Fragaria vesca L. (F. vesca), popularly known as wild strawberry, is a plant from the Rosaceae family, found in temperate and subtropical areas of the northern hemisphere. F. vesca leaves have been shown to have antiseptic, emollient, and dermatological protection properties, due to the presence of bioactive compounds, such as flavonoids, phenolic acids, ellagitannins, and proanthocyanidins. In this study, a F. vesca extract was obtained by an optimized extraction process, and was characterized by HPLC, ROS scavenging activity, cytotoxicity assays in HaCaT cells, and tyrosinase inhibitory activity determination. The most active extract was then incorporated in a hydrogel with hydroxyethylcellulose at 2% (w/w), which was characterized at the physicochemical, stability, cytotoxicity, and ROS scavenging activity levels to evaluate its quality, safety, and efficacy. In vivo studies, human repeat insult patch testing, and an assay to determine their antioxidant efficacy, were also performed. The results showed that the Fragaria vesca extracts had antioxidant activity and that the F. vesca extract-based hydrogel exhibited cutaneous compatibility, acceptability and antioxidant efficacy, being stable, and suitable for topical application.

The influence of cellulose ether derivatives on ibuprofen release from matrix tablets was investigated. Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments were used, in order to examine the compatibility between the matrix components: both excipients and ibuprofen. While both the DSC and Raman results did not detect any incompatibilities, DSC revealed the existence of some drug:excipient interactions, reflected by variations in the hydration/dehydration processes. Formulations containing mixtures of polymers with both low and high viscosity grades—methylcellulose (MC25) or hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC), and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC K100M), respectively—were prepared by a direct compression method (using 20, 25, and 30% of either MC25 or HPC). The tablets were evaluated for their drug content, weight uniformity, hardness, thickness, tensile strength, friability, porosity, surface area, and volume. Parameters such as the mean dissolution time (MDT) and the dissolution efficiency (DE) were calculated in all cases. The solid formulations presently studied demonstrated a predominantly Fickian diffusion release mechanism.