New combined treatment of hypermelanosis: analytical studies on efficacy and stability improvement.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the synergy between different lightening agents when associated; depigmenting activity was tested in vitro by monitoring the appearance of dopachrome, an intermediate in the melanogenesis process. The results obtained were compared with the depigmenting activity of each single compound, keeping the same global concentration of inhibitor. Our studies showed that the combination of hydroquinone and kojic acid had a synergistic effect, and that the maximum inhibiting action was achieved with an equimolecular mixture.

Ovule-specific MADS-box proteins have conserved protein-protein interactions in monocot and dicot plants.

OsMADS13 is a rice MADS-box gene that is specifically expressed in developing ovules. The amino acid sequence of OsMADS13 shows 74% similarity to those of FLORAL BINDING PROTEIN 7 (FBP7) and FBP11, the products of two MADS-box genes that are necessary and sufficient to determine ovule identity in Petunia. To assess whether OsMADS13, the putative rice ortholog of FBP7 and FBP11, has an equivalent function, several analyses were performed.

Differential effects of acute and short-term lithium administration on dialysate glutamate and GABA levels in the frontal cortex of the conscious rat.

In the present study, we employed in vivo microdialysis in the frontal cortex of the awake rat to investigate the effects of acute and short-term (twice daily, 3 days) lithium chloride administration (1, 2, and 4 meq/kg, s.c.) on local dialysate glutamate and GABA levels.

Solid-state study of polymorphic drugs: carbamazepine.

Polymorphs of a compound have solid crystalline phases with different internal crystal lattices; in pharmaceuticals, differences due to polymorphism and pseudopolymorphism can affect bioavailability and effective clinical use. The aim of this work was to obtain the different polymorphic modifications of the anticonvulsant drug, carbamazepine, and to characterise them by means of typical structure-sensitive analytical techniques, such as FT-IR spectroscopy, XRPD and DSC. Further investigations were also performed by Hot Stage FT-IR thermomicroscopy, which permitted the visible and spectroscopic characterisation of the polymorphic forms during heating.