Silva Júnior, Arnóbio Antonio daGomes, Daniele Cavalcante2025-06-022025-06-022023-08-09GOMES, Daniele Cavalcante. Nanocarreadores híbridos multicarregados com benznidazol e fitol como estratégia para o tratamento da infecção por Trypanosoma cruzi. Orientador: Dr. Arnóbio Antonio da Silva Júnior. 2023. 96f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Ciências da Saúde) - Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, 2023.https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/63788Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. In this scenario, the only drug of choice for treatment in Brazil is Benznidazole (BNZ). Despite its widespread use, this molecule has efficacy problems due to its high toxicity, difficulty in crossing biological barriers, and low solubility in aqueous media. Therefore, the co-delivery of benznidazole together with phytol (FIT), an acyclic monounsaturated diterpene alcohol that expresses promising antitrypanosomal activity, is justified. Nanocarriers have proven ability to cross most biological barriers and intracellular targeting of drugs. The objective of this work was to develop biodegradable hybrid nanocarriers containing benznidazole and phytol, to improve the targeting of the compounds to cells infected by Trypanosoma cruzi. The systems were produced by the nanoprecipitation method. The formulation development and obtaining parameters were optimized by measurements of mean particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared absorption spectroscopy with transform Fourier (FTIRATR), encapsulation efficiency and in vitro studies. Spherical and stable hybrid nanocarriers below 200 nm were obtained, with encapsulation efficiency greater than 95% for FIT and 30% for BNZ. The in vitro drug release kinetics demonstrated a slow release of the nanocarriers. In vitro assays in normal cells (3T3) and (RAW) showed cytocompatibility and in trypomastigotes (CL-Brenner) showed an increase in the antichagasic activity of nanocarriers containing BNZ-FIT over monoloaded systems and BNZ and free FIT. Thus, the present work systematically addresses the development of a nanotechnological system with innovative potential for increasing the antichagasic response from the association of actives.pt-BRAcesso AbertoDoença de ChagasBenznidazolCo-nanoencapsulação de ativosFitolmasterThesisCIENCIAS DA SAUDE