scholarly journals Design and Preclinical Evaluation of Chitosan/Kaolin Nanocomposites with Enhanced Hemostatic Efficiency

Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Elsabahy ◽  
Mostafa A. Hamad

In the current study, hemostatic compositions including a combination of chitosan and kaolin have been developed. Chitosan is a marine polysaccharide derived from chitins, a structural component in the shells of crustaceans. Both chitosan and kaolin have the ability to mediate a quick and efficient hemostatic effect following immediate application to injury sites, and thus they have been widely exploited in manufacturing of hemostatic composites. By combining more than one hemostatic agent (i.e., chitosan and kaolin) that act via more than one mechanism, and by utilizing different nanotechnology-based approaches to enhance the surface areas, the capability of the dressing to control bleeding was improved, in terms of amount of blood loss and time to hemostasis. The nanotechnology-based approaches utilized to enhance the effective surface area of the hemostatic agents included the use of Pluronic nanoparticles, and deposition of chitosan micro- and nano-fibers onto the carrier. The developed composites effectively controlled bleeding and significantly improved hemostasis and survival rates in two animal models, rats and rabbits, compared to conventional dressings and QuikClot® Combat Gauze. The composites were well-tolerated as demonstrated by their in vivo biocompatibility and absence of clinical and biochemical changes in the laboratory animals after application of the dressings.

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 2151-2162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuefeng Liu ◽  
Jingjie Luo ◽  
Camille Helleu ◽  
Mathieu Behr ◽  
Housseinou Ba ◽  
...  

Hierarchical carbon fibers/carbon nanofibers composites, with high effective surface areas and controlled macroscopic shapes, were successfully synthesized through a combination of electrospinning and chemical vapour deposition.


2008 ◽  
Vol 52 (11) ◽  
pp. 4010-4016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong-Hyun Kim ◽  
Suk-Yul Jung ◽  
Yang-Jin Lee ◽  
Kyoung-Ju Song ◽  
Daeho Kwon ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Naegleria fowleri is a ubiquitous, pathogenic free-living amoeba; it is the most virulent Naegleria species and causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAME) in laboratory animals and humans. Although amphotericin B is currently the only agent available for the treatment of PAME, it is a very toxic antibiotic and may cause many adverse effects on other organs. In order to find other potentially therapeutic agents for N. fowleri infection, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo efficacies of miltefosine and chlorpromazine against pathogenic N. fowleri. The result showed that the growth of the amoeba was effectively inhibited by treatment with amphotericin B, miltefosine, and chlorpromazine. When N. fowleri trophozoites were treated with amphotericin B, miltefosine, and chlorpromazine, the MICs of the drug were 0.78, 25, and 12.5 μg/ml, respectively, on day 2. In experimental meningoencephalitis of mice that is caused by N. fowleri, the survival rates of mice treated with amphotericin B, miltefosine, and chlorpromazine were 40, 55, and 75%, respectively, during 1 month. The average mean time to death for the amphotericin B, miltefosine, and chlorpromazine treatments was 17.9 days. In this study, the effect of drugs was found to be optimal when 20 mg/kg was administered three times on days 3, 7, and 11. Finally, chlorpromazine had the best therapeutic activity against N. fowleri in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, it may be a more useful therapeutic agent for the treatment of PAME than amphotericin B.


Author(s):  
Cesar D. Fermin ◽  
Hans-Peter Zenner

Contraction of outer and inner hair cells (OHC&IHC) in the Organ of Corti (OC) of the inner ear is necessary for sound transduction. Getting at HC in vivo preparations is difficult. Thus, isolated HCs have been used to study OHC properties. Even though viability has been shown in isolated (iOHC) preparations by good responses to current and cationic stimulation, the contribution of adjoining cells can not be explained with iOHC preparations. This study was undertaken to examine changes in the OHC after expossure of the OHC to high concentrations of potassium (K) and sodium (Na), by carefully immersing the OC in either artifical endolymph or perilymph. After K and Na exposure, OCs were fixed with 3% glutaraldehyde, post-fixed in osmium, separated into base, middle and apex and embedded in Araldite™. One μm thick sections were prepared for analysis with the light and E.M. Cross sectional areas were measured with Bioquant™ software.Potassium and sodium both cause isolated guinea pig OHC to contract. In vivo high K concentration may cause uncontrolled and sustained contractions that could contribute to Meniere's disease. The behavior of OHC in the vivo setting might be very different from that of iOHC. We show here changes of the cell cytosol and cisterns caused by K and Na to OHC in situs. The table below shows results from cross sectional area measurements of OHC from OC that were exposed to either K or Na. As one would expect, from the anatomical arrangement of the OC, OHC#l that are supported by rigid tissue would probably be displaced (move) less than those OHC located away from the pillar. Surprisingly, cells in the middle turn of the cochlea changed their surface areas more than those at either end of the cochlea. Moreover, changes in surface area do not seem to differ between K and Na treated OCs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (02) ◽  
pp. 51-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Hermann ◽  
M. Schäfers ◽  
C. Höltke ◽  
A. Faust

SummaryOptical imaging has long been considered a method for histological or microscopic investigations. Over the last 15 years, however, this method was applied for preclinical molecular imaging and, just recently, was also able to show its principal potential for clinical applications (e.g. fluorescence-guided surgery). Reviewing the development and preclinical evaluation of new fluorescent dyes and target-specific dye conjugates, these often show characteristic patterns of their routes of excretion and biodistribution, which could also be interesting for the development and optimization of radiopharmaceuticals. Especially ionic charges show a great influence on biodistribution and netcharge and charge-distribution on a conjugate often determines unspecific binding or background signals in liver, kidney or intestine, and other organs.Learning from fluorescent probe behaviour in vivo and translating this knowledge to radio-pharmaceuticals might be useful to further optimize emerging and existing radiopharmaceuticals with respect to their biodistribution and thereby availability for binding to their targets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogdan Bumbăcilă ◽  
Mihai V. Putz

Pesticides are used today on a planetary-wide scale. The rising need for substances with this biological activity due to an increasing consumption of agricultural and animal products and to the development of urban areas makes the chemical industry to constantly investigate new molecules or to improve the physicochemical characteristics, increase the biological activities and improve the toxicity profiles of the already known ones. Molecular databases are increasingly accessible for in vitro and in vivo bioavailability studies. In this context, structure-activity studies, by their in silico - in cerebro methods, are used to precede in vitro and in vivo studies in plants and experimental animals because they can indicate trends by statistical methods or biological activity models expressed as mathematical equations or graphical correlations, so a direction of study can be developed or another can be abandoned, saving financial resources, time and laboratory animals. Following this line of research the present paper reviews the Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) studies and proposes a correlation between a topological connectivity index and the biological activity or toxicity made as a result of a study performed on 11 molecules of organophosphate compounds, randomly chosen, with a basic structure including a Phosphorus atom double bounded to an Oxygen atom or to a Sulfur one and having three other simple covalent bonds with two alkoxy (-methoxy or -ethoxy) groups and to another functional group different from the alkoxy groups. The molecules were packed on a cubic structure consisting of three adjacent cubes, respecting a principle of topological efficiency, that of occupying a minimal space in that cubic structure, a method that was called the Clef Method. The central topological index selected for correlation was the Wiener index, since it was possible this way to discuss different adjacencies between the nodes in the graphs corresponding to the organophosphate compounds molecules packed on the cubic structure; accordingly, "three dimensional" variants of these connectivity indices could be considered and further used for studying the qualitative-quantitative relationships for the specific molecule-enzyme interaction complexes, including correlation between the Wiener weights (nodal specific contributions to the total Wiener index of the molecular graph) and the biochemical reactivity of some of the atoms. Finally, when passing from SAR to Q(uantitative)-SAR studies, especially by the present advanced method of the cubic molecule (Clef Method) and its good assessment of the (neuro)toxicity of the studied molecules and of their inhibitory effect on the target enzyme - acetylcholinesterase, it can be seen that a predictability of the toxicity and activity of different analogue compounds can be ensured, facilitating the in vivo experiments or improving the usage of pesticides.


1975 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Björnson ◽  
I. Aursnes

In the interpretation of data obtained with 51Cr-labelled platelets it is vital to know whether they are functionally normal. Although survival of 51Cr-labelled platelets in vivo appears to be normal, platelet aggregability- has recently been shown to be reduced after the labelling procedure (Björnson, J., Sc and. J. Haemat. 13, 252–259).The aim of the present study was to examine the hemostatic effect of labelled platelets. Rabbits were made thrombocytopenic (< 35,000/μ1) by whole body irradiation. Bleeding times were recorded after standardized cuts on the inner side of the ear, a method showing an acceptable reproducibility (< 3 min in normals). The animals were then transfused with labelled platelet concentrates, increasing the platelet levels to about 200,000/μ) blood. Bleeding times of more than 15 min before transfusion were almost normalized 1 and 4 hours after transfusion. In controls transfusion of PRP led to similar shortening of bleeing time.It is concluded that platelets subjected to the 51Cr-labelling procedure to a large extent retain their hemostatic ability.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1742
Author(s):  
Melysa Fitriana ◽  
Wei-Lun Hwang ◽  
Pak-Yue Chan ◽  
Tai-Yuan Hsueh ◽  
Tsai-Tsen Liao

Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) are epithelial malignancies with 5-year overall survival rates of approximately 40–50%. Emerging evidence indicates that a small population of cells in HNSCC patients, named cancer stem cells (CSCs), play vital roles in the processes of tumor initiation, progression, metastasis, immune evasion, chemo-/radioresistance, and recurrence. The acquisition of stem-like properties of cancer cells further provides cellular plasticity for stress adaptation and contributes to therapeutic resistance, resulting in a worse clinical outcome. Thus, targeting cancer stemness is fundamental for cancer treatment. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are known to regulate stem cell features in the development and tissue regeneration through a miRNA–target interactive network. In HNSCCs, miRNAs act as tumor suppressors and/or oncogenes to modulate cancer stemness and therapeutic efficacy by regulating the CSC-specific tumor microenvironment (TME) and signaling pathways, such as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), Wnt/β-catenin signaling, and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) signaling pathways. Owing to a deeper understanding of disease-relevant miRNAs and advances in in vivo delivery systems, the administration of miRNA-based therapeutics is feasible and safe in humans, with encouraging efficacy results in early-phase clinical trials. In this review, we summarize the present findings to better understand the mechanical actions of miRNAs in maintaining CSCs and acquiring the stem-like features of cancer cells during HNSCC pathogenesis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1222
Author(s):  
Cristina Cuello ◽  
Cristina A. Martinez ◽  
Josep M. Cambra ◽  
Inmaculada Parrilla ◽  
Heriberto Rodriguez-Martinez ◽  
...  

This study was designed to investigate the impact of vitrification on the transcriptome profile of blastocysts using a porcine (Sus scrofa) model and a microarray approach. Blastocysts were collected from weaned sows (n = 13). A total of 60 blastocysts were vitrified (treatment group). After warming, vitrified embryos were cultured in vitro for 24 h. Non-vitrified blastocysts (n = 40) were used as controls. After the in vitro culture period, the embryo viability was morphologically assessed. A total of 30 viable embryos per group (three pools of 10 from 4 different donors each) were subjected to gene expression analysis. A fold change cut-off of ±1.5 and a restrictive threshold at p-value < 0.05 were used to distinguish differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The survival rates of vitrified/warmed blastocysts were similar to those of the control (nearly 100%, n.s.). A total of 205 (112 upregulated and 93 downregulated) were identified in the vitrified blastocysts compared to the control group. The vitrification/warming impact was moderate, and it was mainly related to the pathways of cell cycle, cellular senescence, gap junction, and signaling for TFGβ, p53, Fox, and MAPK. In conclusion, vitrification modified the transcriptome of in vivo-derived porcine blastocysts, resulting in minor gene expression changes.


RSC Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (24) ◽  
pp. 14516-14527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Hu ◽  
Ling-Bin Kong ◽  
Long Kang ◽  
Kun Yan ◽  
Tong Zhang ◽  
...  

There is an excellent linear relationship between E-SSA and specific capacitance of HNC-IPNs as electrode materials for EDLCs.


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