A Guided Walk through the World of Mesoporous Bioactive Glasses (MBGs): Fundamentals, Processing, and Applications

Bioactive glasses (BGs) are traditionally known to be able to bond to living bone and stimulate bone regeneration. The production of such materials in a mesoporous form allowed scientists to dramatically expand the versatility of oxide-based glass systems as well as their applications in biomedicine. These nanostructured materials, called mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs), not only exhibit an ultrafast mineralization rate but can be used as vehicles for the sustained delivery of drugs, which are hosted inside the mesopores, and therapeutic ions, which are released during material dissolution in contact with biological fluids. This review paper summarizes the main strategies for the preparation of MBGs, as well as their properties and applications in the biomedical field, with an emphasis on the methodological aspects and the promise of hierarchical systems with multiscale porosity.

Oxidative Stress Following PLGA Nanoparticles Administration to an Animal Model

In the recent years, engineered nanoparticles (NPs) such as PLGA or poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid, have raised a substantial interest due to their possible medical applications in vaccination, diagnostic imaging procedures, cancer therapy or sustained delivery of drugs. The main aim of the present work is to evaluate key oxidative stress parameters in several organs following NPs administration in an animal model. Our data shows that acute oral administration of PLGA NPs induces a change in the antioxidant status in both rat liver and spleen, but may not induce oxidative stress damage to cell structures such as lipid or protein oxidation.