1. Investigación

Progesterone (PG) may provide protection to the retina during retinitis pigmentosa, but its topical ocular supply is hampered by PG poor aqueous solubility and low ocular bioavailability. The development of e cient topical ocular forms must face up to two relevant challenges: Protective barriers of the eyes and lack of validated ex vivo tests to predict drug permeability. The aims of this study were: (i) To design micelles using Pluronic F68 and Soluplus copolymers to overcome PG solubility and permeability; and (ii) to compare drug di usion through the cornea and sclera of three animal species (rabbit, porcine, and bovine) to investigate interspecies di erences. Micelles of Pluronic F68 (3–4 nm) and Soluplus (52–59 nm) increased PG solubility by one and two orders of magnitude, respectively and exhibited nearly a 100% encapsulation e ciency. Soluplus systems showed in situ gelling capability in contrast to the low viscosity Pluronic F68 micelles. The formulations successfully passed the hen’s egg-chorioallantoic membrane test (HET-CAM) test. PG penetration through rabbit cornea and sclera was faster than through porcine or bovine cornea, although the di erences were also formulation-dependent. Porcine tissues showed intermediate permeability between rabbit and bovine. Soluplus micelles allowed greater PG accumulation in cornea and sclera whereas Pluronic F68 promoted a faster penetration of lower PG doses.

La enseñanza universitaria evoluciona hacia la formación basada en problemas. La prueba ECOE (Evaluación Clínica Objetiva Estructurada) permite evaluar la capacidad del alumno en tres de los cuatro escalones de la pirámide de Miller; saber, saber cómo y demostrar cómo (conocimientos, habilidades y actitudes). Esta es la prueba de evaluación de las practicas tuteladas y en la Universidad Cardenal Herrera CEU se ha impartido en los dos últimos cursos a un total de 79 alumnos con resultados satisfactorios. El alumno debe pasar por 5 estaciones donde en 5 minutos en cada una debe resolver el problema práctico que se le plantea. Un profesor entrenado hace de paciente y otro profesor evalúa las habilidades del alumno. Luego se pasó una encuesta de satisfacción anónima a los alumnos siendo el resultado de 4,12/6. Es necesario ir modificando los problemas planteados a los alumnos para que cada vez más se adapten a la realidad que se encontraran al obtener el grado como profesionales farmacéuticos. / Higher education evolves towards Problem Based Learning. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) assesses students’ competencies in three of the four levels of Miller’s pyramid; Knows, Knows How, and Shows How (knowledge, competence, and performance). In the last two years, a total of 79 students at Cardenal Herrera University CEU were assessed with this examination, with good results. Student are asked to go through 5 stations, in which they have 5 minutes to resolve a practical problem. A trained teacher acts as the patient, while another evaluates the student’s abilities. Next, an anonymous satisfaction survey is given to the students, with the result 4,12/6. The problems presented to the students must be changed constantly so that each time they increasingly adapt to the situations they will find in their real-life practice once the graduate as professional pharmacists.

Exposure to sunlight and contact with atmospheric oxygen makes the eye particularly susceptible to oxidative stress, which can potentially produce cellular damage. In physiological conditions, there are several antioxidant defense mechanisms within the eye. Glutathione (GSH) is the most important antioxidant in the eye; GSH deficit has been linked to several ocular pathologies. The aim of this study was to explore the potential for newly developed formulations allowing controlled delivery of antioxidants such as GSH and vitamin C (Vit C) directly to the eye. We have investigated the stability of antioxidants in aqueous solution and assessed ex-vivo the di usion of GSH through two ocular membranes, namely cornea and sclera, either in solution or included in a semisolid insert. We have also carried out the hen’s egg-chlorioallantoic membrane test (HET-CAM) to evaluate the ocular irritancy of the di erent antioxidant solutions. Our results showed that GSH is stable for up to 30 days at 4 C in darkness and it is not an irritant to the eye. The di usion studies revealed that the manufactured formulation, a semisolid insert containing GSH, could deliver this tripeptide directly to the eye in a sustained manner.

The aims of this study were to assess, in vitro, the possibility of administering propranolol transdermally and to evaluate the usefulness of the dermatopharmacokinetic (DPK) method in assessing the transport of drugs through stratum corneum, using propranolol as a model compound. Four chemical enhancers (decenoic and oleic acid, laurocapram, and R-(+)-limonene) and iontophoresis at two current densities, 0.25 and 0.5 mA/cm2 were tested. R-(+)-limonene, and iontophoresis at 0.5 mA/cm2 were proven to be the most efficient in increasing propranolol transdermal flux, both doubled the original propranolol transdermal flux. Iontophoresis was demonstrated to be superior than the chemical enhancer because it allowed faster delivery of the drug. The DPK method was sufficiently sensitive to detect subtle vehicle-induced effects on the skin permeation of propranolol. The shorter duration of these experiments and their ability to provide mechanistic information about partition between vehicle and skin and diffusivity through skin place them as practical and potentially insightful approach to quantify and, ultimately, optimize topical bioavailability.

Fumagillin-loaded liposomes were injected into ApoE-KO mice. The animals were divided into several groups to test the efficacy of this anti-angiogenic drug for early treatment of atherosclerotic lesions. Statistical analysis of the lesions revealed a decrease in the lesion size after 5 weeks of treatment.