemulsion when compared to the control solution after 6 h of application. The nanoemulsion developed showed to be adequate to topical delivery of daidzein that is present in plant extract. In vitro skin retention and skin permeation are critical for this stage of development of the formulations, considering that aspects of topical delivery and systemic toxicity are evaluated.

Com o crescente aumento do mercado cosmético e com o consequente aumento da exposição da população às diversas moléculas que os compõem, se faz fundamental os cuidados no desenvolvimento e na avaliação da segurança de produtos cosméticos. Diferentes ferramentas estão disponíveis para compor a estratégia de avaliação de segurança, sendo uma delas a avaliação da retenção e permeação cutânea in vitro, técnica que não apenas fornece dados para a avaliação da eficácia de princípios ativos, como também permite um aprofundamento na avaliação toxicológica dos ingredientes e produtos cosméticos. Assim como cresce o interesse da população por produtos cosméticos, observa-se também um aumento considerável na procura por produtos contendo ingredientes botânicos, o que torna ainda mais desafiadora a avaliação de segurança. Sendo as isoflavonas de soja bastante consumidas na alimentação e, em alguns casos, aplicadas a cosméticos, e tendo elas propriedades dérmicas interessantes, este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar o perfil de retenção e permeação cutânea in vitro da daidzeína, umas das mais importantes isoflavonas já descritas e estudadas. Para tal, desenvolveu-se uma nanoemulsão cosmética e aplicou-se um extrato botânico de soja rico em daidzeína. Desenvolveu-se e validou-se um método analítico por cromatografia líquida acoplada a detector de arranjo de diodos, e ainda procedeu-se a caracterização da nanoemulsão, a avaliação teórica de segurança de todos os seus ingredientes, além dos estudos de retenção e permeação cutânea in vitro, foco central deste trabalho. Como resultados, teve-se que a técnica de emulsificação à quente seguida de sonicação adotada para o preparo da nanoemulsão foi eficiente, possibilitando a obtenção de uma nanoemulsão pouco polidispersa e com tamanho de partícula médio abaixo de 200 nm. A retenção e permeação cutânea foram dependentes do tempo de aplicação, sendo que a nanoemulsão proporcionou uma maior retenção e menor permeação cutâneas da daidzeína comparado com solução controle no tempo de 6 h. A nanoemulsão desenvolvida mostrou-se adequada para a liberação tópica da daidzeína presente em extrato vegetal. Os testes in vitro de retenção e permeação cutânea são cruciais para esta etapa de desenvolvimento das formulações, quando os aspectos liberação tópica e possível toxicidade sistêmica são avaliados. / With the continuous growth of the cosmetic market, and so the increase in the exposure of the population to the different molecules present on these products, the care in the development and the safety assessment of cosmetics plays an important role. Different tools are available to compose the safety assessment strategy, one of which is the dermal absorption in vitro assay. This technique does not only give information regarding the efficacy of active ingredients, but also allow a deep toxicological evaluation of cosmetic ingredients and products. As the interest of the population on cosmetic products grows, also grows people\'s search for products containing botanical ingredients, fact that turns the safety assessment more challenger. As the soy isoflavones are part of the diet and sometimes used in cosmetic products, and as they present interesting dermal properties, this work aimed to study the profile of skin retention and dermal absorption of the daidzein, one of the most important isoflavones ever described and studied. For that, a cosmetic nanoemulsion was developed, in which a soy botanical extract rich in daidzein was added. An analytical method was developed and validated, based in liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector. Besides the in vitro studies of skin retention and dermal absorption, main focus of this project, the characterization of the nanoemulsion and the theoretical safety assessment of all of its ingredients were also performed. Regarding the results, the technique of hot emulsification followed by sonication used for the preparation of the nanoemulsion could be considered efficient based on the fact that it was less polidisperse and with a medium particle size below 200 nm. The skin retention and permeation were dependent on the time of application, and, it was observed that the nanoemulsion has led to greater retention and lesser skin permeation of daidzein incorporated into the nanoemulsion when compared to the control solution after 6 h of application. The nanoemulsion developed showed to be adequate to topical delivery of daidzein that is present in plant extract. In vitro skin retention and skin permeation are critical for this stage of development of the formulations, considering that aspects of topical delivery and systemic toxicity are evaluated.

In our modern society we are exposed to many natural and synthetic chemicals. The assessment of chemicals with regard to human safety is difficult but nevertheless of high importance. Beside clinical studies, which are restricted to potential pharmaceuticals only, most toxicity data relevant for regulatory decision-making are based on in vivo data. Due to the ban on animal testing of cosmetic ingredients in the European Union, alternative approaches, such as in vitro and in silico tests, have become more prevalent. In this thesis existing non-testing approaches (i.e. studies without additional experiments) have been extended, e.g. QSAR models, and new non-testing approaches, e.g. in vitro data supported structural alert systems, have been created. The main aspect of the thesis depends on the determination of data quality, improving modelling performance and supporting Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) with definitions of structural alerts and physico-chemical properties. Furthermore, there was a clear focus on the transparency of models, i.e. approaches using algorithmic feature selection, machine learning etc. have been avoided. Furthermore structural alert systems have been written in an understandable and transparent manner. Beside the methodological aspects of this work, cosmetically relevant examples of models have been chosen, e.g. skin penetration and hepatic steatosis. Interpretations of models, as well as the possibility of adjustments and extensions, have been discussed thoroughly. As models usually do not depict reality flawlessly, consensus approaches of various non-testing approaches and in vitro tests should be used to support decision-making in the regulatory context. For example within read-across, it is feasible to use supporting information from QSAR models, docking, in vitro tests etc. By applying a variety of models, results should lead to conclusions being more usable/acceptable within toxicology. Within this thesis (and associated publications) novel methodologies on how to assess and employ statistical data quality and how to screen for potential liver toxicants have been described. Furthermore computational tools, such as models for skin permeability and dermal absorption, have been created.

No description available.