Safety of Innovative Nanotechnology Oral Formulations Loaded with Bioactive Menopause Molecules: Influence of Genotoxicity and Biochemical Parameters on a Menopausal Rat Model

In recent years, nanoparticles have gained significant importance due to their unique properties, such as pharmacological, electrical, optical, and magnetic abilities, contributing to the growth of the science and technology sector. Particular naturally derived biomolecules with beneficial effects on menopause disorder have been the subject of studies of pharmaceutical formulation to obtain alternative pharmaceutical forms with increased bioavailability and without side effects, as in nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) loaded with such active ingredients. In the present study, one stage of a broader project, we have performed pharmacotoxicology studies for six combinatory innovative nanocapsule pharmaceutical forms containing active natural biomolecules before considering them as oral formulas for (1) in vitro toxicity studies on culture cells and (2) in vivo preclinical studies on a surgically induced menopause model of Wistar female rats, and the influence of the NLCs on key biochemical parameters: lipid profile (TG, Chol, HDL), glycemic markers (Gli), bone markers (Pac, Palc, Ca, phosphorus), renal markers (Crea, urea, URAC), inflammation (TNF), oxidative stress (GSH, MDA), and estrogen-progesterone hormonal profile. The micronucleus test did not reveal the genotoxicity of the tested compounds; the menopause model showed no significant safety concerns for the six tested formulas evaluated using the blood biochemical parameters; and the results showed the potential hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, hypouricemic, and antioxidant potential of one of the tested formulas containing nano diosgenin and glycyrrhizic acid.

Determination of Phosphodiesterase Type-5 Inhibitors (PDE-5) in Dietary Supplements

This study proposed a high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) screening method to detect phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors as possible adulterant agents in various dietary supplements. Chromatographic analysis was performed on silica gel 60F254 plates using a mixture of ethyl acetate:toluene:methanol:ammonia in a volume ratio of 50:30:20:0.5 as a mobile phase. The system provided compact spots and symmetrical peaks of sildenafil and tadalafil with retardation factor values of 0.55 and 0.90, respectively. The analysis of products purchased from the internet or specialized stores demonstrated the presence of sildenafil, tadalafil, or both compounds in 73.3% of products, highlighting inadequacies and inconsistencies in the labeling, as all dietary supplements were declared to be natural. The results were confirmed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a positive electrospray ionization high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS-MS) method. Furthermore, in some samples, vardenafil and various analogs of PDE-5 inhibitors were detected using a non-target HRMS-MS approach. The results of the quantitative analysis revealed similar findings between the two methods, with adulterant quantities found to be similar to or higher than those in approved medicinal products. This study demonstrated that the HPTLC method is a suitable and economical method for screening PDE-5 inhibitors as adulterants in dietary supplements intended for sexual activity enhancement.

The relevance of the psychological evaluation in drug dependence

Psychological interventions are considered a central part of the individual psychotherapy in the rehabilitation counseling of psychiatrically symptomatic drug-dependent patients during methadone maintenance treatment in community programs. The need for psychological counseling should be evaluated for each individual patient. Medication is an important part of the treatment and individual psychotherapy focuses on the reduction or total cessation of drug use. The Recipient is G.M. 31, sentenced to a seven-year term of imprisonment for trafficking and use of and high-risk drugs, diagnosed on admission with opioid and methadone dependence, withdrawal syndrome. Following the observation and psychological evaluation, psychiatric and clinical examination, initiation of methadone substitution treatment was recommended, according to the following regimen: twelve 2.5 mg tablets for the first 2 days, followed by increase with about 5 mg per week until the complete remission of withdrawal symptoms, stabilization of the dose but not exceeding 200 mg methadone hydrochloride per day. Specialist monitoring, specialized counseling and individual and group psychotherapy were provided.

Use of benzodiazepines and detoxification with methadone

RATIONALE

Benzodiazepines are used as anti anxiety drugs, as well as in adjunct treatment for a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Abusive patterns of use were increasingly reported and building evidence points to prevalence of benzodiazepines abuse, on one hand as well as to their common abuse in combination with other drugs such as opioids, most frequently.

OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this research is to conduct a systematic study on the behavior profile of a patient admitted to a prison hospital, who is a benzodiazepines user consecutive to admission into a methadone administration program.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Statistic values have been taken into account describing the distribution and the distribution form of the various variables studied to find the normality degree of distributions, regarding three measurements at the three moments: before the administration of methadone, immediately after its completion and two months after completion.

CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS

The statistic results obtained speak of a strong positive correlation, allowing the support of the fact that persons diagnosed with prescribed/ unprescribed benzodiazepine, use the display association with the admission into a methadone administration program, based on the assumption which concerns a significant positive association between the use of reported benzodiazepine and the administration of methadone in the questioned patients on admission. As far as the second premise regarding the administration of methadone is concerned it brings about an improvement in the level of benzodiazepines used in research patients, which one may assert that, according to the results obtained, the initiation of methadone therapy in the detoxification program is conducive to the reduction of benzodiazepines use.

Investigation of the toxicity of some organophosphorus pesticides in a repeated dose study in rats

The study aimed to the investigation of the toxicity of organophosphorus pesticides malathion (MLT) and diazinon (DZN) in Wistar rats in a repeated dose study for 35 days. MLT and DZN in corn oil vehicle were oral administered. Body and organs weights, plasma and brain cholinesterase activities, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities, histopathological changes in liver and kidney, and some parameters of the immune function, such as leukocyte formula, spleen weight and cellularity, spleen lymphocytes proliferation in response to concanavalin A (Con A) were investigated; the potential oxidative stress (malondialdehyde in plasma and brain, and blood catalase activity) was also evaluated. No clinical toxicity signs attributed to pesticides were noted; no significant changes in the organ weights have been found. Body weight tends slightly to increase, predominantly in DZN treated rats. The results suggest that plasma cholinesterase is more susceptible than brain cholinesterase to the inhibitory effect of DZN and MLT. Other serum biochemical parameters showed no significant difference. DZN produced a marked increase of the number of spleen lymphocytes without a significant gain of the relative spleen weight. The both pesticides produced an increase of the number of mononuclear cells÷weight spleen. The splenic lymphocyte proliferation has not been influenced by MLT or DZN treatment. Histopathological observations identified some changes (vasodilatation, microvacuoles, and granular dystrophy) in the liver, with MLT, inducing macrovacuolar steatosis. The study indicates that repeated exposure, at subclinical doses, to organophosphorus MLT and DZN causes some biochemical, histopathological and immune alterations in rats.

[Semi-quantitative determination of methadone by TLC]

Methadone is the main therapeutic option in heroin addiction treatment, but also an abuse substance. Given the analytical focus on the diagnosis of drug abuse and the usefulness of toxicological analysis methods in both overdose and monitoring substitution therapy, this study was aimed at the semi-quantitative determination of methadone by using Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). By having the advantage of simplicity and rapidity, TLC finds its rightful place among the analysis methods when other relatively costly methods that involve instrumental performance are not available.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

TLC plates (silicagel GF 254 Merck), developing system methanol: strong ammonia 100: 1,5, photometric quantification at 254 nm, using TLC Scanner 3 (Camag).

RESULTS

The results show that methadone can be determined semi-quantitatively in the chromatographic conditions mentioned in the two domains tested (5 - 40 microg and 10 - 80 microg), with the best results obtained in the 5 - 40 microg domain.

CONCLUSIONS

Semi-quantitative TLC evaluation proposed by us has as main advantages the rapidity, simplicity and relatively low cost compared to other useful methods.