ABSTRACT The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of the dietary addition of different levels of rosemary powder (RP) and vitamin E (VitE) on broiler performance and gut gross morphometry. A total of 270 one-day-old Ross 308 male chicks were randomly assigned to nine dietary treatments with three replicates of10 birds each. Treatments consisted of diets were supplemented with 0, 0.5 or 1.0% RP and 0, 100 or 200 mg/kg VitE (alpha-tocopherol acetate). Feed intake and weight gain were recorded weekly. On day 42, one bird per replicate was euthanized after blood sampling. Gastrointestinal tract segments were measured and/or weighed. Means were compared by least significant difference. Overall, broilers fed1.0% RP presented lower (p< 0.05) feed intake, weight gain, and final weight body than those fed 0.5% RP. Broilers fed the 0.5% RP plus 200 mg/kg VitE diet presented higher weight gain (p<0.05) in than those in the control group (0% RP and 0 mg VitE). Jejunum length and weight, colon length and width, and right cecum weight were also negatively affected (p<0.05) by the 1.0% RP diet when compared with the 0.5% RP diet. We suggest that the dietary supplementation of 0.5% RP plus 200mg/kg of vitE improves broiler performance and does not have significant adverse effects on gross gut morphometry. Dietary VitE may play a potential protective role against the negative effects of high levels of RP.

Sistemas de liberação de fármacos baseados em conjugados polímero-fármaco fornecem um tratamento melhorado com menor toxidade ou efeitos colaterais e são usados no tratamento de diferentes doenças. Conjugados de poli(estireno-alt-anidrido maleico) (PSMA) biodegradável, com agentes terapêuticos tais como cloridrato de amantadina, amlopidina, gabapentina, zonisamida e mesalamina, foram gerados pela formação de ligações de amidas dos fármacos amino que reagiram com os grupos anidridos do PSMA. As quantidades de fármacos covalentemente conjugados foram determinadas por ressonância magnética nuclear (NMR) de¹ H, e a taxa de liberação in vitro em solução tampão (pH 1.3) foi estudada à temperatura do corpo (37 ºC). Em estudos de cinética, modelos de dissolução diferentes foram examinados a fim de se obter dados de liberação do fármaco e os dados coletados se ajustaram bem a equação de Korsmeyer-Peppas, revelando um mecanismo de difusão Fickaniano dominante na liberação do fármaco em condições in vitro.

Drug delivery systems based on polymer-drug conjugates give an improved treatment with lower toxicity or side effects and be used for the treatment of different diseases. Conjugates of biodegradable poly(styrene-alt-maleic anhydride) (PSMA), with a therapeutic agents such as amantadine hydrochloride, amlodipine, gabapentin, zonisamide and mesalamine, were afforded by the formation of the amide bonds of the amino drugs that reacted with the PSMA anhydride groups. The amounts of covalently conjugated drugs were determined by a¹ H NMR spectroscopic method, and the in vitro release rate in buffer solution (pH 1.3) was studied at body temperature 37 ºC. In kinetic studies, different dissolution models were examined to obtain drug release data and the collected data were well-fitted to the Korsmeyer-Peppas equation, revealing a dominant Fickian diffusion mechanism for drug release under the in vitro conditions.

N-Bromosuccinimide (NBS) catalyses the ring opening of various epoxides with different thiols in CH3CN at room temperature under mild reaction conditions. The corresponding β-hydroxysulphides are obtained in short reaction times and in good to high yields with nearly complete regioselectivity. The catalyst was compared with previously reported catalysts and only one that we have found [B(C6F5)3] gave the same regioselectivity, but the reaction time was much longer (4 h versus 5 min) and the yield was considerably lower. Zn(ClO4)2.6H2O gave slightly lower selectivity but higher yields. The reaction time was about 12 times longer.