Nanomedicine Research Journal
Volume:6 Issue: 2, Spring 2021

SARS-CoV-2 is a new human-infecting coronavirus, which is the causative agent of COVID-19 disease. The World Health Organization announced this disease as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. The genome of SARS-CoV-2 is ~30kb in length which encodes sixteen nonstructural and four main structural proteins. The structural spike protein enables SARS-CoV-2 to bind to host cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), which leads to viral infection. COVID-19 is considered as a respiratory disease that affects just the lungs in most cases. There are no specific therapeutics or effective vaccines available to control COVID-19, which makes it a continuing threat to global public health. Consequently, the principal approach to prevent this disease is supportive care. Due to their potential to increase drug bioavailability, a number of approaches in pharmaceutical nanotechnology are currently being tested against SARS-CoV-2. This includes nano-based products designed for detection, prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Such approaches may help to control this current pandemic and pave the way for prevention and treatment of future coronavirus outbreaks.

With emerging drug resistance microorganism, the search for a new biocidal agent has begun. The silver nanoparticle is a synthetic material with potent antimicrobial activity that applies to a diverse library of microorganisms. But toxicity and safety concerns of chemically prepared silver nanoparticles toward human and environment limited the extensive industrial biomedical application of silver nanoparticles. On the other hand, curcumin is a natural phenolic compound of the Indian spice turmeric that contains mild antimicrobial activity against various microorganisms. However, instability, poor absorption and low solubility of curcumin prevent its wide application in biomedical researches. Simultaneous application of these two materials is the subject of the provided manuscript. Curcumin formulation and silver nanoparticles can be applied separately or together, but the state of the art is applying curcumin for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles that represent a better biocidal activity and lower cytotoxicity in comparison to chemically synthesized silver nanoparticles.

The oil-in-water (O/W) nanoemulsion is employed in a diverse range of biomedical applications due to the unique properties. Saffron is the valuable medicinal food product with many health benefits. Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil with medicinal properties and potential applications. The aim of this study was to prepare and evaluate O/W nanoemulsion containing aqueous solution of saffron as hydrophilic medium and sesame oil as lipophilic medium.

In the presence study, the O/W nanoemulsion was prepared by sesame oil in the presence of saffron aqueous solution and poly ethylene glycol (PEG) using span 80 surfactants and homogenizer at room temperature. The sample size was characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The rheological properties of nanoemulsion were determined by measurement of viscosity at room temperature. The antibacterial activity of samples was measured against an important pathogen bacterium, Escherichia coli (E. coli) using inhibition zone diameter. The cytotoxicity of samples was investigated by MTT assay for HEK239 human cell line at three different concentrations for 1 and 5 days of time.

Based on the results, the nanoemulsions showed the antibacterial activity with low toxicity. The presence of saffron and PEG increased the size, viscosity and antibacterial activity.

The study showed that nanoemulsions based on aqueous solution of saffron and sesame oil can be a good candidate for medicinal applications.

The probability of contracting an infection when implanting an Stainless Steel 316L (SS316L) implant has been increasing. Infection due to implant placement is called osteomyelitis which is bone inflammation caused by biofilms formed by pyogenic bacteria. Biofilms can be prevented by giving antibacterial agents. This study aims to examine the potential of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as an antibacterial agent in SS316L implants. AgNPs are made through a chemical synthesis process using the Gallic acid reduction method. AgNPs solution with 5 variations of precursor concentration, namely 0.1 mM, 1 mM, 10 mM, 100 mM each added with gelatin was sprayed on SS316L by the airbrush spray coating method with a distance between nozzle and substrate of 20 cm at a pressure of 40 psi. AgNPs solutions produced from various concentrations of AgNO3 precursors have a range of λmax = 401.5 nm- 424.5 nm and a particle size distribution of 0.97 - 4.88 nm. The AgNPs layer on SS316L was characterized by its crystalline phase, crystal size, and anti-bacterial activity. It has a cubic structure with a phase fraction of 6.5-19%. Based on the antibacterial activity test, all AgNPs layer samples had inhibitory zone diameters in the range of 12-16 mm. AgNPs (10mM) + Gelatin layer showed the best antibacterial ability with an inhibitory zone diameter of 16.63 mm. The variation in the concentration of the 10 mM AgNPs precursor-Gelatin can be developed into a coating on the surface of the SS316L implant material.

The green synthesis of B. tinctoria zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) was rendered by using leaves and fruits extract. These extracts acted as a capping and reducing agent in stabilizing the formation of ZnO NPs. The obtained NPs were characterized by using absorption spectroscopy analysis (UV-vis) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) which showed a distinct peak at 274 nm, 467cm-1 and 456 cm-1. Further, the formation has been confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the obtained XRD pattern fitted well with the JCPDS card, showing the pure crystalline nature of synthesized NPs Patten. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis revealed hexagonal particle shape and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) by confirming the strong signals of Zinc and oxygen. The results of Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) showed that NPs obtained from both NPs of 244nm and 256nm size with the surface zeta potentials of -15.0mV and -18.9mV. Antibacterial and anti-biofilm efficacy of synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated against six human pathogenic bacteria, resulted that antibacterial/ anti-biofilm activity was increased upon increasing the concentration dose range. The obtained NPs exhibited significant antioxidants potential, which was made to study the anticancer activity against Raw 264.7 and Caco-2 cancer cell lines, which showed absolvable activity.

Diallyl disulphide (DADS) is one of the major constituents of garlic which has antimicrobial activity as well as many other advantages for human health. Sulphur present in DADS is main the reactive one to deal with the microbes. Mesoporous silica nanomaterial (MSNs) is evaluated as a potential drug carrier for any organic drug molecule to keep it intact for in vitro sustained release. Comparing two different body fluids, the dissolution rate of DADS is more in SBF than SGF because of its acidic nature. In two mediums the release mechanism is super case II transport as in both cases the ‘n’ value of Koresmeyer Peppas model is greater than 0.89. MIC value of DADS against Salmonella typhi is 0.941 mg/ml. Besides this microscopic analysis confirm the deformation of microbial cells. This means MSN's entrapped with DADS and subsequently released in pH 7.4 is much more concerned with the high amount of drug availability in body fluids.

Black cumin contains biologically active compounds such as Thymoquinone, which have strong anti-cancer properties. However, most of these agents have poor stability and solubility that limits its use as drugs. In this work, an anti-cancer ethosomal nanostructure containing black cumin extract (BCE) was prepared to release as transdermal-controlled. After synthesis and evaluation the vesicles for size and charge, as well as determining the ratio of in vitro and ex vivo permeability, experiments to assay their cell toxicity and apoptosis were also investigated. It was confirmed the stable shape (containing 5% soy lecithin, 45% ethanol, and 1.5% cholesterol with a zeta potential of -61±2 and polydispersity index of 0.14± 0.012.), spherical morphology (20nm) and the effective release rate (40% after 24h in ex vivo permeability test) of these loaded ethosomal nanocarriers using the HPLC, DLS, FTIR, TGA methods and the in vitro and ex vivo release tests,. MTT bioassay with BCE (96µg/ml compared to 200 µg/ml) and DOX separately and their ethosomal forms showed the higher cellular toxicity of ethosomic forms on MCF-7. Flow cytometry also proved strong apoptosis in the MCF-7 cells treated with ethosomal compared to non-ethosomal forms (~64.7% for BCE (5.90% in late apoptotic stage), and ~21.6% of BCE-Eth (~71.8% in late apoptosis stage). In conclusion, our findings show that this new nanoparticle not only improves the enclosure of plant metabolites and chemotherapeutic agents but also increases the effectiveness of metabolites by increasing their controlled release and so on reduces the side effects of chemotherapy drugs.

The therapeutic effect of silver nanoparticles on leukaemia cancerous cells has been demonstrated in several studies. However, most of these nanoparticles are toxic to normal cells as well as cancerous cells. In the present study, green chemistry has been applied for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles by Teucrium polium (T.P) extract. The synthesized nanoparticles were spherical with an average diameter of 14.3 ± 9.7 nm and a surface charge of -0.84 mV. Based on the FTIR results, the silver nanoparticles have been coated with T.P extract phytochemicals. The extract was not toxic toward cancerous cells. However, the T.P extract coated silver nanoparticles (T.P@AgNPs) with concentrations ≥ 50 µg/mL could eradicate the NALM-6 cancerous cells in a significant amount. Based on the flow cytometry analysis, the predominant mechanism of cancerous cell death is the apoptosis in NALM-6 cancerous cells; and the T.P@AgNPs had no toxic effect on normal PBMC cells.

Acinetobacter baumannii is critical for healthcare-associated infections with significant regional differences in the resistance rate, but its risk factors and infection trends have not been well studied. Carbon nanotubes are substantially cylindrical molecules made entirely of carbon atoms and can use as nanocarriers. Multi-wall carbon nanotubes, through their unique properties, hold great promise in the fight against multidrug-resistant bacterial infections. In this research, antimicrobial effects study and the ability to overcome antibiotic resistance evaluation of nanofluid containing functionalized carbon nanotubes on A. baumannii were done.

Multi-wall carbon nanotubes provided from the United States Research and the nanofluid prepared after carbon nanotube functionalization. Microplate, Alamar Blue Cell viability assay, carried out after incubation of A. baumannii affected with the nanofluid (100µg/ml) for 24h.

Antimicrobial effect of functionalized carbon nanotubes nanofluid was found on the A. baumannii in a dose-specific concentration manner.

This study showed that functionalized carbon nanotubes nanofluid could have antimicrobial effects on A. baumannii by overcoming bacterial antibiotic resistance. Although to get more accurate results, to prevent nosocomial infections, more specific cellular and molecular studies are necessary.

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used to optimize a formulation of β-1,3-glucan nanoparticles containing doxorubicin (Dox) through a study of the critical parameters affecting the drug's loading efficiency. Using an ANNs model, we evaluated the effect of four input variables, involved in preparation of the carrier system, including concentrations of succinic anhydride (Sa), NaOH and polyethyleneimine (PEI) as well as ratio of Dox/Carrier, on loading efficiency of Dox as output parameter, when Dox was conjugated to the carrier (Con-Dox-Glu) or in unconjugated form (Un-Dox-Glu). The model demonstrated that increasing Sa and PEI leads to reduced loading efficiency, while the effect of NaOH on loading efficiency does not appear to be important in both Con-Dox-Glu and Un-Dox-Glu delivery system. Ratio of Dox/Carrier showed complex effects on loading efficiency: while a certain value was required to provide maximum loading efficiency in Con-Dox-Glu, a different critical value was associated with obtaining minimum loading efficiency in Un-Dox-Glu. By defining the effects of each parameter on the loading efficiency of Glu-Dox nanoparticles, this study demonstrated the feasibility of using an ANN model to optimize the conditions for achieving maximum loading efficiency in both conjugated and non-conjugated drug delivery system.