Biowaxes from Palm Oil as Promising Candidates for Cosmetic Matrices and Pharmaceuticals for Human Use.

The production of waxes from vegetable oils, such as palm oil, for use as a base material in products for human applications is an alternative to those derived from petroleum and animals. Seven palm oil-derived waxes, called biowaxes (BW1-BW7) in this work, were obtained by catalytic hydrotreating of refined and bleached African palm oil and refined palm kernel oil. They were characterized by three properties: compositional, physicochemical (melting point, penetration value, and pH), and biological (sterility, cytotoxicity, phototoxicity, antioxidant, and irritant).

Anti-leishmanial activity of a topical miltefosine gel in experimental models of New World cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Objectives: Topical treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) would be useful for treatment of some forms of the disease. The aim of this study was to develop and then evaluate a topical miltefosine gel for anti-leishmanial activity and toxicity in BALB/c mice infected with New World (NW)-CL species.

Methods: A Carbopol-based gel of 0.