A importância de algumas abordagens psicoterápicas associadas à farmacoterapia no tratamento do Transtorno Depressivo Maior tem sido bastante destacada, no entanto, existem poucos dados sobre a Psicoterapia Psicodramática. O presente estudo comparou 20 pacientes com diagnóstico de TDM em uso de medicamentos antidepressivos e avaliados pela Escala de Depressão de HAM-D17 (escores entre 7 e 20), divididos em dois grupos: dez pacientes do Grupo Psicoterápico (GP) participaram de 4 sessões individuais de psicoterapia psicodramática e 24 de grupo. Dez pacientes do Grupo Controle (GC) não participaram de sessões psicoterápicas. Os dois grupos foram avaliados pela Escala de HAM-D17 e pela Escala de Adequação Social (EAS) no início e final do processo psicoterápico e o GP também foi avaliado pela Análise Sociométrica, fundamentada no método psicodramático. Em comparação ao GC, o GP apresentou uma melhora significativa quanto aos sintomas depressivos e ao funcionamento social, bem como uma expressiva mudança nos aspectos sociométricos investigados / The importance of several psychotherapic approaches associated to pharmacotherapy on the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder has been quite highlighted, although, there is little information as far as Psychodramatic Psychotherapy is concerned. The present study compared 20 patients diagnosed with MDD in use of antidepressant drugs and evaluated with the Hamilton Depression Scale (scores between 7 and 20), divided into two groups as follows: ten of the patients from the Psychotherapic Group (PG) took part in 4 individual psychodramatic psychotherapy sessions and 24 psychodramatic psychotherapy group sessions. Ten of the patients from the Control Group (CG) did not participate in the psychodramatic psychotherapy sessions. Both groups were evaluated with the HAM-D17 Scale and the Social Adjustment Scale - Self Report (SASSR) at the beginning and at the end of the psychotherapic process, and the PG was also evaluated through Sociometric Analysis, based on the psychodramatic method. In comparison to the CG, the PG presented a significant improvement regarding the symptoms of depression and social functioning, as well as an expressive change on the investigated sociometric aspects

A importância de algumas abordagens psicoterápicas associadas à farmacoterapia no tratamento do Transtorno Depressivo Maior tem sido bastante destacada, no entanto, existem poucos dados sobre a Psicoterapia Psicodramática. O presente estudo comparou 20 pacientes com diagnóstico de TDM em uso de medicamentos antidepressivos e avaliados pela Escala de Depressão de HAM-D17 (escores entre 7 e 20), divididos em dois grupos: dez pacientes do Grupo Psicoterápico (GP) participaram de 4 sessões individuais de psicoterapia psicodramática e 24 de grupo. Dez pacientes do Grupo Controle (GC) não participaram de sessões psicoterápicas. Os dois grupos foram avaliados pela Escala de HAM-D17 e pela Escala de Adequação Social (EAS) no início e final do processo psicoterápico e o GP também foi avaliado pela Análise Sociométrica, fundamentada no método psicodramático. Em comparação ao GC, o GP apresentou uma melhora significativa quanto aos sintomas depressivos e ao funcionamento social, bem como uma expressiva mudança nos aspectos sociométricos investigados / The importance of several psychotherapic approaches associated to pharmacotherapy on the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder has been quite highlighted, although, there is little information as far as Psychodramatic Psychotherapy is concerned. The present study compared 20 patients diagnosed with MDD in use of antidepressant drugs and evaluated with the Hamilton Depression Scale (scores between 7 and 20), divided into two groups as follows: ten of the patients from the Psychotherapic Group (PG) took part in 4 individual psychodramatic psychotherapy sessions and 24 psychodramatic psychotherapy group sessions. Ten of the patients from the Control Group (CG) did not participate in the psychodramatic psychotherapy sessions. Both groups were evaluated with the HAM-D17 Scale and the Social Adjustment Scale - Self Report (SASSR) at the beginning and at the end of the psychotherapic process, and the PG was also evaluated through Sociometric Analysis, based on the psychodramatic method. In comparison to the CG, the PG presented a significant improvement regarding the symptoms of depression and social functioning, as well as an expressive change on the investigated sociometric aspects

The thrust of this thesis is to study oral solid dosage formulation using hot melt coating method and to use pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation (PK M&S) as a tool that can help to predict pharmacokinetics of a drug in human and the probability of passing various bioequivalence criteria of the formulation based on the PK of the drug. Hot-melt coating using a new method, direct blending, was performed to create immediate and sustained release formulations (IR and SR). This new method was introduced to offer another choice to produce IR and SR drug delivery formulations using single and double coating layer of waxes onto sugar beads and/or drug loaded pellets. Twelve waxes were applied to coat sugar cores. The harder the wax the slower the drug was released from single coated beads. The wax coating can be deposited up to 28% of the weight of the core bead with 58% drug loading efficiency in the coating The cores were coated with single or double wax layers containing acetaminophen. Carnauba wax coated beads dissolved in approximately 6 hrs releasing 80% of loaded drug. However, when covered with another layer, the drug loaded beads released drug for over 20 hrs. When drug loaded pellets were used as cores, 33-58% drug loading was achieved. Double coated pellets exhibited a near zero order drug release for up to 16 hrs. Hot melt coating by direct blending using waxes is a simple process compared to conventional hot melt coating using coating pan or fluid bed coating machines. It offers an alternative way of making immediate, sustained drug release (IR, SR) and modified release (IR+SR) oral dosage forms of drugs which are stable at high temperature (100°C). The pellet-containing-drug coated formulations provide options when higher drug loading is warranted. It is required by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that a new modified –release (MR) product or identical generic product be regarded as bioequivalent (BE) to the originators reference drug product. However, there are concerns that current regulatory criteria are not sufficient when evaluating bioequivalence (BE) for many MR products, and additional metrics for BE assessment of the products should be applied to ensure therapeutic equivalence. This study used pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation (M&S) to investigate 1) the probability of BE occurring between the MR test and reference products 2) the rates of false positive and true negative of the BE test; and 3) the estimation of the sample size in pivotal BE studies; all of which when partial area under the curves (pAUCs) were applied as additional BE criteria. Reference data of two MR forms of methylphenydate HCl (MPH) were simulated and obtained from literature (formulation Q and Metadate CD, respectively). Monte Carlo simulations were performed to simulate the test drug concentration profiles and BE assessment was carried out utilizing the mean (method 1) and individual concentration time curves (method 2). For formulation Q, adding pAUC₀₋[subscript Tmax] to current BE criteria reduced the possibility of passing BE from approximately 98% to 85%, with a true negative rate of 5%. The earlier the time points used to determine for pAUC before Tmax, the lower the chance of passing BE for the test product. The possibility of passing BE varied and depended on the coefficient of variations (CV) of T[subscript lag], K[subscript a] and K[subscript e] and that considerable variability in the parameters affected the earlier segments of the drug concentration profile curves more. Similar drug concentration time profiles between the test and reference products is recommended to ensure bioequivalence occurs with a reasonable subject sample size. A similar scenario was seen when Metadate CD was used as the reference product. PK M&S can help provide appropriate additional metrics to assure the BE test is a better tool ensuring therapeutic equivalence for MR products with little negative impact to generic manufacturers. Predictions can also be made about the required sample size and the chances of passing BE with any addition to the conventional three criteria for the test product. PK M&S was also used to predict drug concentrations of levofloxacin in tissue. Levofloxacin has been widely used in clinical practice as an effective broad-spectrum antimicrobial, however tendonitis and tendon rupture have been reported with increasing use of this agent. Here, these incidents will be assessed by investigating pharmacokinetic behavior of the compound to see if they are related to drug's tissue disposition. The PK model for levofloxacin was established. Mean concentration time profiles of single or multiple dosing of 500 mg levofloxacin following oral and IV infusion administration were simulated. Monte Carlo simulation was used to simulate the drug concentration time profiles in plasma (compartment 1) and tissue (compartment 2) after seven dosing regimens while varying the drug's elimination and distribution rates to see the effect of changing those rates have on the drug accumulation in tissue. Monte Carlo Simulation shows that low elimination rates affect the drug concentration in plasma and tissue significantly with the level in plasma rising up to 35 μg/mL at day 7. A normal elimination rate together with escalation of distribution rates from plasma to tissue could increase the tissue concentration after 7 doses to 9.5 µg/mL, a value that is more than twice that of normal. PK M&S can be used as an effective tool to evaluate drug concentration in different compartments (plasma and tissues, for example). The unexpectedly high concentration values in some cases may explain, at least in part, the reason of tendinopathy occurs in the clinical setting. / Graduation date: 2012 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from June 7, 2012 - June 7, 2014

In Africa, use of medicinal plants for the treatment of diabetes is very common. However, efficacy on co-administering of medicinal plants with therapeutic drugs hasn't been fully determined, especially for African medicinal plants. The current study focused on assessing the in vitro modulation effects of three popular African medicinal plants, namely: Aloe ferox, Sutherlandia frutescens and Prunus africana (including five commercial preparations containing these medicinal plants) on two of the most important anti-diabetic drug metabolising enzymes, Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) 2C9 and CYP3A4 and a key drug efflux transporter, P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Vivid® microsome-based screening kits were used to assess inhibitory potency of plants preparations on CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 enzymes activities. The study showed that P. africana was a more potent inhibitor of CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 activity than the corresponding positive controls Ginkgo biloba and St. John's wort, which are known to cause clinically significant drug-herb interactions. S. frutescens leaf extract demonstrated potent to moderate inhibition on both the tested CYP activities, while its commercial products (Promune® and Probetix®) possessed moderate to mild inhibitory effects on the activities of both CYPs. Potent inhibitory effect on CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 was seen with Aloe Ferox®. Prosit® and Aloes powder® showed potent to moderate inhibition on CYP2C9 activity and moderate to mild inhibition on CYP3A4 activity. In addition to CYP450 activity, the present study also investigated the effects of the selected medicinal plant products on the activity of the main drug efflux protein, P-gp. A screening assay was specifically developed to assess the potential for herbal remedies to interact with P-gp mediated drug absorption. The assay is based on the principle of the reversal of drug resistance in modified Caco-2 cells specifically altered to express high iv efflux protein activity. These cells display a multidrug resistance phenotype and the addition of a plant extract containing a P-gp inhibitor or substrate will inhibit or compete with any cytotoxic drug and consequently reverse the drug resistance. The suitability of the assay was confirmed using a known P-gp inhibitor. The study observed that the anti-proliferation effect of vinblastine was significantly enhanced in vinblastine-resistant Caco-2 cells, which have high P-gp expression, when they were exposed to the selected African herbal preparations. This observation indicates that the studied plant preparations may alter P-gp functionality and therefore lead to interference with the absorption of co-administered drugs. The outcomes of this study provide useful information on whether there are any potential drug-herb interactions between the commonly used African medicinal plants and oral anti-diabetic drugs, at the level of CYP and P-gp drug metabolism and could contribute to better therapeutic management of Type II diabetics. However these predicted interactions will need to be verified in a clinical setting.

No / AIMS: The aims of this study were to determine the recording of drug sensitivities of elderly care home residents, to describe the nature of sensitivities and to identify and describe discrepancies in the documentation of drug sensitivity status in general practices, pharmacies and care homes. METHODS: A random sample of residents within a purposive sample of care homes (nursing and residential) was selected. A clinical pharmacist inspected the GP medical record, the medicines administration record, and the care home record for each resident to identify drug sensitivities and discrepancies between records and to describe the nature of the recorded sensitivities. RESULTS: The records of 121 residents in 31 care homes were studied. Thirty-one (26%) residents had at least one documented drug sensitivity in one of the sources inspected, with 48 sensitivities in total recorded. There was no description of the nature of the sensitivities recorded in 39/48 (81%) cases. The number of sensitivities recorded on the medicines administration record, care home record and the GP record were 3 (6%), 29 (60%) and 35 (73%), respectively. Only two sensitivities were simultaneously recorded on all three records. CONCLUSIONS: It was of concern that over 90% of drug sensitivities were not recorded on the medicines administration record which is the final checking document when administering medication. The reason for this was that the dispensing pharmacy was responsible for generating the medicines administration record; however, drug sensitivity status is seldom shared between the GP and the dispensing pharmacy. Printing sensitivities on prescriptions would help to resolve this.

The diploma thesis deals with the issue of ADHD among clients treated in therapeutical communities for users of illegal addictive substances. The issue of ADHD is explored in the point of view of prevalence, influence on a person and in the point of view of complications during the treatment. Information concerning this issue are absented in the Czech Republic. Research studies about dual diagnosis substantiate the influence of associated co morbid for use of addictive substances in the point of view of an ability of one to cope with normally adjusted medical schedule and make profit out of it. Lingering of ADHD in adultery even with subliminal Symptomatology presents a burden in fields of executive and behavioral abilities of a person. Well- timed and proper diagnosis is vital for an adjustment of optimal medical schedule. The goal of the thesis was to find whether there are clients with ADHD diagnosis in therapeutical communities and what is the influence of a defect on a person and on complications during the treatment. The occurence of ADHD clients of therapeutical communities was found out in childhood and in the present, characteristics of ADHD clients were tracked and a degree of occurence of complications in comparision with clients without diagnosis during the process of the treatment was...

A Araucaria angustifolia é uma conífera endêmica das regiões sul e sudeste do Brasil sendo considerada uma espécie em extinção devido ao extenso extrativismo madeireiro. Atualmente, existem inúmeros projetos visando o reflorestamento e o uso sustentável deste pinheiro. Em vista destes pontos, o estudo das propriedades dos componentes das folhas com o intuito da utilização destes com fins comerciais tornou-se de extrema importância. As suas folhas foram submetidas à extração com solventes e foram identificados seis biflavonóides majoritários, dentre estes a amentoflavona e a ginkgetina, que são apontados como agentes contra inflamações e artrites. A fração rica de biflavonóides (BFF) extraída da araucaria foi testada frente a sua atividade em proteger contra danos em biomoléculas provocadas por espécies reativas de oxigênio, capacidade em quelar metais e proteção contra raios UV. A capacidade do BFF em proteger contra danos provocados por espécies reativas de oxigênio foi comparado com compostos conhecidamente antioxidantes, como o α-tocoferol, Trolox®, quercetina, rutina e com padrões de biflavonóides, a amentoflavona e ginkgetina. O BFF demonstrou que possui uma constante de supressão do 1O2 (50 x 106 M-1s-1), superior ao da quercetina (9 x 106 M-1s-1) e foi o mais eficiente na proteção contra quebras de simples fita em DNA plasmidial, provocado por esta espécie reativa. Ainda em relação à proteção de DNA plasmidial o BFF foi capaz de proteger também contra estes danos provocados através da reação de Fenton, apesar de não demonstrar a mesma eficiência da quercetina que mostrou ser um potente protetor destes danos. O BFF protegeu contra lipoperoxidação em lipossomos de fosfatidilcolina induzida por raios UV e reação de Fenton. Em análises realizadas com espectrometria de massas foi observada a formação de complexos destes biflavonóides com íons metálicos como ferro, cobre e alumínio que possuem um papel importante na formação de radicais livres. Em relação à capacidade fotoprotetora do BFF, este inibiu a formação de dímeros de pirimidina que são apontados como causadores de câncer de pele induzidos, principalmente por radiação UV-B. Esta ação protetora foi superior àquela conferida ao p-metoxicinamato de octila, um conhecido fotoprotetor. Com o intuito de permitir a solubilização do BFF em soluções aquosas e assim, avaliar a ação do BFF em células, incorporou-se o BFF em ciclodextrina. Essa inclusão favoreceu a incorporação de BFF em células CV1-P na concentração aproximada de 0,4 µg/ml após 24 horas de incubação. Essa concentração incorporada não demonstrou ser tóxica para as células no teste com MTT. Assim, o BFF tem despertado grande interesse em relação ao seu potencial na utilização nas mais variadas áreas como cosmética, alimentos e fitoterápicos. / Araucaria angustifolia is an endemic conifer in southern and southeastern Brazil endangered due the extensive loggings. Nowadays, there are several projects aiming the recovering of forest and the sustainable use of their products. Its needles contain six major amentoflavone-type biflavonoids, including amentoflavone, ginkgetin and tetra-O-methylamentoflavone, all reported to possess a variety of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic activities. The organic fraction rich in biflavonoids (BFF) extracted from Araucaria was evaluated regarding its activity to protect against damage to biomolecules promoted by reactive oxygen species, its capacity to chelate ion metals and protection it affords against UV radiation. The ability of the BFF prevent oxidative damages was compared to antioxidants compounds, such as, α-tocopherol, Trolox®, quercetin, rutin and with standards of biflavonoids amentoflavone and ginkgetin. The BFF showed a higher 1O2 quenching rate (50 x 106 M-1s-1) than individual quercetin (9 x 106 M-1s-1). Accordingly, BFF was shown to strongly inhibit plasmid DNA single strand break (ssb) induced by 1O2 generated by NDPO2. On the other hand, BFF did not protect plasmid DNA against ssb triggered by the Fenton reaction as effectively as quercetin and rutin. BFF, quercetin and rutin were able to protect liposomes against peroxidative degradation caused by UV-irradiation. Since there is considerable evidence relating oxygen species with UV phospholipid degradation, the protective effect of quercetin and rutin is likely to result from their well-known scavenging activity against hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals and superoxide anion radicals. Using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, metal (Fe3+, Cu2+ and Al3+) biflavonoids complexes were also detected and characterized. The sunlight UV region is believed to be largely responsible for the greatest damage to the skin including indution of the pirimidine dimers formation suggested to be implicated in skin cancer. BFF was able to diminish the formation of this photoproduct more efficiently tham octyl methoxycinnamate. Solubilization of BFF in aqueous solutions was performed using cyclodextrin, which allowed the incorporation of 0,4 g/ml of biflavonoids in CV1-P cells after 24 hours. In this conditions the BFF was not cytotoxic to CV1-P evaluated by the MTT assay.Altogether, these properties point BFF as an excellent candidate for successful employment as antioxidant compound in several systems.

A Araucaria angustifolia é uma conífera endêmica das regiões sul e sudeste do Brasil sendo considerada uma espécie em extinção devido ao extenso extrativismo madeireiro. Atualmente, existem inúmeros projetos visando o reflorestamento e o uso sustentável deste pinheiro. Em vista destes pontos, o estudo das propriedades dos componentes das folhas com o intuito da utilização destes com fins comerciais tornou-se de extrema importância. As suas folhas foram submetidas à extração com solventes e foram identificados seis biflavonóides majoritários, dentre estes a amentoflavona e a ginkgetina, que são apontados como agentes contra inflamações e artrites. A fração rica de biflavonóides (BFF) extraída da araucaria foi testada frente a sua atividade em proteger contra danos em biomoléculas provocadas por espécies reativas de oxigênio, capacidade em quelar metais e proteção contra raios UV. A capacidade do BFF em proteger contra danos provocados por espécies reativas de oxigênio foi comparado com compostos conhecidamente antioxidantes, como o α-tocoferol, Trolox®, quercetina, rutina e com padrões de biflavonóides, a amentoflavona e ginkgetina. O BFF demonstrou que possui uma constante de supressão do 1O2 (50 x 106 M-1s-1), superior ao da quercetina (9 x 106 M-1s-1) e foi o mais eficiente na proteção contra quebras de simples fita em DNA plasmidial, provocado por esta espécie reativa. Ainda em relação à proteção de DNA plasmidial o BFF foi capaz de proteger também contra estes danos provocados através da reação de Fenton, apesar de não demonstrar a mesma eficiência da quercetina que mostrou ser um potente protetor destes danos. O BFF protegeu contra lipoperoxidação em lipossomos de fosfatidilcolina induzida por raios UV e reação de Fenton. Em análises realizadas com espectrometria de massas foi observada a formação de complexos destes biflavonóides com íons metálicos como ferro, cobre e alumínio que possuem um papel importante na formação de radicais livres. Em relação à capacidade fotoprotetora do BFF, este inibiu a formação de dímeros de pirimidina que são apontados como causadores de câncer de pele induzidos, principalmente por radiação UV-B. Esta ação protetora foi superior àquela conferida ao p-metoxicinamato de octila, um conhecido fotoprotetor. Com o intuito de permitir a solubilização do BFF em soluções aquosas e assim, avaliar a ação do BFF em células, incorporou-se o BFF em ciclodextrina. Essa inclusão favoreceu a incorporação de BFF em células CV1-P na concentração aproximada de 0,4 µg/ml após 24 horas de incubação. Essa concentração incorporada não demonstrou ser tóxica para as células no teste com MTT. Assim, o BFF tem despertado grande interesse em relação ao seu potencial na utilização nas mais variadas áreas como cosmética, alimentos e fitoterápicos. / Araucaria angustifolia is an endemic conifer in southern and southeastern Brazil endangered due the extensive loggings. Nowadays, there are several projects aiming the recovering of forest and the sustainable use of their products. Its needles contain six major amentoflavone-type biflavonoids, including amentoflavone, ginkgetin and tetra-O-methylamentoflavone, all reported to possess a variety of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory and antiarthritic activities. The organic fraction rich in biflavonoids (BFF) extracted from Araucaria was evaluated regarding its activity to protect against damage to biomolecules promoted by reactive oxygen species, its capacity to chelate ion metals and protection it affords against UV radiation. The ability of the BFF prevent oxidative damages was compared to antioxidants compounds, such as, α-tocopherol, Trolox®, quercetin, rutin and with standards of biflavonoids amentoflavone and ginkgetin. The BFF showed a higher 1O2 quenching rate (50 x 106 M-1s-1) than individual quercetin (9 x 106 M-1s-1). Accordingly, BFF was shown to strongly inhibit plasmid DNA single strand break (ssb) induced by 1O2 generated by NDPO2. On the other hand, BFF did not protect plasmid DNA against ssb triggered by the Fenton reaction as effectively as quercetin and rutin. BFF, quercetin and rutin were able to protect liposomes against peroxidative degradation caused by UV-irradiation. Since there is considerable evidence relating oxygen species with UV phospholipid degradation, the protective effect of quercetin and rutin is likely to result from their well-known scavenging activity against hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals and superoxide anion radicals. Using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, metal (Fe3+, Cu2+ and Al3+) biflavonoids complexes were also detected and characterized. The sunlight UV region is believed to be largely responsible for the greatest damage to the skin including indution of the pirimidine dimers formation suggested to be implicated in skin cancer. BFF was able to diminish the formation of this photoproduct more efficiently tham octyl methoxycinnamate. Solubilization of BFF in aqueous solutions was performed using cyclodextrin, which allowed the incorporation of 0,4 g/ml of biflavonoids in CV1-P cells after 24 hours. In this conditions the BFF was not cytotoxic to CV1-P evaluated by the MTT assay.Altogether, these properties point BFF as an excellent candidate for successful employment as antioxidant compound in several systems.

The widespread acceptance of topical formulations intended for local and/or regional activity has prompted renewed interest in developing a model to determine the bioavailability of drugs in order to establish bioequivalence as a means of evaluating formulation performance of multisource products and also for use during formulation development. Current in vivo techniques such as blister suction and skin biopsy amongst others used to determine the bioavailability and/or bioequivalence of topical formulations are either too invasive to generate appropriate concentration-time profiles or require large numbers of study subjects thereby making the study expensive and time-consuming. Moreover, there are currently no sampling techniques that can demonstrate dermal bioavailability and/or bioequivalence of topical formulations intended for local and/or regional activity. Dermal microdialysis is a relatively new application of microdialysis that permits continuous monitoring of endogenous and/or exogenous solutes in the interstitial fluid. The technique is involves the implantation of semi-permeable membranes which are perfused with an isotonic medium at extremely slow flow rates and collection of microlitre sample volumes containing diffused drugs. Tape stripping, a relatively older technique, has been extensively used in comparative bioavailability studies of various topical formulations. However, due to shortcomings arising from reproducibility and inter-subject variation amongst others, the published FDA guidance outlining the initial protocol was subsequently withdrawn. The incorporation of transepidermal water loss with tape stripping has garnered renewed interest and has been used for the determination of drug bioavailability from a number of topical formulations. Hence the primary objective of this research is to develop and evaluate microdialysis sampling and tape stripping techniques, including the incorporation of the determination of transepidermal water loss, to assess the dermal bioavailability of ketoprofen from topical gel formulations and to develop models for bioequivalence assessment. A rapid UPLC-MS/MS method with requisite sensitivity for the analysis of samples generated from dermal microdialysis was developed and validated which accommodated the microlitre sample volumes collected. An HPLC-UV method was developed and validated for the analysis of samples generated from the in vitro microdialysis and in vivo tape stripping studies. The work presented herein contributes to a growing body of scientific knowledge seeking to develop a model for the determination of bioequivalence of pharmaceutically equivalent topical formulations intended for local and/or regional activity in human subjects.

Hidrolipodistrofia ginóide (H.L.D.G.), a celulite, é comumente tratada com cosméticos contendo extratos vegetais. O estudo realizado foi: ultra-sonografia na avaliação da espessura da hipoderme e a microcirculação cutânea; uso de termômetro infravermelho na medida da temperatura e análise das medidas antropométricas da uma formulação cosmética anticelulítica contendo extrato hidroglicólico de Trichilia catigua e Ptychopetalum olacoides Bentham (catuaba e marapuama). Foram realizadas medidas iniciais e após aplicação da formulação. Os resultados apresentaram alterações estatisticamente significativas para a temperatura cutânea e medidas antropométricas. Não houve diferenças estatisticamente significativas nas medidas da hipoderme e microcirculação. Considerando os resultados, a formulação avaliada possui potencial ação coadjuvante na redução da hidrolipodistrofia ginóide. As técnicas podem ser associadas em conjunto com a avaliação sensorial e apreciabilidade cosmética. Os requisitos chaves para a reprodutibilidade das técnicas incluem ambiente controlado, monitoramento e climatização dos voluntários, procedimentos de medidas padronizados, protocolos de aplicação realístico e operadores qualificados. / Gynoid lipodystrophy (H.L.D.G.), the cellulite, is usually treated by cosmetics containing vegetal extracts ingredients. The study related to: ultrasonography evaluating the hypodermis thickness and skin blood microcirculation; the usage of the infra-red thermometer in the measurement of skin temperature and the assessment of anthropometrics measurements of a coadjuvant cosmetic formula based on hydroglycolic extract of Trichilia catigua and Ptychopetalum olacoides Bentham (catuaba and marapuama). Measurements were taken at first and again after the use of the formulation. The results indicate that there were statistically significant changes for skin temperature and also anthropometrics measurements. There were no statistically significant differences neither in hypodermis nor in blood microcirculation. Considering the final results, the formulation studied had a potential coadjuvant role by decreasing gynoid lipodystrophy. These techniques can be associated together with sensory evaluation and cosmetic appreciability. The key requirements for the reproducibility of the technique include: controlled environments, volunteers acclimatization and monitoring, standardized measurements procedures, realistic application protocols and qualified operators.