SynopsisIn recent decades, considerable and continuous growth in consumer demand in the cosmetics field has spurred the development of sophisticated formulations, aiming at high performance, attractive appearance, sensorial benefit and safety. Yet despite increasing demand from consumers, the formulator faces certain restrictions regarding the optimum equilibrium between the active compound concentration and the formulation base taking into account the nature of the skin structure, mainly concerning to the ideal penetration of the active compound, due to the natural skin barrier. Emulsion is a mixture of two immiscible phases, and the interest in nanoscale emulsion has been growing considerably in recent decades due to its specific attributes such as high stability, attractive appearance and drug delivery properties; therefore, performance is expected to improve using a lipid-based nanocarrier. Nanoemulsions are generated by different approaches: the so-called high-energy and low-energy methods. The global overview of these mechanisms and different alternatives for each method are presented in this paper, along with their benefits and drawbacks. As a cosmetics formulation is reflected in product delivery to consumers, nanoemulsion development with prospects for large-scale production is one of the key attributes in the method selection process. Thus, the aim of this review was to highlight the main high-and low-energy methods applicable in cosmetics and dermatological product development, their specificities, recent research on these methods in the cosmetics and consideration for the process selection optimization. The specific process with regard to inorganic nanoparticles, polymer nanoparticles and nanocapsule formulation is not considered in this paper.R esum e Au cours des derni eres d ecennies, la croissance consid erable et continue de la demande des consommateurs dans le domaine des cosm etiques a stimul e le d eveloppement de formulations sophistiqu ees, visant a haute performance, de belle apparence, de l'avantage sensoriel et de la s ecurit e. Pourtant, malgr e la demande croissante des consommateurs, le formulateur est confront e a certaines restrictions concernant l' equilibre optimal entre la concentration en substance active et la base de la formulation, en tenant compte de la nature de la structure de la peau, concernant principalement a la p en etration id eale de la substance active, en raison de la nature barri ere de la peau. Une emulsion est un m elange de deux phases non miscibles, et l'int erêt en emulsion a l' echelle nanom etrique a augment e consid erablement au cours des derni eres d ecennies en raison de ses attributs sp ecifiques tels que grande stabilit e, les propri et es d'apparence et de vectorisation d'actifs attrayantes; par cons equent, on peut attendre une am elioration des performances par l'utilisation d'un nanocarrier a base de lipides. Les nano emulsions sont g en er ees par diff erentes approches: les m ethodes dites de haute energie et de faible energie. La vue d'ensembl...

Despite the beneficial properties and outstanding potential of hydrogels for biomedical applications, several unmet challenges must be overcome, especially regarding to their known sensitivity to conventional sterilization methods. It is crucial for any biomaterial to withstand an efficient sterilization to obtain approval from regulatory organizations and to safely proceed to clinical trials. Sterility assurance minimizes the incidence of medical device-related infections, which still constitute a major concern in health care. In this review, we provide a detailed and comprehensive description of the published work from the past decade regarding the effects of sterilization on different types of hydrogels for biomedical applications. Advances in hydrogel production methods with simultaneous sterilization are also reported. Terminal sterilization methods can induce negative or positive effects on several material properties (e.g., aspect, size, color, chemical structure, mechanical integrity, and biocompatibility). Due to the complexity of factors involved (e.g., material properties, drug stability, sterilization conditions, and parameters), it is important to note the virtual impossibility of predicting the outcome of sterilization methods to determine a set of universal rules. Each system requires case-by-case testing to select the most suitable, effective method that allows for the main properties to remain unaltered. The impact of sterilization methods on the intrinsic properties of these systems is understudied, and further research is needed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 2472-2492, 2018.

The increase in the consumption of natural drugs have made their use a Public Health problem due to the possibility of access to products without adequate conditions of use. The concern with the quality of the natural products is due to the potential fungal contamination and the risk of the presence of mycotoxins. Ninety-one samples of medicinal plants were evaluated for the fungal contamination and the mycotoxigenic potential of Aspergillus and Penicillium isolated from the samples. Results indicated that predominant mycoflora was distributed in 10 genera. From these, 89.9% of the isolates corresponded to genera Aspergillus and Penicillium, which are extremely important from the mycotoxicological standpoint. 21.97% of the Aspergillus and Penicillium isolates proved to have the ability for producing aflatoxins (42.9%), ochratoxin A (22.4%) and citrinine (34.7%). The presence of toxigenic moulds represents a potential risk of mycotoxin contamination and considering the worldwide increased use of herbal products as alternative medicines, it is necessary setting standards for toxigenic moulds in crude herbal drugs in order to reduce the risks for consumers' health.

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