The aims of this work were to develop quinine (QN)-loaded nanocapsules, to evaluate their efficacy in vivo and to determine their pharmacokinetics and erythrocyte partition coefficient. Plasmodium berghei-infected Wistar rats were used to evaluate the efficacy of QN-loaded nanocapsules using different dosing regimens. Pharmacokinetics was evaluated after intravenous administration of free or nanoencapsulated QN (25 mg/kg) to infected rats. The QN partition coefficient into P. berghei-infected erythrocytes was evaluated. QN-loaded nanocapsules presented an adequate particle size (176 nm), narrow particle distribution (0.19), negative zeta potential (-18 mV) and high drug content and encapsulation efficiency. Intravenous administration of QN-loaded nanocapsules at 75 mg/kg/day to infected rats resulted in 100% survival, representing an almost 30% reduction compared with the free QN effective dose (105 mg/kg/day). The pharmacokinetic parameters of nanoencapsulated QN were not significantly different from those determined for free drug (alpha=0.05). The QN partition coefficient into infected erythrocytes doubled (6.25+/-0.25) when the drug was nanoencapsulated compared with the free drug (3.03+/-0.07). Therefore, nanoencapsulation increased the interaction between QN and the erythrocyte and this mechanism is responsible for the drug's increased efficacy when nanoencapsulated.

Objective To assess the epidemiological and toxicological profile of all suicide victims in 2017 in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Methods The victims were classified by gender, age, parental absence, city, suicide form, death context, and toxicological results, using the police occurrences and the reports issued by the Instituto-Geral de Perícias do RS. Multiple correspondence analysis and the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel X 2 test were used to evaluate associations between the parameters studied. Results There were 1,284 suicides (11.3 cases/100,000 inhabitants) in RS in 2017, 80% of which were men and 46% were young and old. Porto Alegre had the highest number of victims and the region of the Vale do Rio Pardo, the highest rate (20.8 cases/100,000 inhabitants). The hanging was the most used medium and the depression, the most mentioned context in the occurrences. The presence of ethanol was observed in 30% of the samples analyzed, with an adult male profile associated with the presence of other psychotropic substances, whose class was most frequently detected with anxiolytics. The nitrite was the most detected poison among the samples sent for this purpose. There was an association between parental absence and young people, between suicidal intoxication method and women and among young people and the presence of illicit compounds. Conclusion Mortality due to suicide continues to increase in RS, which, historically, has the highest Brazilian index. The information obtained in this study supports new research, promoting awareness raising, guidance to health services and the elaboration of more preventive public policies.

No abstract

No abstract