title: Percutaneous penetration, melanin activation and toxicity evaluation of a phytotherapic formulation for vitiligo therapeutic.
abstract: The aim of this work was to apply photoacoustic spectroscopy for the ex vivo determination of the penetration rate of a phytotherapic formulation for vitiligo therapeutic, with or without salicylic acid as the promoter agent. In addition, the compound toxicity and morphophysiology effects were evaluated for different concentrations of salicylic acid. The experiments were performed as a function of the period of time of treatment in a well-controlled group of rabbits. Toxic effects were not observed with any of the tested products. All formulations containing salicylic acid induced cutaneous reaction which was dose dependent. The histological analysis showed that the use of the medication was associated with an increased comedogenic effect in relation to the control group, regardless of salicylic acid concentration. Inflammatory reactions and acanthosis were observed only in the animals treated with formulations containing higher concentrations of salicylic acid, while none of these effects were detected with the use of the formulation containing 2.5% (wt/vol) of salicylic acid. Photoacoustic depth monitoring showed that both formulations, with or without salicylic acid, propagated through the skin up to the melanocytes region, suggesting that the transport of the active agent may occur through the epithelial structure without the need of using queratinolitic substances, which are known to induce side effects in the animals.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Paraná, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cecília Valente Rodrigues
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Truite
authors.forename: Gisele Strieder
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Philippsen
authors.forename: Tânia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda-Nakamura
authors.forename: Maria Raquel Marçal
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Natali
authors.forename: Benedito Prado
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Dias Filho
authors.forename: Antonio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Bento
authors.forename: Mauro Luciano
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Baesso
authors.forename: Celso Vataru
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008543:Melanins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008517:Phytotherapy; D011817:Rabbits; D012869:Skin Absorption / Q000187:drug effects*; D014820:Vitiligo / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D008543:Melanins