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Background: Hemostasis following transradial arterial access (TRA) is usually achieved by mechanical compression. This study investigated if use of a chitosan-based hemostatic pad (Clo-Sur Plus Radial™) combined with mechanical compression (TR Band®) could shorten hemostasis time after TRA, compared with a TR Band® alone., Methods: 40 patients undergoing cardiac catheterization and/or percutaneous coronary intervention were assigned into 4 cohorts post TRA: 10 patients received mechanical compression with a TR Band® alone for 120 min. The other 30 patients received compression with a Clo-Sur Plus Radial™ pad combined with a TR Band® for 60 min, 45 min, and 30 min, respectively (n = 10/per cohort). Times to hemostasis and access-site complications were recorded., Results: There were no differences in patient characteristics, mean dose of heparin, or mean activated clotting time value at the end of procedure among the four cohorts. Median time to hemostasis with the TR Band® alone was 120.5 min versus 60 min, 45 min and 30 min for the 60-min, 45-min, and 30-min Clo-Sur Plus Radial™ pad combined with the TR Band® cohorts, respectively. No radial artery occlusion, late rebleeding nor hematoma was noted in this series of patients., Conclusions: In this pilot trial, use of a Clo-Sur Plus Radial™ pad in combination with a TR band® significantly shortened hemostasis time, as compared to a TR band® alone, with no increased complications noted., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Anticancer immune responses depend on efficient presentation of tumor antigens and co-stimulatory signals provided by antigen-presenting cells (APCs). However, it is described that immature dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages at the tumor site may have an immunosuppressive profile, which limits the activity of effector T cells and supports tumor progression. Therapeutic targeting of these innate immune cells, either aiming at their elimination or re-polarization towards an immunostimulatory profile, has been pointed as an attractive approach to control tumor progression. In the present work, we assessed the potential of Chitosan (Ch)/Poly(γ-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) nanoparticles (NPs) to modulate macrophages and DCs inflammatory profile and to impair their ability to promote cancer cell invasion. Interestingly, Ch/γ-PGA NPs, prepared by co-acervation method, induced an immunostimulatory DCs phenotype, enhancing the expression of the co-stimulatory molecules CD86, CD40 and HLA-DR, and the secretion of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-12p40 and IL-6. Furthermore, Ch/γ-PGA NPs re-educated IL-10-stimulated macrophages towards a pro-inflammatory profile, decreasing the expression of CD163 and promoting the secretion of IL-12p40 and TNF-α. These alterations in the immune cells phenotype promoted CD4 + and CD8 + T cell activation/proliferation and partially inhibited APCs' ability to induce colorectal cancer cell invasion. Overall, our findings open new perspectives on the use of Ch/γ-PGA NPs as an immunomodulatory therapy for antigen-presenting cells reprogramming, providing a new tool for anticancer therapies., Statement of Significance: The immune system is responsible to detect and destroy abnormal cells preventing the development of cancer. However, the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment can compromise the immune response favoring tumor progression. Thus, immune system modulation towards an immunostimulatory profile can improve anticancer therapies. This research focus on the development of chitosan/poly(γ-glutamic acid) nanoparticles (NPs) to modulate human antigen-presenting cells (APCs) phenotype and to counteract their pro-invasive capacity. Interestingly, Ch/γ-PGA NPs had a prominent effect in inducing macrophages and dendritic cells immunostimulatory phenotype, thus favoring T cell proliferation and inhibiting colorectal cancer cell invasion. We propose that their combination with other immunomodulatory drugs or conventional anticancer therapies can improve patients' outcome., (Copyright © 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We tested the hypothesis that a combination of coagulant and ballast could be efficient for removal of positively buoyant harmful cyanobacteria in shallow tropical waterbodies, and will not promote the release of cyanotoxins. This laboratory study examined the efficacy of coagulants [polyaluminium chloride (PAC) and chitosan (made of shrimp shells)] alone, and combined with ballast (lanthanum modified bentonite, red soil or gravel) to remove the natural populations of cyanobacteria collected from a shallow eutrophic urban reservoir with alternating blooms of Cylindrospermopsis and Microcystis. PAC combined with ballast was effective in settling blooms dominated by Microcystis or Cylindrospermopsis. Contrary to our expectation, chitosan combined with ballast was only effective in settling Cylindrospermopsis-dominated blooms at low pH, whereas at pH≥8 no effective flocculation and settling could be evoked. Chitosan also had a detrimental effect on Cylindrospermopsis causing the release of saxitoxins. In contrast, no detrimental effect on Microcystis was observed and all coagulant-ballast treatments were effective in not only settling the Microcystis dominated bloom, but also lowering dissolved microcystin concentrations. Our data show that the best procedure for biomass reduction also depends on the dominant species., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The nanotoxicity of Cd-containing quantum dots (QDs) for biomedical applications is very controversial and not completely understood. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxicity of surface-biofunctionalized CdS QDs with chitosan directly synthesized via aqueous route at room temperature. These core-shell CdS-chitosan nanoconjugates showed different degrees of cytotoxic responses using MTT cell proliferation assay toward three human cell cultures, human osteosarcoma cell line (SAOS), non-Hodgkin's B cell lymphoma (Toledo), and human embryonic kidney cell line (HEK293T), under three exposure times (1, 3, and 5days) and three colloidal concentrations (10nM, 50nM, and 100nM). The results clearly demonstrated that the CdS QDs, regardless to the fact that they were coated with a biocompatible aminopolysaccharide shell, induced a severe dose- and time-dependent inhibition of cell viability. In addition, the HEK293T and SAOS cell lines showed much more sensitive response compared to Toledo, which indicated that the cytotoxicity was also cell-type dependent. The exceptional resistance of Toledo cells to toxic effects of CdS nanoconjugates even at severe test conditions was assigned to specific role of B-lineage cells of the immune defense system. Remarkably, no conclusive evidence of toxicity of CdS nanoconjugates was observed in vivo using intravenous injections of CdS nanoconjugates in BALB/c mouse animal models for 30days, but localized fluorescence was detected in ex-vivo liver tissue samples. Therefore, these results prove that there is no guarantee of "risk-free" use of CdS nanoconjugates for in vivo applications, even when functionalized with biopolymer ligands, as they can pose an excessive threat due to unpredicted and uncorrelated responses under in vitro and in vivo biological assays with highly toxic cadmium ions., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Chitosan coatings, with and without clove oil, were investigated for effects on quality and shelf life of cooked pork sausages stored at a refrigerated temperature (4±2°C). The various treatments of cooked pork sausages were: untreated (control), coating with 2% chitosan (CS), and coating with a mixture having 2% chitosan and 1.5% clove oil (CS+CO). Various microbiological, physical, chemical and sensory properties were monitored over 25 days of storage. The total viable count, the psychrotrophic bacteria count, the L* value, peroxide value and the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances increased, while the a* value, the b* value, the pH and the sensory scores decreased with storage time, across all treatments. However, these changes were slowest with the CS+CO treatment. Based on sensory evaluation and microbiological quality, the shelf lives were 14 days for control, 20 days for CS, and 20 days for CS+CO treated samples, under refrigerated storage., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Polyelectrolyte complex beads based on N,N,N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) and sodium alginate (ALG) were obtained. This biomaterial was characterised by FTIR, TGA/DTG, DSC and SEM analysis. The good properties of polyelectrolyte complex hydrogel beads were associated, for the first time, with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Through a straightforward methodology, AuNPs were encapsulated into the beads. The in vitro cytotoxicity assays on the Caco-2 colon cancer cells and healthy VERO cells showed that the beads presented good biocompatibility on both cell lines, whereas the beads loaded with gold nanoparticles (beads/AuNPs) was slightly cytotoxic on the Caco-2 and VERO cells., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, we tested the hypothesis according to which chitosan reduces lipid digestion by blocking the access of lipases to ingested fat. Because lipase action takes place mostly at interfaces, we produced Langmuir films of 1,2-didecanoyl-glycerol (DDG), which is the substrate for human pancreatic lipase (HPL). The experimental assays were carried out in acidic medium, at pH 3.0, to ensure that chitosan is completely soluble. Chitosan was found to affect strongly the surface activity of HPL that forms a Gibbs monolayer at the air/water interface, but did not inhibit the enzymatic action of HPL toward the DDG monolayer. The latter was observed using two surface-specific spectroscopic techniques, namely polarization-modulated infrared reflection-absorption and sum-frequency generation (SFG). The extension of DDG hydrolysis calculated using SFG spectroscopy was 33% in the absence of chitosan, and ranged from 29 to 50% in the presence of chitosan at concentrations of 0.20 g L(-1) and 0.30 g L(-1), respectively. Therefore, fat "protection" by chitosan is unlikely to be an important factor in fat reduction., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The use of 0.02 or 0.05% chitosan is proposed to reduce from 450 to 150 mg kg⁻¹ the SO₂ required to preserve pork burgers aerobically packed and stored at 2 °C for up to 21 days under retail display conditions. The effects of chitosan and/or sulfite addition and the storage time were determined in fresh (color deterioration, lipid oxidation, pH, total viable counts, Escherichia coli and coliforms, Salmonella, appearance and odor) and cooked (appearance, odor, flavor and texture) burgers. The addition of either 0.02 or 0.05% chitosan was not detected by sensory analysis, and extended the shelf life of low-SO₂ burgers from 7 to 14 days. Chitosan enhanced the preservative effects of sulfite at a low dose, acting on the main causes of meat deterioration (bacterial spoilage, color stability and lipid oxidation), and provided good sensory properties to fresh and cooked pork burgers., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The effects of acyl chain length and unsaturation on physicochemical characteristics and transfection efficiency of novel nanomicelles of N-acyl-substituted low-molecular-weight chitosan (N-acyl LMWC) were studied. After transfection optimization, 18-carbon chain length grafts were selected, and N-acyl LMWCs were prepared with increasing unsaturation (18:1-18:3 carbon acyl grafts). N-acyl LMWCs were characterized using infrared spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The effect of DNA addition on size and zeta potential of N-acyl LMWCs was determined by dynamic light scattering. N-acyl LMWC-plasmid DNA (pDNA) polyplex stability was confirmed using gel electrophoresis. Transfection efficiency of the derivative polymers was visualized in human embryonic kidney cells using a plasmid encoding green fluorescent protein by confocal fluorescence microscopy and was quantified using therapeutic plasmids encoding for interleukin-4 and interleukin-10. N-acyl LMWCs could form cationic nanomicelles with average hydrodynamic size between 73 and 132 nm. DNA addition to nanomicelles led to minimal increase in the size. N-acyl LMWC-pDNA polyplexes showed excellent stability on storage and could protect DNA from enzymatic degradation. The transfection efficiencies of N-acyl LMWCs with 18:1 and 18:2 grafts were comparable with FuGENE® HD but were approximately eightfold and 35-fold greater as compared with LMWC and naked DNA, respectively., (Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Carboxymethyl chitosan (CM-chitosan), a derivative of chitosan, was extensively studied in the biomedical materials field for its beneficial biological properties of hemostasis and stimulation of healing. However, studies examining the safety of CM-chitosan in the blood system are lacking. In this study CM-chitosan was implanted into the abdominal cavity of rats to determine blood indexes at different times and to evaluate the effects of CM-chitosan on the blood system of rats. Coagulation function was reflected by thrombin time (TT), prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplatin time (APTT), fibrinogen (FIB) and platelet factor 4 (PF4) indexes; anti-coagulation performance was assessed by the index of antithrombinIII (ATIII); fibrinolytic function was reflected by plasminogen (PLG) and fibrin degradation product (FDP) indexes; and blood viscosity (BV) and plasma viscosity (PV) indexes reflected hemorheology. Results showed that CM-chitosan has no significant effects on the blood system of rats, and provides experimental basis for CM-chitosan to be applied in the field of biomedical materials., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The objective of this study was to elucidate the controversial relationship between the molecular weight (MW) of chitosans and their antibacterial activity (upon different inoculum levels, at several concentrations). The influence of food components on the activity was also ascertained, as well as acceptance by a sensory panel. All the compounds tested exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. This activity was shown to be closely dependent on the inoculum level, MW and concentration used. Within 4h at 10(3) cells/mL, all five compounds, at every concentration (0.5%, 0.25% and 0.1%, w/v), proved to be bactericidal; for higher inocula, 0.1% (w/v) was only bacteriostatic; at 10(7) or 10(5) cells/mL, and independently of the inoculum level, 0.25% (w/v) of any chitooligosaccharide (COS) mixture was sufficient to reduce the E. coli initial population by at least 3 log cycles; COS never exhibited bactericidal action over S. aureus, unlike high and medium MW chitosans-which, at 0.5% (w/v), presented a bactericidal effect even against 10(7) cells/mL. When incorporated in liquid food matrices, medium and high MW chitosans maintained their activity, for both matrices and bacteria, although a slower activity was noticeable in milk; however, COS lost their activity upon both bacteria in milk after 4-8h. Furthermore, addition of chitosans to apple juice led to several unpleasant off-flavors, such as astringency and after taste--which increased in magnitude with MW.