ABSTRACT The evaluation of drug permeation/penetration of semisolid formulations into animal skin can be useful to supplement the pharmaceutical equivalence. This paper describes the in vitro assessment of acyclovir (ACV) into porcine skin from commercial formulations with etermination of drug concentration in different layers of cutaneous tissue to correlate with effective antiviral concentration in order to improve the equivalence decision. Studies were conducted using Franz cells and porcine skin. Selected pharmaceutical creams containing ACV had identical (reference and generic) and different (similar) excipients. A software program was employed for the simulation of antiviral effectiveness in the skin. Regarding ACV skin penetration, the first batch of the generic product showed a significant difference from reference and similar products, while in the second batch all products demonstrated equivalent drug penetration in the skin. Simulation studies suggest that formulations analysed exhibit a pharmacological effect even when in contact with Herpes simplex strains of high IC50 (inhibitory concentration required to reduce viral replication by 50%). According to results, it can be assumed that the in vitro cutaneous permeation/penetration study does not supply sensitivity information regarding small alterations of ACV semisolid formulations due to the variability inherent to the method, although it can be relevant to pharmaceutical equivalence studies in the development of semisolid products.

O ácido glicólico é amplamente utilizado na terapêutica para se obter um peeling suave, levando ao afinamento do estrato córneo útil na renovação da epiderme e na redução das linhas faciais. Porém, em concentrações elevadas pode estar associado a um alto potencial de irritação da pele. O peeling químico tem diversas aplicações clínicas dentre elas o tratamento da pele facial lesada por problemas como acne, ictiose, melasma, verrugas e outros problemas. O presente trabalho objetivou estabelecer e validar a metodologia analítica para a determinação do teor de ácido glicólico na matéria-prima e em formulações dermocosméticas, tendo empregado o método titulométrico de neutralização ácido-base, determinando-se o ponto de equivalência com indicador e/ou indicação potenciométrica. A análise do teor de ácido glicólico na matéria-prima e, particularmente, no produto acabado, é importante para o controle de qualidade, principalmente, para a segurança dos consumidores. Portanto, a matéria-prima e os produtos, contendo ácido glicólico, foram analisados em dois dias, quanto ao teor de ácido glicólico livre e total utilizando soluções de hidróxido de sódio 0,1 N e o ácido clorídrico 0,1 N. A metodologia desenvolvida baseou-se na reação com a substância ativa e com as características próprias destas formulações, demonstrando ser prática e eficaz na quantificação do ácido glicólico.

Glycolic acid is widely used in therapeutical care as a soft peeling, leading to the thickness of the horny layer, which is useful in the renewal of the epidermis and the reduction of the face lines. However, in high concentrations it can be associated to a potential of irritation of the skin. A chemical peeling has diverse clinical applications, among them the treatment of injured skin face like: acne, ichthyose, melasma, warts and other else. The present work had the goal to establish and to validate an analytical methodology for the determination of the glycolic acid purity in the raw material and in the dermocosmetic formulations, the acid-base neutralization titration method was used, and the end point was determined with visual indicator as well as potenciometric. The analysis of glycolic acid in the raw material, and particularly, in the finished product is important to maintain the quality control and to guarantee the consumers security. Therefore, the raw material and the products, with glycolic acid, were analyzed in two days, as its purity in free and total glycolic acid was determined using sodium hydroxide 0,1 N and the hydrochloric acid 0,1 N solutions. The developed methodology was based on the reaction with the active substance and with the property characteristics of these formulations. It was demonstrated to be practical and efficient in quantify the glycolic acid.

This paper presents a review of some published proposals for the analysis of sodium alendronate. The drug is an aminobisphosphonate compound used to inhibit the osteoclastic resorption of bone, and different methods were developed for its quantitative determination. These methodologies employed reversed-phase or ion-exchange HPLC analysis, both associated with different detectors: UV and fluorescence detection after derivatization of the drug, conductivity and refractive index detectors, as well as the indirect UV detection. Titrimetry and spectrophotometry (with previous complexation of the drug), which are simpler procedures, were also described, but they showed poor specificity when compared to liquid chromatography.

A nimesulida é um antiinflamatório não-esteróide com baixa solubilidade em água e caráter fracamente ácido. O desenvolvimento dos ensaios de dissolução para fármacos de baixa hidrossolubilidade pode ser problemático e tensoativos são freqüentemente requeridos para aumentar a solubilização dos mesmos. No presente trabalho avaliou-se o efeito dos tensoativos lauril sulfato de sódio e polissorbato 80, na promoção da solubilidade da nimesulida em meio aquoso, determinando-se também o pH, a tensão superficial e a concentração micelar crítica dos meios testados. A nimesulida apresentou baixa solubilidade nos meios sem tensoativos (<60 mg/mL), na faixa de pH de 1,0 a 7,4 e as maiores solubilidades (>300 mg/mL) foram observadas em tampão fosfato pH 7,4 com polissorbato 80. A concentração de saturação do fármaco aumentou proporcionalmente com a concentração dos tensoativos, os quais atuam pelo mecanismo de solubilização micelar. Obtiveram-se perfis de dissolução de três formulações de comprimidos de nimesulida, em meios com diversas concentrações de tensoativo, empregando-se o aparelho de dissolução com agitador de pá. Os resultados mostraram que a escolha do meio de dissolução para nimesulida deve ser criteriosa, de modo a evitar condições de baixo poder discriminante das formulações.

Nimesulide is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, which presents low water-solubility and weak-acid properties. The intrinsic solubility of a drug plays an important role on drug dissolution from a solid dosage form. The development of a dissolution test for poorly hydrophilic drugs can exhibit some difficulties and surfactants are often used to promote drug solubilization. In this work the influences of both sodium laurylsulfate and polysorbate 80 on promotion of nimesulide aqueous solubility were studied. The media were also evaluated regarding their pH, surface tension and critical micelle concentration. All media without surfactant gave very low nimesulide solubility (<60 mg/mL) at pH range of 1.0 to 7.4. The higher solubilities (>300 mg/mL) were got in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 with polysorbate 80 as additive. As surfactant concentration increases, higher drug saturation values are obtained by micellar solubilization. Dissolution profiles of three nimesulide tablets formulations were conducted employing media with different surfactant concentration by the rotating paddle-method. The results indicated that surfactants in nimesulide dissolution studies should be criteriously chosen in order to avoid poor discriminating medium characteristics.