Special Issue "Application Progress of Liposomes in Drug Development".

The second edition of the Special Issue entitled the "Application Progress of Liposomes in Drug Development" featured contributions predominantly focused on leveraging liposomes as enhancers and carriers in drug delivery in the context of cancer treatment, although this was not the initial intent of this Special Issue [...

Antimicrobial Bacterial Metabolites: Properties, Applications and Loading in Liposomes for Site-specific Delivery.

The high levels of antibiotic resistance registered worldwide have become a serious health problem, threatening the currently available treatments for a series of infectious diseases. With antibiotics becoming less and less effective, it is becoming increasingly difficult and, in some cases, impossible to treat patients with even common infectious diseases, such as pneumonia. The inability to meet the ever-increasing demand to control microbial infection requires both the search for new antimicrobials and improved site-specific delivery.

Liposomes: The Brave Old World.

Liposomes have been known of for about 60 years, since they were discovered by A [...

Elastic and Ultradeformable Liposomes for Transdermal Delivery of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs).

Administration of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) through the skin, by means of topical drug delivery systems, is an advanced therapeutic approach. As the skin is the largest organ of the human body, primarily acting as a natural protective barrier against permeation of xenobiotics, specific strategies to overcome this barrier are needed. Liposomes are nanometric-sized delivery systems composed of phospholipids, which are key components of cell membranes, making liposomes well tolerated and devoid of toxicity.

HCC Detection on Surveillance US: Comparing Focused Liver Protocol Using US LI-RADS Technical Guidelines to a General Complete Abdominal US Protocol.

Objective: Focused US examinations of the liver in the routine hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening reduce the time spent on evaluating other structures deemed irrelevant to the clinical setting. It is still unknown, however, if such a strategy may additionally improve the frequency of nodules detection. We aimed to assess the impact of an HCC surveillance program in high-risk patients by means of targeted liver US following LI-RADS technical guidelines in comparison to a complete upper abdominal scan.

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Loaded Liposomes for Topical Treatment of Inflammatory and Degenerative Conditions.

Topical administration of drugs presents some advantages over other routes; the drug can be administered in the anatomical region to be treated, limiting the systemic distribution and side effects. However, the structure of the skin makes it a highly effective barrier to drug permeation. Amongst the strategies to overcome this obstacle, liposomes are interesting vehicles for delivering the drugs into the skin, the synovial cavity or other regions affected by inflammatory or degenerative conditions.

LIVER TRANSPLANTATION FOR CARCINOMA HEPATOCELLULAR IN SÃO PAULO: 414 CASES BY THE MILAN/BRAZIL CRITERIA.

Background: The criterion of Milan (CM) has been used as standard for indication of liver transplantation (LTx) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide for nearly 20 years. Several centers have adopted criteria expanded in order to increase the number of patients eligible to liver transplantation, while maintaining good survival rates. In Brazil, since 2006, the criterion of Milan/Brazil (CMB), which disregards nodules <2 cm, is adopted, including patients with a higher number of small nodules.

Transcatheter arterial embolization for unresectable symptomatic giant hepatic hemangiomas: single-center experience using a lipiodol-ethanol mixture.

Objective: The present article is aimed at reporting the author's experience with transcatheter arterial embolization using a lipiodol-ethanol mixture in three cases of unresectable symptomatic giant hepatic hemangiomas.

Materials And Methods: The cases of three patients with giant unresectable symptomatic hepatic hemangiomas embolized in the period 2009-2010 were retrospectively reviewed. In all the cases, transarterial embolization was performed with an ethanol-lipiodol mixture.

Prevention of childhood obesity: a review of the current guidelines and supporting evidence.

Background: Childhood obesity is considered by many one of the biggest public health issues facing our country. In the U.S.

Plasma lipidomic fingerprinting to distinguish among hepatitis C-related hepatocellular carcinoma, liver cirrhosis, and chronic hepatitis C using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry: a pilot study.

Background And Aims: Hepatitis C (HC) is a major cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and a late diagnosis is the main factor for the poor survival of patients. There is an urgent need for identifying sensitive and specific biomarkers for HCC diagnosis. In the present study, plasma lipid patterns of patients with HC-HCC, HC-liver cirrhosis (LC), and chronic HC (CHC) were assessed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS).

Acute exacerbation of chronic hepatitis B virus infection in renal transplant patients.

Introduction: There is scarce information regarding clinical evolution of HBV infection in renal transplant patients.

Aims: To evaluate the prevalence of acute exacerbation in HBV-infected renal transplant patients and its association with the time after transplantation, presence of viral replication, clinical evolution, and use of antiviral prophylaxis.

Materials And Methods: HBV infected renal transplant patients who underwent regular follow-up visits at 6-month intervals were included in the study.

Novel organic salts based on fluoroquinolone drugs: synthesis, bioavailability and toxicological profiles.

In order to overcome the problems associated with low water solubility, and consequently low bioavailability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), novel organic salts containing fluoroquinolones (e.g. ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin) were prepared, using an optimized synthetic procedure based on direct protonation, with different biocompatible counter ions such as mesylate, gluconate and glycolate.

Trace element compositional changes in human milk during the first four months of lactation.

The aims of this paper were to evaluate changes in specific oligoelements in human milk during the first four months of lactation and to correlate such changes with total antioxidant status (TAS) and other parameters, such as the mother's age, primipara versus multipara, and supplement intake. Milk samples were collected from 31 lactating women following 1, 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks after birth. Trace levels of 13 elements were measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).

Evaluation of solubility and partition properties of ampicillin-based ionic liquids.

In order to overcome the problems associated with low water solubility, and consequently low bioavailability of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), herein we explore a modular ionic liquid synthetic strategy for improved APIs. Ionic liquids containing L-ampicillin as active pharmaceutical ingredient anion were prepared using the methodology developed in our previous work, using organic cations selected from substituted ammonium, phosphonium, pyridinium and methylimidazolium salts, with the intent of enhancing the solubility and bioavailability of L-ampicillin forms. In order to evaluate important properties of the synthesized API-ILs, the water solubility at 25 °C and 37 °C (body temperature) as well as octanol-water partition coefficients (Kow's) and HDPC micelles partition at 25 °C were measured.

Long-term follow-up after resection of thyroid metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma in noncirrhotic liver.

Thyroid metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is rare, and has poor prognosis. We report the case of a 62-year-old woman seen at our clinic because of the occurrence of a slightly painful abdominal mass. At that time, alpha-fetoprotein concentration was very high, reaching 49,831.

Correlation between octanol/water and liposome/water distribution coefficients and drug absorption of a set of pharmacologically active compounds.

Absorption and consequent therapeutic action are key issues in the development of new drugs by the pharmaceutical industry. In this sense, different models can be used to simulate biological membranes to predict the absorption of a drug. This work compared the octanol/water and the liposome/water models.

Synthesis, characterization, and liposome partition of a novel tetracycline derivative using the ionic liquids framework.

Recently, efforts have been put on the development of new drug formulations using ionic liquid framework. In this work, two different species of abroad-spectrum polyketide antibiotic, tetracycline, are studied in terms of some important properties for antibiotics such as solubility in water and hydrophilic-hydrophobic balance. Tetracycline was used as cation, whereas docusate, a biocompatible anion, which enables the tailoring of the hydrophilicity of salts, was chosen as the anion.

Unexpected distribution of hepatitis B genotypes in patients with kidney disease: comparison with immunocompetent subjects.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has a high prevalence among hemodialysis and renal transplant patients. Data regarding genotype distribution in these populations are scarce and are still under investigation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution of HBV genotypes in end-stage renal disease (ESRD)-patients and renal transplant patients and to compare with the distribution observed in immunocompetent patients from the same geographic region.

[Motor coordination in premature and/or low birth weight children].

Objective: Our evaluation pretends to evaluate the influence of prematurity / very low birthweight in motor coordination, in a group of premature children without clinical evidence of neurological injury.

Methods: We assessed 58 ex-premature children born between 1997 and 2000 in Central's Portugal Region, of which 31 participated in the study. The whole-body coordination test was performed to assess motor performance.

Liposomes as a model for the biological membrane: studies on daunorubicin bilayer interaction.

In this study the interaction of the antitumoral drug daunorubicin with egg phosphatidylcholine (EPC) liposomes, used as a cell membrane model, was quantified by determination of the partition coefficient (K(p)). The liposome/aqueous-phase K(p) of daunorubicin was determined by derivative spectrophotometry and measurement of the zeta-potential. Mathematical models were used to fit the experimental data, enabling determination of K(p).

Nanocarrier possibilities for functional targeting of bioactive peptides and proteins: state-of-the-art.

This review attempts to provide an updated compilation of studies reported in the literature pertaining to production of nanocarriers encasing peptides and/or proteins, in a way that helps the reader direct a bibliographic search and develop an integrated perspective of the subject. Highlights are given to bioactive proteins and peptides, with a special focus on those from dairy sources (including physicochemical characteristics and properties, and biopharmaceutical application possibilities of e.g.

Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Review of targeted molecular drugs.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world in terms of incidence, accounting for approximately 630 thousand new cases per year; in addition, HCC is the third most common cause of cancer death. Worldwide, the greatest risk factors for HCC are the infections caused by hepatitis B and C viruses, which increase the risk of developing the disease by about 20 times. The standard treatment in the early stages of the disease, such as surgical resection, local ablation and liver transplantation, are able to cure a proportion of patients, but most cases of HCC present in advanced stages, precluding the use of such treatments with curative intent.

Is autoimmune hepatitis a frequent finding among HCV patients with intense interface hepatitis?

Aim: To evaluate the overlap of autoimmune hepatitis in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients with intense interface hepatitis.

Methods: Among 1759 patients with hepatitis C submitted to liver biopsy, 92 (5.2%) presented intense interface hepatitis.

Evaluation of the efficacy and reproducibility of cholangiopancreatography by magnetic resonance for detecting biliary complications following orthotopic liver transplantation.

Purpose: To evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in the detection of biliary complications in liver transplanted patients.

Methods: A study was conducted, with blinded review of 28 MRCP exams of 24 patients submitted to liver transplantation. The images were reviewed by two independent observers, at two different moments, regarding the degree of biliary tree visualization and the presence or absence of biliary complications.

Ethnopharmacological notes about ancient uses of medicinal plants in Trás-os-Montes (northern of Portugal).

Aim Of The Study: In order to preserve the ancestral knowledge, an ethnopharmacological study has been carried out in two councils belonging to Trás-os-Montes region a small area located in the northern of Portugal. In that area, medicinal plants, most of the species wild, are still in use among farmers, shepherds and other people who live far from villages and built-up areas.

Materials And Methods: Among the 46 people that were interviewed (mean age of 66 years old), 88 species belonging to 42 families of vascular plants were identified for treatment of various human ailments.