Investigating new drugs or formulations that target Alzheimer disease (AD) is critical for advancing therapeutic interventions. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effectiveness of nanoencapsulated curcumin (NC Curc) in alleviating memory impairment, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation in a validated AD model. Male Wistar rats were given bilateral intracerebroventricular injections of either saline or streptozotocin (STZ) (3 mg/3 µL/site) to establish the AD model (day 0). On day 22, daily oral administrations of curcumin (6 mg/kg), NC Curc (6 mg/kg), or a vehicle (unloaded NC) were initiated and continued for 14 days. NC Curc significantly reversed memory deficits in object recognition and inhibitory avoidance tests induced by STZ. Both formulations of curcumin attenuated elevated acetylcholinesterase activity caused by STZ. Importantly, NC Curc alone effectively mitigated STZ-induced oxidative stress. Additionally, NC Curc treatment normalized GFAP levels, suggesting a potential reduction in neuroinflammation in STZ-treated rats. Our findings indicate that NC Curc improves memory in an AD rat model, highlighting its enhanced therapeutic effects compared to unencapsulated curcumin. This research significantly contributes to understanding the therapeutic and neurorestorative potential of NC Curc in AD, particularly in reversing pathophysiological changes.

Concept mapping consist of diagrams that represent the relationships between concepts and words that describe them. The present study aimed to examination of student perceptions of using concept mapping in a pharmacy course. A group of undergraduate students from the sixth semester were the participants. Students received the concept mapping before and after the theoretical class, also could make their own map. In general manner, 97% of the students made use of concept mapping, 90% consider that their use may be useful for learning pharmacology. 50% of participants considered the help provided by concept mapping for their learning as satisfactory, 25% as very satisfactory and 25% as regular. Still, 63% of students intend to continue use of conceptual maps and 34% think about continuing to use concept mapping. Therefore, the study demonstrated that use of concept mapping as a teaching tool for pharmacology class, managed to arouse students interest in contents.

Objectives: Investigating how nanoparticle systems interact in whole blood (WB) is critical to evaluating the effectiveness of malaria therapy. Methods: We decided to establish a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model of the quinine population in WB using Plasmodium berghei-infected mice, with a subsequent model comparison for nanocapsules coated with polysorbate (NCP80) or prepared with Eudragit^® RS (NCEUD). The WB quinine population pharmacokinetic model in rats was developed using plasma and partition coefficients for rat erythrocytes. Mouse WB quinine population PK/PD modeling was developed using allometrically scaled literature-free mouse quinine pharmacokinetic data and covariate values to obtain a WB population pharmacokinetic model for quinine and nanocapsules in mice. This allowed for PK/PD modeling of the quinine population with the WB concentration and parasitemia data in mice. All models were built in NONMEN. Results: The WB quinine concentration profiles in rats were characterized using a two-compartment model. Nanoencapsulation reduced clearance and central compartment volume and increased peripherical compartimental volume. A maximum effect model described the PK/PD of the quinine WB population in mice, demonstrating that NCEUD enhances the antimalarial effect. Conclusions: Quinine WB is a good surrogate for describing the response to exposure in malaria. NCEUD outperformed NCP80 and free quinine, suggesting that cationic surfaces improve the potential for treating malaria.

Curcumin (CUR) is a bioactive compound with antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and anticancer properties, though its clinical use is limited by low bioavailability, rapid metabolism, and poor solubility. To address these challenges, our study investigates nanoencapsulated curcumin (NC‐CUR) to enhance its pharmacokinetics and therapeutic efficacy, using Drosophila melanogaster as a preclinical model for chronic inflammation. We developed NC‐CUR with an average size of 196 nm, uniform distribution, and high encapsulation efficiency. Population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) modeling demonstrated improved bioavailability and prolonged systemic exposure of NC‐CUR in rodents. Using time‐to‐event (TTE) analysis, we further evaluated NC‐CUR's impact on survival in LPS‐induced inflammation in D. melanogaster . The TTE model confirmed that NC‐CUR significantly extended survival compared to CUR and control groups, revealing a cumulative protective effect. These findings suggest that TTE modeling is a valuable tool for investigating NC‐CUR's protective effects in chronic inflammation, warranting further studies in mammalian models to fully explore its therapeutic potential and translational relevance.

The combination of drugs for malaria treatment holds promise, although the potential for drug-drug interactions remains insufficiently explored in novel therapeutic combinations. This study aims to assess these interactions using physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling, supported by data-driven parameter optimization, as a step towards the preclinical development of a formulation containing chloroquine and colchicine. Given that both compounds share metabolic pathways involving CYP3A4 and CYP2D6, we developed individual and population models using a middle-out strategy in PK-Sim®, an open-source software, and validated these models by comparing predicted and observed pharmacokinetic parameters. Simulations evaluated competitive inhibition between the compounds. The results indicated no significant changes in systemic exposure, with the area under the curve and maximum concentration values remaining consistent between single and combined administration. Our findings suggest that the proposed modeling is a powerful tool for predicting pharmacokinetic interactions during the preformulation stage, offering mechanistic insight and supporting rational decision-making prior to in vivo studies. The absence of significant drug-drug interactions between chloroquine and colchicine reinforces the feasibility of advancing this combination in future therapeutic development.