METHOD FOR MEASURING THE RESIDUAL-SUBSTANTIVE EFFECT AND THE ACCUMULATIVE EFFECT OF CHLORHEXIDINE GLUCONATE

A method for easily determining in laboratory the residual-substantive effect and the accumulative effect of chlorhexidine gluconate, an antiseptic used in the medical and veterinary field. The residual-substantive effect is characteristic in some antiseptics, in which the antiseptic molecule is anchored to the skin, extending the immediate and residual effects of the antiseptics. The accumulative effect simultaneously enhances the residual-substantive effect, since a higher amount of the antiseptic molecules is attached to the skin, causing with this that the repeated applications of chlorhexidine gluconate at low concentrations (0.5%) have an effect similar to the applications of chlorhexidine gluconate at high concentrations (2%). This method has the characteristic of being applied at commercial presentations; concentration is not the same as antiseptic activity, since the molecules may have interactions that inactivate the same when being brought into contact with multiple additiv es of the commercial production, such as dyes, flavor agents or aromas, as well as the packing material. The present method brings the chlorhexidine gluconate transferred or recovered from skin surfaces into contact with a culturing microorganism, evaluating in this manner the inhibition caused by the antiseptic, even when this has remained in the skin for varying periods of time. Finally, this method is required for evaluating the residual-substantive effect and the accumulative effect, since complex methods of analysis, such as mass spectrometry, may only measure the presence of the molecule, while the inventive method measures the own activity of the antiseptic. Nuestra patente protege un método para determinar en el laboratorio de manera sencilla el efecto residual-sustantivo y el efecto acumulativo del gluconato de clorhexidina, un antiséptico usado en el campo médico y en el campo veterinario. El efecto residual-sustantivo es una característica de algunos antisépticos, en el que la molécula de antiséptico queda anclada a la piel, prolongando los efectos inmediato y residual de los antisépticos. El efecto acumulativo a su vez potencia el efecto residual-sustantivo, ya que permite que una mayor cantidad de moléculas de antisépticos se anclen en la piel, provocando a si que las aplicaciones repetidas de gluconato de clorhexidina a bajas concentraciones (como al 0.5%), tenga un efecto similar a las aplicaciones con gluconato de clorhexidina a concentraciones altas (como al