Marcelo Silva Silvério

Antinociceptive and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of the Sesame Oil and Sesamin

Sesame oil is widely consumed as nutritious food, cooking oil, and in pharmaceuticals and food. In this study, the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties of the sesame oil and sesamin were investigated. The sesame oil and sesamin reduced the number of abdominal contortions at the doses 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg. The first and second phases of the time paw licking were inhibited by sesame oil and sesamin (100, 200, or 400 mg/kg). After 90 min of treatment, sesame oil and sesamin increased the reaction time on a hot plate (200 or 400 mg/kg). Considering the tail-immersion assay, the sesame oil and sesamin produced significant effect after 60 min at the doses of 100, 200, or 400 mg/kg. After 4 h of application of the carrageenan, the sesame oil and sesamin were effective against the paw edema. The exudate volume and leucocyte migration were also reduced by sesame oil and sesamin. These results suggest that sesamin is one of the active compounds found in sesame oil and justify the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties of this product.

Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of the essential oil from Eremanthus erythropappus leaves.

The chemical composition of the essential oil from air‐dried leaves of Eremanthus erythropappus was studied. The main compounds were β‐pinene (23.24%), β‐caryophyllene (22.92%), β‐myrcene (10.03%) and germacrene D (9.40%). The essential oil had an LD50 of 2.90 gkg−1 in mice. Doses of 200 and 400 mgkg−1 inhibited 10.69% and 27.06% of acetic‐acid‐induced writhing in mice, respectively. In the formalin‐induced nociception test in mice, the essential oil inhibited the first phase of paw licking by 29.13% (400 mgkg−1) and the second phase by 32.74% (200 mgkg−1) and 37.55% (400 mgkg−1). In the hot‐plate test in mice, doses of 200 mgkg−1 and 400 mgkg−1 significantly increased the reaction time after 30, 60 and 90 min of treatment. Doses of 200 and 400 mgkg−1 inhibited carrageenan‐induced paw oedema in rats by 15.18% and 36.61%, respectively. Doses of 200 and 400 mgkg−1 administered 4 h before intra‐pleural injection of carrageenan significantly reduced exudate volume (by 20.20% and 48.70%, respectively) and leucocyte mobilization (by 5.88% and 17.29%, respectively). These results demonstrate that E. erythropappus has analgesic and anti‐inflammatory properties, supporting the use of this plant in folk medicine.

Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Essential Oils of Eremanthus erythropappus (DC) McLeisch (Asteraceae)

The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of different parts of Eremanthus erythropappus, including leaves, branches and inflorescences, was investigated by Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry. The antimicrobial activity of the oils was assessed by the disc diffusion and microdilution methods, while the antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH and reducing power tests. The main compounds found in the essential oils derived from the inflorescences and leaves were β-caryophyllene, germacrene-D, α-copaene and β-pinene. α-Bisabolol was the major component in the branches. The oils were active against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and fungi, but not Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The MIC values ranged from 0.01 to 0.50 mg/mL. Using the DPPH test, the IC50 values ranged from 38.77 ± 0.76 to 102.24 ± 1.96 μg/mL, while the reducing power test produced IC50 values between 109.85 ± 1.68 and 169.53 ± 0.64 μg/mL. The results revealed that the E. erythropappus oils are new promising potential sources of antimicrobial and antioxidant compounds with good future practical applications for human health.

Propriedades farmacológicas do extrato etanólico de Eremanthus erythropappus (DC.) McLeisch (Asteraceae)

The present work investigated the antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antiulcerogenic activities of Eremanthus erythropappus ethanol extract. The tests were carried out by acetic acid writhing, paw licking induced by formalin, hot plate, indomethacin- and ethanol-induced ulcer. The doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg inhibited the contortions in 43.07, 69.34 and 70.07%, respectively. Both phases of paw lick were reduced at the tested doses, while reaction time at hot plate had significant effect at 200 mg/kg. The paw edema was decreased in 23.81% (100 mg/kg) and 47.62% (200 mg/kg). The index of ulceration induced by indomethacin was reduced at the doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg, while 200 mg/kg decreased the gastric volume and pH. The index of ulceration and gastric volume induced by ethanol was reduced at 200 mg/kg, while the pH increased at 100 and 200 mg/kg. The results indicate that the ethanol extract from E. erythropappus may constitute a potential target for the use in therapies of the pain, inflammation and ulcer.

Qualidade das prescrições em município de Minas Gerais: uma abordagem farmacoepidemiológica

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of medical prescriptions dispensed in pharmacies. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess if precriptions met all the necessary requirements. A total of 800 prescriptions was collected in four different pharmacies in the city of Muriae, MG. Prescriptions were assessed according to the requirements of the WHO indicators, including presence and legibility of essential information. RESULTS: Each prescription contains an average of 2.2 medications, and 22.1% of drugs were antibiotics. Drugs were prescribed by generic name in 33% of all prescriptions and 46.5% were part of RENAME. As for readability, 32% of prescriptions had poor legibility, 36% were illegible, and 32% readable. Essential information was lacking in several respects: the pharmaceutical form (64%), concentration (47%), dose (22%), interval between doses (63%), duration of treatment (30%) and route of administration (84 %) were absent in prescriptions. CONCLUSION: The prescriptions assessed in this study did not provide all the information necessary for correct and safe use of medication and drugs , They were largely legible, showed a high percentage of trade names with limited presence in the RENAME and many were for antibiotics.

Eventos adversos por interações medicamentosas potenciais em unidade de terapia intensiva de um hospital de ensino

Objective To evaluate the incidence of potential drug-drug interactions in an intensive care unit of a hospital, focusing on antimicrobial drugs. Methods This cross-sectional study analyzed electronic prescriptions of patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a teaching hospital between January 1 and March 31, 2014 and assessed potential drug-drug interactions associated with antimicrobial drugs. Antimicrobial drug consumption levels were expressed in daily doses per 100 patient-days. The search and classification of the interactions were based on the Micromedex® system. Results The daily prescriptions of 82 patients were analyzed, totaling 656 prescriptions. Antimicrobial drugs represented 25% of all prescription drugs, with meropenem, vancomycin and ceftriaxone being the most prescribed medications. According to the approach of daily dose per 100 patient-days, the most commonly used antimicrobial drugs were cefepime, meropenem, sulfamethoxazole + trimethoprim and ciprofloxacin. The mean number of interactions per patient was 2.6. Among the interactions, 51% were classified as contraindicated or significantly severe. Highly significant interactions (clinical value 1 and 2) were observed with a prevalence of 98%. Conclusion The current study demonstrated that antimicrobial drugs are frequently prescribed in intensive care units and present a very high number of potential drug-drug interactions, with most of them being considered highly significant.

Factors associated with adherence to pharmacological treatment among elderly persons using antihypertensive drugs

Objetivo: Analisar adesao ao tratamento farmacologico e fatores associados em idosos que utilizam pelo menos um medicamento anti-hipertensivo. Metodo: Estudo transversal de base populacional, realizada com idosos residentes em Juiz de Fora, MG, Brasil. Para mensurar a adesao foi utilizado o Teste de Morisky e Green. Coletadas variaveis sociodemograficas relacionadas a condicao de saude, ao servico de saude e a terapia farmacologica. Para estimar razoes de prevalencia (RP) brutas e ajustadas (intervalo de confianca de 95%) utilizou-se modelo de regressao de Poisson. O teste de Wald foi utilizado para testar a significância de cada variavel do modelo. Resultados: A prevalencia de adesao a terapia farmacologica foi de 47% (IC95%: 41%-53%). A amostra foi composta por 279 idosos, sendo a maioria de mulheres (69%), autodeclarados brancos (45,5%), com ate 4 anos de escolaridade (76,48%). No que concerne a terapia farmacologica, foi observada utilizacao de 5,19 (±2,8) medicamentos e 7,1 (±4,4) comprimidos tomados por dia. Conclusao: Foi observada associacao significativa entre as variaveis: percepcao positiva da visao, percepcao positiva da audicao e ausencia de fragilidade com a adesao a terapia farmacologica.