CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Autism (AU) is a serious psychological childhood disorder characterized by impairments in socialization. The main goal of drug therapy is to reduce symptoms and improve life quality for children and their families. Risperidone, an antipsychotic drug, is one of the most used medications but it has numerous side effects due to hepatic metabolism. In this work we propose to include risperidone in emulsions enriched in essential fatty acids such as ω3 and ω6 since it has been reported that they can inhibit hepatic metabolism. To prepare emulsions, the drug is solubilized in fatty acids, provided by different commercial oils. Then, a mixture of Tween-80, PEG and lecithin was added in order to act as a surfactant. A stable emulsion was obtained by stirring with an Ultraturrax. Particle size over time was determined by light scattering on a Malvern Mastersizer 200E size analyzer. The emulsions having a higher amount of oil and larger sizes are more stable than those with more surfactant. Emulsions were also characterized by MC540, determining hydrophobicity factor. This study points to the start of the characterization of a potential delivery system of risperidone which, being composed of non-toxic components can be easily incorporated into a clinical protocol. References: 1. Comas DI, Wagner JR , Tomás MC. Food Hydrocolloids 2006; 20: 990-6. 2. Chiaramoni NS, Baccarini LC, Taira MC, Alonso S. J. Biol. Phys. 2008; 34: 179-188. 3. du Plessis LH, Lubbe J, Strauss T , Kotze AF. Int J Pharm 2010; 385: 181-6. 4. Gao Z-G, et al. Int J Pharm 1998; 161: 75-86 5. McDougle CJ, Stigler KA, Erickson CA , Posey DJ. Clinical Neuroscience Research 2006; 6 179-88. 6. Porter CJ, Charman SA , Charman WN. J Pharm Sci 1996; 85: 351-6. 7. Yao HT, Chang YW, Lan SJ, Chen CT, Hsu JT , Yeh TK. Life Sci 2006; 79: 2432-40. Acknowledgements: CONICET, MINCyT, UNQ.