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Homeopathy 2017; 106(03): 160-170
DOI: 10.1016/j.homp.2017.06.003
 
Copyright © The Faculty of Homeopathy 2017

Structural and thermal analyses of zinc and lactose in homeopathic triturated systems

Carla Holandino
1   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
,
Adriana Passos Oliveira
1   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
,
Fortune Homsani
1   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
,
Juliana Patrão de Paiva
1   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
,
Gleyce Moreno Barbosa
1   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
,
Michelle Rodrigues de Lima Zanetti
1   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
,
Thaís de Barros Fernandes
1   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
,
Camila Monteiro Siqueira
1   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
2   Federal Institute of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
,
Venicio Feo da Veiga
3   Laboratory of Electron Microscopy, Institute of Microbiology Prof. Paulo de Góes IMPPG, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
,
Letícia Coli Louvisse de Abreu
4   Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology, LabTIF, Department of Drugs and Medicines, Pharmacy College, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
,
Marta Marzotto
5   Department of Medicine, General Pathology Section, University of Verona, Italy
,
Paolo Bernardi
6   Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Anatomy and Histology Section, University of Verona, Italy
,
Leoni Villano Bonamin
7   Research Center, Paulista University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
,
Paolo Bellavite
5   Department of Medicine, General Pathology Section, University of Verona, Italy
,
André Linhares Rossi
8   Department of Applied Physics, Brazilian Center for Research in Physics, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
,
Paulo Henrique de Souza Picciani
9   Institute of Macromolecules Professor Eloisa Mano, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
› Author Affiliations
Subject Editor:
Further Information

Publication History

Received07 July 2016
revised19 June 2017

accepted21 June 2017

Publication Date:
28 December 2017 (online)

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Background: 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.

Methods: 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).

Results: 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).

Conclusions: 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.

Keywords

Physicochemical - Homeopathy - Zincum metallicum - Lactose - Trituration

Abbreviations

XRD, X-ray diffraction - TEM, transmission electron microscopy - EDS, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy - SEM, scanning electron microscopy - AAS, atomic absorption spectroscopy - TG, Thermogravimetry - DTg, derivatives of thermal gravimetric ANALYSIS curves - DSC, differential scanning calorimetry - SE detector, Secondary electrons detector - BSE, electron backscattered - PCA, principal component analysis

 

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