OBJECTIVES: We tested the toxicity of ethinylestradiol, a semisynthetic estrogen used in oral contraceptives, on all-male triploid zebrafish using commercial feeds and three different doses concentrations. We aimed to determine whether ethinylestradiol peroral administration resulted in vitellogenin production and whether all-male triploid zebrafish could serve as a model species for xenoestrogen testing. METHODS: The actual concentrations of 17α-ethinylestradiol were 0.0035 (low); 0.0315 (medium) and 0.365 (high) μg/g. Positive control represented commercial feeds containing 0.0465 μg/g of β-estradiol. The experiment lasted 8 weeks. RESULTS: Our results indicate that 17α-ethinylestradiol consumption does induce vitellogenin production in triploid zebrafish. CONCLUSIONS: The simple presence of vitellogenin is a definite symptom indicative of the potential for such changes due to the action of estrogenic substances. As such, this experiment has shown that the use of all-male triploid zebrafish populations, rather than the mixed-sex populations of other species previously used, could serve as a suitable alternative model population for controlled testing of the effects of xenoestrogens on fish.
Dry coating is often used technology for preparation of solid pharmaceutical forms. It brings more benefits than the typically used wet coating technology. The powder, which is used as coating material, can be used immediately, has less environmental impact and enhances mechanical and aesthetic properties of final pharmaceutical form. Many technologies have been developed, being generally classified into the following types: compression coating, hot-melt coating, supercritical fluid coating, plasticizer dry coating, electrostatic dry coating, photocurable dry coating and modified plasticizer-electrostatic-heat dry coating. This review summarizes basic principles of dry coating technologies, their benefits and disadvantages and provides a comparison of them.
