Objective To determine the profile of medications used for self-medication by the elderly.Methods A cross-sectional study based on interviews with elderly seen at a reference center for Elderly Health of a teaching hospital, from July 2014 to July 2015. Clinical, demographic and pharmacotherapeutic data were collected.Results A total of 170 elderly were interviewed, 85.9% female, and the median age was 76 years. The frequency of self-medication was 80.5%. The most used medications for self-medication were central acting muscle relaxants, analgesics and antipyretics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and antirheumatic agents. Among the elderly who practiced self-medication, 55.5% used drugs that were inappropriate for the elderly, according to Beers criteria of 2015, and 56.9% used medications that showed therapeutic duplicity with the prescribed drugs. We identified 57 drugs used for self-medication, of which 30 (52.6%) were classified as over-the-counter and 27 (47.4%) as prescription drugs. Approximately 68.6% of elderly had at least one interaction involving drugs prescribed and those used for self-medication.Conclusion The practice of self-medication was frequent in the elderly studied. The widespread use of over-the-counter drugs and/or potentially inappropriate medications for elderly increases the risk of drug interactions and adverse events.

Dogs have been used as an experimental model for human genetic diseases and for research applied to endangered Canidae. Moreover, application of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) by dog breeders is increasing. The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival rate and in vitro development of in vivo-produced and cryopreserved dog embryos. Seven cross-bred bitches were submitted to ovariohysterectomy 12 days after first mating or artificial insemination, and embryos were recovered by uterine horn flushing with 30 mL of PBS/horn (Nutricell, Campinas, SP, Brazil). Grade 1 and 2 morulae (MO; n = 7; IETS) and blastocysts (BL; n = 14) were frozen. For freezing, embryos were immersed in glycerol 10% (GLY; Nutricell, Campinas, SP, Brazil) or ethylene glycol 3,0 M (EG; Nutricell, Campinas, SP, Brazil) for 10 min. Straws were placed in the machine at -7.0°C (TK 3000, Uberaba, MG, Brazil), and equilibrated for 2 min. Seeding was performed at -7.0°C, and another equilibrium period of 2 min was performed. A cooling rate of -0.5°C/min until -32.0°C was used. Embryos were stored in N2L until thawing. Prior to in vitro culture, embryos were removed from N2L, kept at room temperature for 10 s, and put in a water bath at 25°C for 20 s. Embryos frozen in GLY were washed for 5 min in each thawing solution for cryoprotectant removal (0.6 M sacarose + glycerol 5%; 0.6 M sacarose + glycerol 2.5% and 0.6 M sacarose; Nutricell, Campinas, SP, Brazil). After that, embryos were washed 10 times in holding solution (Holding Plus, Bioniche, Pullman, WA, USA). Embryos frozen in EG were kept at room temperature for 10 s, put in a water bath at 25°C for 20 s, and were directly washed 10 times in holding solution. Comparison among groups was performed by ANOVA. After thawing, 9/11 (81.8%) embryos frozen in EG had rupture of zona pelucidae and 2/11 (18.2%) were intact, whereas 9/10 (90.0%) embryos frozen in GLY were intact (P < 0.05). All intact embryos (n = 11) were morphologically normal and were transferred to SOF medium (Nutricell, Campinas, SP, Brazil), cultured for 168 h at 38.3°C, and evaluated at 24-h intervals. After the last evaluation, for both cryoprotectants, hatching rate was 0.0%, but all embryos were morphologically normal. The results of this study suggest that dog embryos have a high in vitro survival rate in standard protocols used for mammalian embryo cryopreservation when glycerol 10% is used as cryoprotectant and that a long period of culture (possibly more than 10 days) is required for dog embryo hatching. On the other hand, this long period for in vitro hatching may reflect the delayed hatching and implantation that occurs in vivo in this species. Financial by FAPES/MCT/CNPq/CT-INFRA n. 19/2006; Processo n. 36600737/2007, ES- Brasil.

Trichomoniasis is the most common non-viral, sexually transmitted infection affecting humans worldwide. The main treatment for trichomoniasis is metronidazole (MTZ). However, adverse effects and reports of resistance have stimulated the development of therapeutic alternatives. The ease of manipulation of the side chains of MTZ coupled with its safety makes this molecule attractive for the development of new drugs. In this context, we evaluated the activity of the chlorinated MTZ derivative, MTZ-Cl, on sensitive and resistant strains of Trichomonas vaginalis. MTZ-Cl presented a remarkable activity against both sensitive and resistant strains. In vitro and in vivo toxicity assays indicated that the new molecule is safe for future clinical trials. Furthermore, we noticed different rates of free radical production between the sensitive and resistant strains. MTZ-Cl induced a higher release of nitric oxide (NO, ~ 9000 a.u.) by both sensitive and resistant strains. However, the sensitive strain produced a greater amount of HO (~ 1,800,000 a.u.) and superoxide radicals (~ 350,000 a.u.) in the presence of MTZ. In the resistant strain, production of these radicals was more prominent when MTZ-Cl was used. Collectively, these results suggest that NO is an important molecule in the trichomonacidal activity against resistant and sensitive strains, suggesting an alternative pathway for MTZ-Cl activation. We highlight the high trichomonacidal potential of MTZ-Cl, improving the effectiveness of treatment and reducing side effects. In addition, MTZ-Cl is derived from a well-established drug on the world market that presents low toxicity to human cells, suggesting its safety to proceed with future clinical trials.

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