Development of a Promising Antitumor Compound Based on Rhodium(II) Succinate Associated with Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Coated with Lauric Acid/Albumin Hybrid: Synthesis, Colloidal Stability and Cytotoxic Effect in Breast Carcinoma Cells.

In this study, we report the synthesis and characterization of a new rhodium(II) succinate complex (Rh2(suc)4) and its immobilization on lauric acid bilayer-coated maghemite nanoparticles (MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4) and subsequent adsorption with bovine serum albumin (MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4/BSA). Rh2(suc)4 has been characterized by elemental analysis, potentiometric titration, TGA, MS, FTIR and UV-Vis analysis. The maghemite phase was confirmed by XRD, and a diameter of 10 nm was obtained by Sherrer equation. The VSM experiment showed superparamagnetic properties. TEM showed nanoparticles with a spherical shape and a mean diameter of 8.5±0.4 and 9.1 ± 0.4 nm for MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4 and MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4/BSA, respectively. FTIR and TGA confirmed the immobilization of Rh2(suc)4 and bovine serum albumin adsorption on superparamagnetic iron oxide. Hydrodynamic size (DH) and zeta potential (ζ) measurements were made in aqueous, NaCl and DMEM media. DH for dispersions was lower in aqueous medium, but increased in saline and DMEM media. In aqueous and saline media, ζ was not altered for MGH-2L and MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4, but was significantly lower for MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4/BSA. Therefore, MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4/BSA was the most stable dispersion, meaning that BSA coating prevents aggregation more than lauric acid bilayer coating. MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4 and MGH-2L/Rh2(suc)4/BSA dispersions induced cytotoxicity in breast carcinoma (MCF-7) and fibroblast cells in culture, and this effect was higher than that exerted by free Rh2(suc)4 and more specific to breast carcinoma cells than to fibroblasts. Therefore, we suggest that these dispersions have an important potential for future clinical applications and, thus, they should be considered a platform to enhance Rh2(suc)4 cytotoxicity, specifically in breast carcinoma.

Aspectos técnicos e legais do gerenciamento de resíduos químico-farmacêuticos / Technical and legal aspects on management of chemical and pharmaceutical residues

O risco ambiental decorrentes da geração de resíduos tem aumentado com o progresso tecnológico, bem como com o aumento populacional. Destacam-se, neste contexto, os riscos potenciais decorrentes da rotina de indústrias químico-farmacêuticas, bem como de laboratórios de ensino e pesquisa associados. Por esta razão, vários projetos visando à otimização do tratamento de resíduos industriais e/ou laboratoriais vêm sendo propostos. A presente revisão apresenta uma síntese das estratégias implantadas no sentido de minimizar ou solucionar problemas relacionados ao manejo dos resíduos, provenientes de indústrias, instituições de pesquisa e ensino, entre outros potenciais geradores de resíduos. Apresentam-se as diretrizes legais mais gritantes e alguns aspectos técnicos relacionados à segregação, acondicionamento, tratamento e descarte final destes resíduos.

The environmental risks from waste production has arisen with the technological progress, as well as with the world population increase. The risks from the industrial or academic routines in pharmaceutical or fine chemical plants and projects are remarkable. For this reason, many projects focusing on the optimization of waste treatment in these places have been proposed. This paper, reviews some of the main strategies introduced, in order to solve or decrease the problems, in the management of pharmaceutical-chemical wastes in industry, universities, among other potential kind of waste generators. The main regulatory and technical aspects, associated to segregation, packaging, treatment and final disposal of these wastes are presented.