With the COVID-19 pandemic, many diagnostic tests (molecular or immunological) were rapidly standardised, given the urgency of the situation, many are still in the process of being validated. The main objective of this study was to review the aspects of the diagnostic kits approved in Brazil and their application in the different federative units to gather epidemiological information. In order to achieve these objectives, a survey was carried out on the data available at the regulatory agency (ANVISA) and in the literature. The main countries that have registered products in Brazil are China (51.4%), Brazil (16.6%), South Korea (9.2%), USA (8.8%) and Germany (3.6%). The methodologies of these products are based on the detection of nucleic-acid (15.8%), antigen (13%) and antibody (71.2%). In the immunological tests, it was verified that the sensitivity ranged from 55 to 100% and the specificity from 80 to 100%. The percentage of cases in the samples tested in Brazil is elevated in almost all federative units since eight states showed 40% of positive cases in tested samples, while 18 states displayed between 20 and 40%. In conclusion, this review showed
HIGHLIGHTS The main COVID-19 diagnostic methods in Brazil are updated. More than 80% of the approved products are from other countries. The tests are based on the detection of nucleic-acid (15.8%), antigen (13%) and antibody (71.2%). The most of Brazilian federative units show an elevated percentage of cases per samples tested. 2 Vedova-Costa J.M.D.; et al.
Background:
Lipid nanocarriers have been widely tested as drug delivery systems to treat diseases due to their bioavailability, controlled release, and low toxicity. For the pulmonary route, the Food and Drug Administration favors the use of substances generally recognized as safe, as well as biodegradable and biocompatible to minimize the possibility of toxicity. Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health threat worldwide, mainly due to the long treatment duration and adverse effects. Therefore, new drug delivery systems to treat TB are needed.
Objective:
Physicochemical characterization of different lipid-based nanocarriers was used to optimize carrier properties. Optimized systems were incubated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis to assess whether lipid-based systems act as an energy source for the bacteria, which could be counterproductive to therapy.
Method:
Several excipients and surfactants were evaluated to prepare different types of nanocarriers using high-pressure homogenization.
Results:
A mixture of trimyristin with castor oil was chosen as the lipid matrix after differential scanning calorimetry analysis. A mixture of egg lecithin and PEG-660 stearate was selected as an optimal surfactant system as this mixture formed the most stable formulations. Three types of lipid nanocarriers, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC), and Nano emulsions, were prepared, with the NLC systems showing the most suitable properties for further evaluation. It may provide the advantages of increasing the entrapment efficiency, drug release, and the ability to be lyophilized, producing powder for pulmonary administration being an alternative to entrap poor water-soluble molecules.
Conclusion:
Furthermore, the NLC system can be considered for use as a platform for the treatment of TB by the pulmonary route.
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