Nanomedicine Journal
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2020

Natural food pigments are commonly utilized for the improvement of the qualitative properties of foods and/or inhibit the development of chronic and degenerative diseases. Several studies have documented the beneficial health effects of natural food pigments, such as anthocyanins, chlorophylls, and carotenoids. These effects mainly depend on the stability, bioactivity, and bioavailability of these pigments. Various techniques have been used to encapsulate natural pigments. Anthocyanins are a member of flavonoid groups, which are responsible for attractive food colors. Due to the positive surface charge of anthocyanin molecules, they absorb light and gain color. The micro- and nano-encapsulation of ingredients using natural polymers are important techniques to improve their stability, solubility, and bioavailability. This review study aimed to elaborate on the recent advancement in the encapsulation of anthocyanin as an attractive natural pigment using five techniques, including coacervation, spray drying, liposomal system, electrospraying, and microwave-assisted encapsulation methods.

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an infection that affects the liver tissues in humans, leading to the development of effective prophylactic and therapeutic HCV vaccines to prevent a global epidemic. Scientists consider it challenging to produce a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma as opposed to a preventative vaccine. However, several drawbacks are involved with a peptide vaccine, including the low immunogenicity of the protein, significant instability, difficulty in delivery, and inefficient presentation of the antigens. Therefore, the investigation of adjuvants (i.e., immunomodulators) to enhance the efficacy of the vaccine is essential. Nanoparticles could potentially serve as vaccine delivery vehicles, acting as adjuvants for the effective transfer of antigens. The safety and effectiveness of nanoparticles and liposomes in modern vaccinology have also been confirmed. Biodegradable nanopolymers such as polyesters, polylactic acid and the copolymers, polyorthoesters, polyanhydrides, and polycarbonates are commonly used owing to their proper qualities in the combination or loading for the prevention of the degradation of the delivered antigens. The present study is specifically focused on the polymer-based nanoparticles that are mostly comprised a poly (amino acid) based copolymer and poly (D, L-lactic-co-glycolide), which could act as adjuvants or potential immunomodulators for the systems providing effective HCV vaccine delivery.

Folate-targeted liposomes have been well considered in folate receptor (FR) overexpressing cells including MCF-7 and 4T1 cells in vitro and in vivo. The objective of this study is to design an optimum folate targeted liposomal formulations which show the best liposome cell uptake to tumor cells.

In this study, we prepared and characterized different targeted formulations and a nontargeted form as a control. Physicochemical analysis showed that the liposomes had homogeneous population and appropriate size to accumulate to tumor sites through the enhanced permeation and retention (EPR) mechanism. Moreover, we compared the cell uptake of folate targeted liposomal docetaxel compared to nontargeted liposomes in vitro.

The in vitro drug release profile of the formulations at different time points showed none of the formulations did not has burst release. However, targeted liposomes accumulated in tumor tissue in vivo less than nontargeted formulations which could be attributed to their uptake by RES due to relatively greater size of targeted formulations. It is presumable that analyze the biodistribution process at longer time points and the molecular mechanisms behind the tissue accumulation could clear the issue.

We conclude that success in vitro studies holds the promise of folate targeting strategy and in vivo study merits further investigations.

Bone tissue engineering is aimed at the fabrication of bone graft to ameliorate bone defects without using autografts or allografts.

In the present study, the coprecipitation method was used to prepare hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles containing nandrolone. To do so, 12.5, 25, and 50 mg of nandrolone were loaded into poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/nano-HA, and the freeze casting method was used to fabricate porous scaffolds. The morphology, mechanical strength, wettability, porosity, degradation, blood compatibility, and cellular response of the scaffolds were evaluated using various tests. For further investigation, the developed scaffolds were incorporated into the rat calvaria defect model, and their effects on bone healing were evaluated.

The obtained results indicated that the fabricated scaffolds had the approximate porosity of 80% and compress strength of 6.5 MPa. Moreover, the prepared scaffolds had appropriate hydrophilicity, weight loss, and blood compatibility. Furthermore, the histopathological findings demonstrated that the defects filled with the PLA/nano-HA scaffolds containing 25 mg nandrolone healed better compared to the other study groups.

Therefore, it was concluded that the scaffolds containing nandrolone could be used in bone regeneration.

Early diagnosis of cancer using noninvasive imaging techniques has been discussed in several recent studies. The present study aimed to assess the synergistic effects of iodixanol-conjugated polyethylene glycol (PEG)-citrate (anionic linear globular) dendrimer G2 on MCF-7 breast cancer cells and human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells. PEG-citrate dendrimer G2 was synthesized and purified. The product was characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM), electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), dynamic light scattering (DLS). At the next stage, the product was conjugated to iodixanol, purified and lyophilized. The cytotoxic effects of the iodixanol, plain PEG-citrate dendrimer G2, and iodixanol-PEG-citrate dendrimer G2 complex were evaluated using methylthiazole-tetrazolium (MTT) assay on the MCF-7 and HEK293 cells. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP MS) is a mass spectrometry technique, which applies inductively coupled plasma to ionize samples. According to the obtained results, the uptake of PEG-citrate dendrimer G2 iodixanol increased significantly compared to iodixanol alone (P<0.05), indicating the importance of lack of significant in-vitro toxicity. Moreover, in the particle size and higher negative zeta potential confirmed the loading of iodixanol in dendrimer G2. Increase, the loading of iodixanol in dendrimer was confirmed by the chemical shifts in HNMR. Therefore, it was concluded that the addition of anionic linear globular dendrimer G2 to iodixanol affected the cellular uptake of the drug with no significant toxicity. Recent findings also confirmed that this novel complex could be applied as an effective cancer imaging agent for molecular biology and molecular imaging applications.

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a common cause of medical device-associated infections due to biofilm formation, and its elimination is extremely challenging. Although rifampin efficacy against S. epidermidis biofilms has been confirmed, its use as a single agent may lead to resistance. As such, it is assumed that the combination of rifampin and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could exert additive effects as a mucolytic agent. The present study aimed to use a liposomal system for the delivery of these compounds to bacterial biofilm.

Liposomal formulations were prepared using the dehydration-rehydration method and characterized in terms of the size, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficacy. In addition, the ability of various formulations in the eradication of bacterial biofilm and inhibition of biofilm formation was assessed based on the optical density ratio.

The zeta potential of the liposomes was positive, and the mean size of these liposomal formulations was less than 200 nanometers. Liposomal rifampin was the most effective formulation against S. epidermidis, and the anti-biofilm activity of most of the formulations was concentration-dependent and time-dependent.

According to the results, the rifampin-loaded liposomes were effective against S. epidermidis biofilm formation.

Tissue engineering aims to achieve a tissue, which has highly interconnected porous microstructure concurrent with appropriate mechanical and biological properties.

Therefore, the microstructure scaffolds are of great importance in this field. In the present study, an electroconductive poly-lactic acid (EC-PLA) filament used to fabricate a porous bone scaffold. For scaffolds model designed, solid-work software was used. Then, the designed modeled was transferred to simplify 3D to laminated with its G-Code file for fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer to create a scaffold with porosity around 65-75%. Two different shapes were designed and fabricated (cylindrical and cubic shape). The samples were coated with hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticle to enhance its chemical stability. In this study, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed that the EC-PLA is non-crystalized and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) used to present the apatite formation on the surface of porous scaffolds. The compression test, fracture toughness, and hardness were measured. The biological response in the physiological saline was performed to determine the rate of degradation of EC-PLA in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and the apatite formation in the simulated body fluid (SBF) after 14 days.

Finally, the biocompatibility of the porous architecture was monitored using human gum (HuGu) cells. The ABAQUS modeling simulation was used to compare the experimental and analytical results. The obtained results showed that by applying force to both cylindrical and cubic scaffold, the Von Mises Stress (VMS) could withstand the scaffold mentioned above at 9.7-11 MPa.

Therefore, it can be concluded that prepared porous scaffolds have a high potential in bone tissue engineering and probably the treatment of tumor-related bone defects as photothermal therapy. The porous EC-PLA scaffold was successfully fabricated and showed appropriate compressive strength (39.14 MPa), with controllable porosity of 60-70 %, which is a suitable candidate for replacing in bone tissues.

Study and development of antifouling nanosystem for conjugation of drugs were attracting great attention in recent years. The present study aimed to develop novel curcumin-loaded silica nanoparticles containing zwitterionic coating as an antifouling system to provide protein corona free nanoformulations for curcumin. Silica nanoparticles were prepared using the Stöber method, and mono- and bi-functionalized nanoparticles were obtained by modifying the surface of the bare silica nanoparticles with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES), polyethylene glycol amine, APTES with sulfobetaine, and polyethylene glycol amine with sulfobetaine. Nanoparticle characterization, curcumin release, and measurement of protein corona inhibition were performed after incubation in the human plasma and MTT assay to confirm the stability and efficiency of the nanoparticles. The presence of the sulfobetaine group could influence the curcumin loading capacity of the silica nanoparticles. The results of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis indicated no significant protein adsorption on the curcumin-loaded, zwitterionic-coated nanoparticles compared to the other nanoparticles. In addition, the MTT assay confirmed the cytotoxicity of the curcumin-loaded sulfobetaine-APTES-silica nanoparticles on MCF-7 cancer cells. Our findings confirmed the effects of the zwitterionic coating on the physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles. These findings play a key role in the development of novel nanoparticles for drug delivery applications.

Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy refers to cardiac muscle dysfunction caused by liver cirrhosis. Seemingly, free radicals and inflammatory factors play a critical role in the pathophysiology of cardiomyopathy. Curcumin has the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer properties . However, the therapeutic indications of this compound are limited due to its low absorption, rapid metabolism, and low bioavailability. Curcumin nanomicelle is a form of nanoparticle developed to overcome the poor kinetic profile of curcumin and enhance its bioavailability and therapeutic effects. The present study aimed to develop an experimental model of cirrhosis induced by biliary duct ligation in rats.

The animals were kept until 28 days after the bile duct ligation and received curcumin or curcumin nanomicelle via oral gavage at various doses during days 7-28. After the intervention, the effects of curcumin and curcumin nanomicelle on cardiovascular function, some inflammatory and antioxidant biomarkers, and histopathological changes were assessed.

According to the findings, cardiac electrophysiology function and contractile force improved only in the curcumin nanomicelle groups. In addition, curcumin nanomicelle significantly reduced inflammatory factors and increased antioxidant enzymes. In the histopathological studies, cardiac tissue damage and destruction were observed to decrease in the curcumin nanomicelle groups.

Therefore, it was concluded that curcumin nanomicelle plays a protective role in cirrhotic cardiomyopathy by reducing inflammatory and oxidative factors and improving the cardiac function. Furthermore, curcumin nanomicelle exhibited more significant therapeutic effects compared to the curcumin treatment groups.