Holandino Carla, Oliveira Adriana Passos, Homsani Fortune, de Paiva Juliana Patrão, Barbosa Gleyce Moreno, de Lima Zanetti Michelle Rodrigues, de Barros Fernandes Thaís, Siqueira Camila Monteiro, da Veiga Venicio Feo, Coli Louvisse de Abreu Letícia, Marzotto Marta, Bernardi Paolo, Bonamin Leoni Villano, Bellavite Paolo, Rossi André Linhares, Picciani Paulo Henrique de Souza
Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Laboratory of Research and Development of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, Department of Drugs and Medicines, Pharmacy College, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Laboratory of Research and Development of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, Department of Drugs and Medicines, Pharmacy College, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Homeopathy. 2017 Aug;106(3):160-170. doi: 10.1016/j.homp.2017.06.003. Epub 2017 Jul 29.
A series of different experimental approaches was applied in Zincum metallicum (Zinc met.) samples and lactose controls. Experiments were designed to elucidate the effect of zinc trituration and dynamization on physicochemical properties of homeopathic formulations, using lactose as excipient.
Zinc met. potencies (Zinc met 1-3c) were triturated and dynamized using lactose as excipient, according to Brazilian Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia. Lactose samples (LAC 1-3c) were also prepared following the same protocol and used as controls. The samples were analyzed structurally by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and thermodynamically by Thermogravimetry (TG) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC).
AAS analysis detected 97.0 % of zinc in the raw material, 0.75 % (Zinc met 1c) and 0.02% (Zinc met 2c). XRD analysis showed that inter-atomic crystalline spacing of lactose was not modified by dynamization. Amorphous and crystalline lactose spheres and particles, respectively, were observed by TEM in all samples, with mean size from 200 to 800 nm. EDX obtained with TEM identified zinc presence throughout the amorphous matter but individualized zinc particles were not observed. SEM images obtained from dynamized samples (LAC 1c and Zinc met 1c) with electron backscattering could not identify zinc metal grains. The dynamization process induced Derivatives of Thermal Gravimetric (DTg) peak modification, which was previously centered near 158°C to lactose, to a range from 140 to 170°C, suggesting the dynamization process modifies the temperature range of water aggregation. Thermal phenomena were analyzed and visualized by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) statistics. Both indicated that fusion enthalpy of dynamized samples (DynLAC 1-3c; DynZn 1-3c) increased 30.68 J/g in comparison to non-dynamized lactose (LAC; p < 0.05).
Our results suggested no structural changes due to the trituration and dynamization process. However, TG and DSC analyses permit the differentiation of dynamized and non-dynamized groups, suggesting the dynamization process induced a significant increase in the degradation heat. These results call for further calorimetric studies with other homeopathic dilutions and other methodologies, to better understand the dynamics of these systems.
对金属锌（锌剂）样品和乳糖对照品采用了一系列不同的实验方法。实验旨在阐明使用乳糖作为辅料时，锌的研磨和增效处理对顺势疗法制剂物理化学性质的影响。
根据巴西顺势疗法药典，以乳糖为辅料对锌剂效力（锌剂1 - 3c）进行研磨和增效处理。乳糖样品（LAC 1 - 3c）也按照相同方案制备并用作对照。通过原子吸收光谱法（AAS）、X射线衍射法（XRD）、配备能量色散X射线光谱仪（EDX）的透射电子显微镜（TEM）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）对样品进行结构分析，并通过热重分析法（TG）和差示扫描量热法（DSC）进行热力学分析。
AAS分析检测到原料中锌含量为97.0%，锌剂1c中为0.75%，锌剂2c中为0.02%。XRD分析表明，乳糖的原子间晶体间距未因增效处理而改变。TEM观察到所有样品中分别存在无定形和结晶状的乳糖球和颗粒，平均尺寸为200至800纳米。TEM配备的EDX鉴定出无定形物质中存在锌，但未观察到单个的锌颗粒。通过电子背散射获得的增效处理样品（LAC 1c和锌剂1c）的SEM图像未识别出锌金属颗粒。增效处理过程导致热重导数（DTg）峰发生改变，该峰之前集中在接近158°C的乳糖处，变为140至170°C的范围，表明增效处理过程改变了水聚集的温度范围。通过方差分析（ANOVA）和主成分分析（PCA）统计对热现象进行了分析和可视化。两者均表明，与未增效处理的乳糖（LAC）相比，增效处理样品（DynLAC 1 - 3c；DynZn 1 - 3c）的熔融焓增加了30.68 J/g（p < 0.05）。
我们的结果表明，研磨和增效处理过程未导致结构变化。然而，TG和DSC分析能够区分增效处理组和未增效处理组，表明增效处理过程导致降解热显著增加。这些结果需要采用其他顺势疗法稀释剂和其他方法进行进一步的量热研究，以更好地理解这些系统的动力学。
