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The purpose of this study was to design and engineer a simple approach to enhance the catalytic activity and thermal stability of Lipase. Lipase is an enzyme with exciting multifarious applications in the industry. In this respect, we observed that the catalytic activity of Lipase was enhanced when it was subjected to in situ synthesis of silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) within the enzyme structure. At alkaline pH, the in situ synthesis of AgNCs inside Lipase altered its activity, and the resulting nanohybrid showed enhanced enzymatic activity. Compared with the catalytic efficiency of free Lipase (72.33 min mM ), the Lipase clustered with silver nanoclusters (L-AgNCs) showed enhanced catalytic efficiency (109.22 min mM ). Thermodynamic parameters of free Lipase and L-AgNCs were determined by calculating activation energy (Ea) values to be 19.92 KJ mol-1 and 17.29 KJ mol-1, respectively. The lower activation energy of L-AgNCs designates it to be more stabilized and highly active to bind with the substrate having a higher rate of reaction instead of free Lipase. Molecular docking analysis showed that silver binds to amino acid residues of the Lipase enzyme, which was also supported by the XPS analysis. Therefore, L-AgNCs conjugate represented a novel Lipase preparation technique with attributes of high activity and stability that could be an attractive choice in diverse applications ranging from catalysis to diagnostics. The overall study proposed an innovative strategy to improve enzyme stability and catalytic activity.

Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Gram-negative bacteria have been known as potential vaccine targets due to their antigenic properties and host specificity. Here, we focused on the exploration of the immunogenic potential and protective efficacy of total OMPs of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi due to their multi epitope properties, adjuvanted with nanoporous chitosan particles (NPCPs). The study was designed to extrapolate an effective, low cost prophylactic approach for typhoid fever being getting uncontrolled in Pakistan due to emergence of extensively drug resistant (XDR) strains.The OMPs of two S. Typhi variants (with and without Vi capsule) alone and with nanoporous chitosan particles as adjuvant were comparatively analyzed for immunogenic potential in mice. Adaptive immunity was evaluated by ELISA and relative quantification of cytokine gene expression (IL4, IL6, IL9, IL17, IL10, TNF, INF and PPIA as house keeping gene) using RT-qPCR. Statistical analysis was done using Welch's test. The protection was recorded by challenging the immunized mice with 50% ×LD50 of S. Typhi. The Vi + ve-OMPs of S. Typhi showed the most promising results by ELISA and significantly high expression of IL-6, IL-10 and IL-17 and 92.5% protective efficacy with no detectable side effects.We can conclude that the OMPs of Vi + ve S. Typhi are the most promising candidates for future typhoid vaccines because of cost effective preparation without expensive purification steps and multi-epitope properties. Chitosan adjuvant may have applications for oral protein based vaccines but found less effective in injectable preparations.

Pesticide contamination of drinking water is of high concern due to their hazardous effects on ecosystems. Several detection methods are available which are associated with many drawbacks, e.g. slow response time and laborious procedural techniques. This limits their practicability. Therefore, there is a dire need to develop quick, simpler but equally sensitive and practical methods for pesticide detection. Herein, we report a highly sensitive assay using fluorescent AuNCs for the detection of a pesticide i.e., 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA). For this purpose, three different fluorescent Au nanoclusters stabilized by histidine (His-AuNCs), lysozyme (Lys-AuNCs) and RNase (RNase-AuNCs) were systematically studied as optical probes for the detection of MCPA using a turn-on assay. The fluorescence of these AuNCs was initially quenched with Cu2+ ions followed by the quantitative recovery of their fluorescent signals in the presence of MCPA. The sensitivity and selectivity of these clusters for MCPA were in a linear dynamic range, i.e., 110–180 nM, 100–170 nM and 90–160 nM in case of His-AuNCs, Lys-AuNCs and RNase-AuNCs, respectively. Also, the aforesaid clusters were having a different limit of detection (LOD) by each type, i.e., highest by His-AuNCs (21.87), intermediate by Lys-AuNCs (12.97) and lowest by RNase-AuNCs (9.26 nM). Hence, the RNase-AuNCs are found to be the most sensitive, whereas His-AuNCs are least sensitive for the detection of MCPA. These findings offer a rapid, sensitive and selective assay for MCPA detection and have potential implications for the on-site, real-time monitoring of noxious pollutants.

It is necessary to study the possible interactions among various chemical surfaces and analytes before applying them to biological systems. We report the synthesis of carbon nanotubes-iron oxide (SPIONs-CNT) nanocomposite material by using lecithin stabilized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) obtained by facile hydrothermal technique. Various characterizations of the obtained nanocomposite were carried out and electrochemical studies were performed further to study the interaction capabilities of the nanocomposite with anti-TB drug Rifampicin. Obtained results by cyclic voltammetric studies of SPIONs-CNT nanocomposite with limit of detection (LOD) of 1.178 μM showed the enhanced electrochemical sensitivity and selectivity of anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) drug Rifampicin (RIF).

© The author(s).Thyroid cancer in humans has a fast-growing prevalence, with the most common lethal endocrine malignancy for unknown reasons. The current study was aimed to perform qualitative and quantitative investigation and characterization of the gut bacterial composition of euthyroid thyroid cancer patients. The fecal samples were collected from sixteen euthyroid thyroid cancer patients and ten from healthy subjects. The PCR-DGGE was conducted by targetting the V3 region of 16S rRNA gene, as well as real-time PCR for Bacteroides vulgatus, E.coli Bifidobacterium, Clostridium leptum and Lactobacillus were carried. High-throughput sequencing of V3+V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was performed on Hiseq 2500 platform on 20 (10 healthy & 10 diseased subjects) randomly selected fecal samples. The richness indices and comparative diversity analysis showed significant gut microbial modification in euthyroid thyroid cancer than control. At phylum level, there was significant enrichment of Firmicutes, Verrucomicrobia, while a significant decrease in Bacteroidetes was detected in the experimental group. At family statistics, significant high levels of Ruminococcaceae and Verrucomicrobiaceae, while the significant lower abundance of Bacteroidaceae, Prevotellaceae, Porphyromonadaceae, and Alcaligenaceae was after observed. It also found that the significantly raised level of Escherichia-Shigella, Akkermansia [Eubacterium]_coprostanoligenes, Dorea, Subdoligranulum, and Ruminococcus_2 genera, while significantly lowered genera of the patient group were Prevotella_9, Bacteroides and Klebsiella. The species-level gut microbial composition showed a significantly raised level of Escherichia coli in euthyroid thyroid cancer. Thus, this study reveals that euthyroid thyroid cancer patients have significant gut microbial dysbiosis. Moreover, Statistics (P

In this study, protein/polysaccharide core-shell-corona (PP-CSC) nano delivery systems (NDS) were prepared by using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and chitosan (CS). The potential of PP-CSC-NDS for increasing the stability and bio-accessibility of ε-poly-l-lysine (ε-PL) as effective therapy for gastric Helicobacter pylori was investigated. The presence of CS-shell increased the size (223 ± 1.7 nm) of BSA-core as compared to BSA-shell on CS-core (191 ± 2.6 nm). Conversely, encapsulation efficiency of ε-PL was reduced for C(B)NDS [CS-shell on BSA-core] to 73 ± 1% than 82 ± 2% for B(C)NDS [BSA-shell on CS-core] due to cationic nature of ε-PL. Scanning electron microscopy of PP-CSC-NDS displayed smooth and non-flocculated morphology. FTIR analyses verified that the electrostatic interactions, H-bonding, and hydrophobic effects were involved in PP-CSC formation. Zeta analyses revealed that the net charge depends on the corona layer and the encapsulated antimicrobials. Moreover, CS corona improved the antimicrobial potential, controlled release, mucoadhesion and stability of ε-PL loaded C(B)NDS in simulated gastric fluid due to inherent antimicrobial and mucoadhesive properties of CS polymer. In contrast, protein corona improved the penetration into bacterial biofilms for better eradiation of H. pylori. Thus, conjugated nano-systems with selected corona can improve the overall efficacy of antimicrobials to develop effective nano-therapeutics against gastric infections.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a global threat posed by continuously evolving microbial resistance against currently available antimicrobial agents. In this study, we synthesized hydroxyapatite-based porous nanocarriers with pH-dependent biodegradation, using cefazolin (CFZ) as cargo drug against MDR E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa. Oval-shaped porous hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (opHANPs) were synthesized via core-shell method. Field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed that the average length and width of opHANPs were found to be similar to 90 and similar to 110 nm, respectively with monodispersed size and morphology. The encapsulation efficiency (EE) of CFZ was observed to be dependent on the initial concentration of the drug (EE, 41.37-92.40% with 300-2000 mu g/mL of CFZ). Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area and pore width of opHANPs were 166.73 m(2)/g and 3.3 nm, respectively, indicating hierarchal pore distribution. The pH-responsive drug release was observed from CFZ-loaded opHANPs (CFZ@opHANPs). An enhanced drug-releasing behavior was observed at lower pH (4.5, 2.5, and 1.5). The study of release kinetics revealed that at pH 7.4, drug release is due to anomalous diffusion, while at lower pH, the drug release followed fickian diffusion model. Cytotoxic and hemolytic studies showed biocompatibility of CFZ@opHANPs with HepG2 and red blood cells. The growth kinetic study and colony-forming unit assay showed the superior antibacterial potential of CFZ@opHANPs, in contrast to carrier or CFZ alone, against MDR E. coli, S. aureus, and P. aeruginosa strains.

Gold nanomaterials (GNMs) have unique optical properties with less antigenicity, and their physicochemical properties have strong relation with an immunological response at bio-interface including antigenicity. An interpretation of this correlation would significantly impact on the clinical and theranostic applications of GNMs. Herein, we studied the effect of GNMs morphology on the cytotoxicity (in-vitro), innate immune responses, hepatotoxicity, and nephrotoxicity (in-vivo studies) using gold nano-cups (GNCs), porous gold nanospheres (PGNSs) and solid gold nano particles (SGNPs) coated with the same ligand to ensure similar surface chemistry. The cytotoxicity was assessed via sulfo-rhodamine B (SRB) assay, and the cytotoxicity data showed that morphological features at nanoscale dimensions like surface roughness and hollowness etc. have a significant impact on cellular viability. The biochemical and histopathological study of liver and kidney tissues also showed that all GNMs did not show any toxicity even at high concentration (100 μL). The relative quantification of cytokine gene expression of TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-4, 1L-6, and 1L-17 (against each morphology) was checked after in-vivo activation in mice. Among the different nanogold morphologies, PVP stabilized GNCs (PVP-GNCs) showed the highest release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which might be due to their high surface energy and large surface area for exposure as compared to other nanogold morphologies studied. The pro-inflammatory cytokine release could be suppressed by coating with some anti-inflammatory polymer, i.e., inulin. The in-vitro results of pro-inflammatory (TNF-α, IL-1) cytokines also suggested that all GNMs may induce activation of macrophages and Th1 immune response. The in-vivo activation results showed a decrease in mRNA expression of the cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-4, 1L-6 and 1L-17). Based on these findings, we proposed that the shape and morphology of GNMs control their immune response at nano-bio interface, and it must be considered while designing their role for different biomedical applications like immuno-stimulation and bio-imaging.

Nanotheranostics is an emerging frontier of personalized medicine research particularly for cancer, which is the second leading cause of death. Supramolecular aspects in theranostics are quite allured to achieve more regulation and controlled features. Supramolecular nanotheranostics architecture is focused on engineering of modular supramolecular assemblies benefitting from their mutable and stimuli-responsive properties which confer an ultimate potential for the fabrication of unified innovative nanomedicines with controlled features. Amalgamation of supramolecular approaches to nano-based features further equip the potential of designing novel approaches to overcome limitations seen by the conventional theranostic strategies, for curing even the lethal diseases and endowing personalized therapeutics with optimistic prognosis, endorsing their clinical translation. Among many potential nanocarriers for theranostics, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have shown various promising advances in theranostics and their formulation can be tailored for several applications. Despite the great advancement in cancer nanotheranostics, there are still many challenges that need to be highlighted to fill the literature gap. For this purpose, herein, we have presented a systematic overview on the subject and proposed LNPs as the potential material to manage cancer via non-invasive approaches by highlighting the use of supramolecular approaches to make them robust for cancer theranostics. We have concluded the review by entailing the future perspectives of lipid nanotheranostics towards clinical translation., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • Lipid-based theranostic systems in nanometer regime are promising carriers for cancer theranostic agents for curing different types of tumor. • LNPs can be functionalized with various targeting moieties and possess the potential to cross different physiological barriers hence improving the pharmacokinetics. • The applicability of supramolecular design of LNPs is discussed with respect to tumor physiology particularly targeting tumor microenvironment and metastasis (responsible for tumor spread) to treat resilient tumors. • Due to the negligible toxicity and multifunctional potential, currently there are many clinical trials and patents are underway based on this design.

An electrolyte is a vital component that creates an avenue for zinc ions to migrate and forms a cathode–anode intermediary in zinc based battery system. Zinc metal is thermodynamically unstable and prone to dissolve in acidic aqueous solutions. Indeed, there are still a lot of issues with using a liquid electrolyte on a frequent basis. Given its intimate connection with the ionic conductivity and electrochemical stability window, the ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as ‘Designer electrolytes’ are investigated by controlling their components and structures to address the problems related to the reversible method of Zn plating/stripping, Zn anode stability, and cathode efficiency. Despite the great achievements, the field of ‘Ionic liquid surface science concerning zinc system’ is quite an infant, so investigating this interface is even more inconclusive. This review gives an overview of ILs energy storage applications by presenting both electrochemistry and mechanisms involved in zinc battery setup and the scope of employing DESs based electrolytes as prospects to boost the development of this field. Validerad;2021;Nivå 2;2021-09-22 (johcin)

Preterm birth can be categorized as medically indicated (when pregnancy is interrupted at preterm gestations for maternal or fetal indications) and spontaneous (onset of labor before or after membrane rupture at preterm gestations). The main objective of the study is find the passive smoking and nicotine levels of pregnancy outcomes in Pakistan. This cross sectional study was conducted in Rawalpindi medical College during 2019 to 2020. The data was collected from 100 pregnant females who visited the OPD of hospital. The data was collected through a questionnaire. This questionnaire include the demographic data of all the participants. The mean number of pregnancies was 1.91 ± 0.99 (range from 1 to 5). The mean parity was 1.77 ± 0.84 (range from 0 to 5). 14.2% (213) of women were SHS exposure during pregnancy and 85.8% (1287) were not. It is concluded that non-smoking pregnant women in Pakistan who lived with a smoking husband were highly exposed to SHS, especially from their husbands. In addition, non-smoking pregnant women have inadequate knowledge on the harms of SHS.

Hematuria can signify serious disease such as bladder cancer, upper urinary tract urothelial cell carcinoma (UUT-UCC), renal cell cancer or urinary tract stones. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the role of CT urography in case of haematuria. This descriptive study was conducted in Rawalpindi Medical University during August 2019 to March 2020. Fifty patients with complaint of haematuria referred from various wards and outpatient departments of this institution were included in our study. A complete patient history regarding the chief complaints was taken and a thorough clinical examination was carried out after taking a written informed consent. Hematuria has a wide range of causes including urinary tract infections, calculi, trauma, renal parenchymal disease, metastatic disease, and urothelial and renal neoplasia. The most common primary malignancies associated with hematuria are renal cell carcinoma (RCC); transitional cell carcinoma (TCC); prostate cancer; and, less commonly, squamous cell carcinoma. RCC is the most common malignant neoplasm of the kidney, representing up to 90% of renal neoplasms and up to 3% of all neoplasms. It is concluded that in imaging patients with hematuria, radiography has no role in the detection of renal or ureteric neoplasms and its choice for the detection of urinary calculi is now questionable with the advent of low-dose MDCT.

Recently, water contamination caused by metal ions has become one of the most serious problems as it has caused several deaths and socioeconomic problems around the world. Hence, the fast and accurate detection of metal ions in aqueous media has become the most important area of research; from time to time, new probes have been designed for this purpose. Among the previously reported sensors, probes based on fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs) have been gaining tremendous attention due to their ease of preparation/fabrication, synthetic diversity according to targeted metal ions, quick response, high selectivity toward different analytes at lower concentrations, tenable optical properties, and less toxicity. This review comprises two main sections, wherein we have tried to summarize the key progresses made in this field. The first section summarizes the literature dealing with FON-based chemosensors, which are used for the detection of transition metal ions of silver, copper, chromium, cadmium, mercury, iron, and zinc. The second section focuses on FON-based chemosensors that have been used for the detection of main group metal ions, namely, cesium, aluminum, strontium, lithium, and tin. Further, this review provides an adequate amount of information about the mechanism of metal ion sensing with FONs. It is expected that this review can provide sufficient information about this area of research and will be useful in fruitful progress in this field in the future.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease of joints with no permanent cure. Although, there are some treatment strategies for RA that can go into remission but a precise treatment strategy is not currently available due to different patient manifestations. In addition, the use of various naturally available anti-inflammatory agents and antioxidants are hampered due to their instability in blood and lack of effective penetration into the synovial fluid. In this study, we aimed to enhance the therapeutic potential of natural but less bioavailable flavonoids by using lipid-based nanocarriers. Three types of lipid nanocarriers including stearic acid (SA), stearic-lauric (SL), and lecithin-chitosan (LC) nanocarriers (with encapsulated naringenin) were prepared by hot melt encapsulation and coprecipitation techniques, respectively. Arthritis in rats was induced by a single injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) in the sub-planter region of the left hind paw. Thirty six (36) male albino rats were divided into six groups with six animals each. Sole naringenin (NAR) and NAR-loaded lipid NPs (40 mg/kg) were administered orally to treatment groups after 1 h of CFA injection for 28 days continuously. NAR-loaded nanocarriers of spherical shape were synthesized with an average size less than ∼190 nm and zeta potential ( +30 mV for LC). We observed the encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 85%, 78% and 81% for LC, SA and SL, respectively. In vitro release of NAR from all nanoformulations showed sustained release behaviour. NAR loaded all lipid nanoformulations significantly (p

Bismuth tungstate (Bi2WO6) flake-like nanostructures with zigzag periphery and 30–40 nm thickness in high yield were produced by facile and efficient modified hydrothermal technique. The as-synthesized nanostructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Bi2WO6 nanostructures were investigated as visible light photocatalyst to degrade model dye coomassie brilliant blue (CBB). The role of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) used as initiator was also studied by varying concentrations during photocatalysis. It was observed that photocatalytic activity significantly enhanced for lower initiator concentrations. The growth mechanism for nanostructures was also discussed briefly.

2,4,6-Trinitrophenol (TNP), also known as picric acid is an explosive material that pose hazard to human safety and health, therefore its selective and efficient detection is extremely important. By knowing the good optical properties of pyrazoline derivatives, thiazol-substituted pyrazoline (1)-based organic fluorescent nanoparticles (N1) were employed for the highly selective sensing of TNP over a number of other nitroaromatics in aqueous medium. The quenching efficiency of N1 is proportional to the concentration of TNP over 0 μM–6 μM concentration range and it efficiently detects TNP with a detection limit of 0.002 ppm. The fast, sensitive and highly selective detection of trinitrophenol (TNP) on the basis of fluorescence quenching in contrast to other nitro-explosives and structurally-related compounds in aqueous medium by the fluorescent probe N1 is attributed to the acid-base interaction induced electron transfer process.

This work is the first report describing the development of a novel three dimensional manganese nanostructures based carbon nanotubes (CNTs-Mn NPs) composite, for the determination of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in pharmaceutical formulation. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used as a conductive skeleton to anchor highly electrolytic manganese nanoparticles (Mn NPs), which were prepared by a hydrothermal method. Scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy revealed the presence of Mn Nps of 20-25nm, anchored along the whole length of CNTs, in the form of patches having a diameter of 50-500nm. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the surface modification of CNTs by amine groups, whereas dynamic light scattering established the presence of positive charge on the prepared nanocomposite. The binding events were studied by monitoring cyclic voltammetry signals and the developed nanosensor exhibited highly sensitive response, demonstrating improved electrochemical activity towards ascorbic acid. Linear dependence of the peak current on the square root of scan rates (R2=0.9785), demonstrated that the oxidation of ascorbic acid by the designed nanostructures is a diffusion control mechanism. Furthermore, linear range was found to be 0.06-4.0×10-3M, and nanosensor displayed an excellent detection limit of 0.1µM (S/N=3). This developed nanosensor was successfully applied for the determination of vitamin C in pharmaceutical formulation. Besides, the results of the present study indicate that such a sensing platform may offer a different pathway to utilize manganese nanoparticles based CNTs composite for the determination of other bio-molecules as well.

Objective: To analyze the values of combined detection of urinary micro albumin (mAlb), α1‑microglobulin (α1-MG) and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) in the early diagnosis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Methods: Ninety-four patients with early DN who were admitted to the Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan between April 2016 and April 2017 were selected and set as a DN group. Moreover, seventy-six patients with diabetes who were admitted to the hospital in the same period were selected and set as a diabetes group, and sixty-four healthy people were selected as set as a control group. The urinary mAlb, α1-MG and NAG of the three groups were detected. Moreover, the patients were divided into a favorable blood glucose control group and a poor blood glucose control group according to the blood glucose control condition of the patients. The detection results of the three groups were compared and statistically analyzed. Results: The urinary mAlb, α1-MG and NAG levels of the DN group were significantly higher than those of the diabetes group and control group, and the differences had statistical significance (P Conclusion: Combined detection of urinary mAlb, α1-MG and NAG is sensitive in diagnosing early renal damages in DN patients.

Objective: Previous studies have shown an association between thyroid function and insulin resistance and obesity. We compared insulin resistance and body mass index (BMI) in patients with normal TSH levels (2.5–4.2 µIU/mL), patients diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism, and healthy control subjects. Methods: The study included 104 subjects and was conducted at the Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan. The subjects were divided into three groups according to TSH levels: Group 1 (high-normal), TSH levels were 2.5–4.2 µIU/mL (n=33); Group 2 (subclinical hypothyroidism), TSH levels were 4.2–10 µIU/ mL (n=42); and Group 3 (healthy control), TSH levels were 0.27–2.5 µIU/mL (n=29).The fT3 and fT4 levels were within normal limits in all groups. Insulin resistance and BMI were compared among groups. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was used to estimate insulin resistance. Results: HOMA-IR and BMI were not significantly different among groups (p>0.05). A significant positive correlation was found between BMI and HOMA-IR in the high-normal TSH (p>0.059) and subclinical hypothyroidism (p>0.05) groups. Conclusions: HOMA-IR and BMI are important for the assessment of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. We found no significant difference in HOMA-IR and BMI values among the three TSH reference range groups.

The complexes represented with the general formula [ML2Cl2] (L: 2-fluoropyridine; M: Ni (II), Cu (II), Co (II)) were synthesized and their structures were characterized via FT-IR and H-1 NMR techniques. Thermal properties of the complexes were also investigated via TG/DTA combined system under N-2 atmosphere. The complexes containing cellulose acetate (CA) micro/nano-fibers, which is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, were obtained via electrospinning technique. The fibers were characterized via FT-IR spectroscopy. FE-SEM images of the fibers were used to investigate their morphologies and for to determine the diameters of the fibers. Thermal properties of the fibers were investigated via TG/DTA combined system. Antibacterial studies of the complexes and fibers were investigated against the bacteria strains E. coli and Methyciline Resistant Staphylocaucus aureus via disc diffusion, broth microdilution and JIS L 1902: 2008, Testing method for antibacterial activity of textiles. Different levels Antibacterial activity was observed for all complexes and fibers. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A set of catalysts having gold nanoparticles deposited on γ -Al2O3 ( Au/ γ -Al2O3) with lowest effective amount of gold content were prepared by successive impregnation and hydrogen reduction method. The structural features of prepared catalysts were analysed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 physisorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). The catalytic activity was evaluated for the reduction of an organic pollutant 4-nitrophenol (4NP) to 4-aminophenol (4AP) by spectrophotometric analysis. Supported catalyst presented excellent catalytic ability to convert 4NP to 4AP in the presence of sodium borohydride (SBH) due to synergistic effect of Au NPs and mesoporous γ -Al2O3 support. The reduction reaction was also performed at a range of temperatures to calculate kinetic parameters. The development of highly stable Au/γ -Al2O3 catalysts with lowest noble metal content and recyclability made the process cost effective and may promote their applications in various fields including removal of organic pollutants in industrial waste water and high-temperature gas-phase reactions.

Combination therapy, especially photodynamic/photothermal therapy (PDT/PTT), has shown promising applications in cancer therapy. However, sequential irradiation by two different laser sources and even the utilization of single high-power laser to induce either combined PDT/PTT or individual PTT will be subjected to prolonged treatment time, complicated treatment process, and potential skin burns. Thus, low power single laser activatable combined PDT/PTT is still a formidable challenge. Herein, we propose an effective strategy to achieve synergistic cancer phototherapy under low power single laser irradiation for short duration. By taking advantage of dual plasmonic PTT nanoagents (AuNRs/MoS2), a significant increase in temperature up to 60 °C with an overall photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) of 68.8% was achieved within 5 min under very low power (0.2 W/cm2) NIR laser irradiation. The enhanced PCE and PTT performance is attributed to the synergistic plasmonic PTT effect (PPTT) of dual plasmonic nan...

Rehman M, Ihsan A, Madni A, et al. Int J Nanomedicine. 2017;12:8325–8336. The authors have advised Figure 3 on page 8332 is incorrect. An error was made in the labelling of the images with some FLOM samples incorrectly labelled as FLOD samples. The authors inadvertently selected a mislabelled FLOM sample to represent the FLOD sample without realising both the FLOM and FLOD images were the same. The correct Figure 3 is shown below. Figure 3 TEM images of (A) FLOM, (B) FLOD, (C) FLLM and (D) FLLD. Abbreviations: TEM, transmission electron microscopy; FLOM, 5-FU-loaded lauric acid and oleic acid nanoparticles prepared with mono-surfactant system; FLOD, 5-FU-loaded lauric acid and oleic acid nanoparticles prepared with double-surfactant system; FLLM, 5-FU-loaded lauric acid and linoleic acid nanoparticles prepared with mono-surfactant system; FLLD, 5-FU-loaded lauric acid and linoleic acid nanoparticles prepared with double-surfactant system; 5-FU, 5-fluorouracil. The authors apologize for this error and advise that this does not affect the results of the paper. Read the original article

Quercetin (Que) is a natural multifunctional bioflavonoid, and has shown great potential for reducing adverse side effects and enhancing anti-tumor efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs. However, its clinical application is limited due to very low solubility and structural instability in physiological systems. Herein, we co-delivered hydrophobic quercetin and hydrophilic doxorubicin (Dox) by developing a biocompatible nanocarrier comprising of an amphiphilic polymer, methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(D, L-lactide-co-glycolide), respectively. The anti-tumor and prophylactic efficacy of this system was evaluated in cellular and animal models. Our findings illustrated that the Dox-Que nanoparticulate formulation protected normal vascular endothelial cells from either free or nanoparticulate doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity and increased cancer cell death. Compared with free doxorubicin and its nanoformulation, co-delivery of quercetin and doxorubicin using our nanosystem synergistically inhibited tumor growth, while maintaining normal levels of cardiac function indicators in serum and recovering the histopathological damages in heart tissue. This study demonstrates a promising strategy for enhancing anti-cancer drug efficacy and reducing nanoparticulate chemotherapy-induced toxicity on normal tissues.

Monolaurin is recognized as an emulsifier and antimicrobial agent with potential use in the food industry. Empty and nisin loaded monolaurin nano-micelles were successfully developed for the first time in the present study. Encapsulation of nisin had not significantly increased the mean diameter of loaded monolaurin nanoparticles (MNPs), which was calculated as 59.19 ± 8.66 nm as compared to 54.7 ± 5.6 nm for empty MNPs. The zeta potential of empty and nisin containing nanoparticles was observed as −45.1 ± 2.6 mV and −40.5 ± 2.12 mV, respectively. Nisin was loaded with an excellent encapsulation efficiency of 78.8 ± 2.5% in MNPs. The FTIR analysis had confirmed that the encapsulation of nisin into MNPs was based on electrostatic attraction only. Ultra-microscopic studies by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) had revealed homogenous distribution with maximum height of 53 and 57 nm for empty and loaded MNPs, respectively. Furthermore, nisin loaded MNPs had synergistically controlled the growth of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC-25923 for up to 164 h in vitro . The stability of nisin loaded nanoparticles based on the results of antimicrobial behavior and zeta potential suggest their potential application in food systems to avoid food borne illness outbreaks.

Escalating antimicrobial resistance is causing a major threat to the public health. Failure of traditional antibiotics urges the development of alternative therapeutics, which include biopolymeric nanosystems with intrinsic antimicrobial potential. In the present study, mannose functionalized chitosan nanosystems (M-CNS) were fabricated through reductive amination of chitosan with mannose and further its ionic gelation. Changes in zeta potential and characteristic peaks in FTIR spectra revealed surface functionalization of chitosan with mannose. Zeta-sizer studies disclosed relatively higher size (180 ± 5 nm) of mannosylated CNS as compared to CNS (162 ± 7 nm). Inversely, the zeta-potential was reduced from +32.2 mV to +25.4 mV for M-CNS. Scanning electron microscopy verified the slight increase in size for M-CNS. Antimicrobial evaluation of designed nanosystems as alternative antibacterial agent was assessed by time-kill, polystyrene adherence and antibiofilm assays against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens. Results indicated that mannose functionalized CNS inhibited the growth of resistant Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes, while demonstrating anti-adherence and biofilm disruption activity. Furthermore, highly resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus were also susceptible against M-CNS. This study unveiled the potential of M-CNS against pathogenic, multidrug resistant, biofilm forming bacteria; thus, making them an ideal candidate for developing alternative-medicines to cure the emerging resistant infections.

Synthesis of carbon dots (CDs) or carbon quantum dots (QCDs) from different carbon sources have attracted much attention due to their excellent potential to advance wide range of applications such as biosensing, bioimaging, photoscience and other biomedical usage. However, the interaction of CDs (without any complex surface functionalities) with different cell lines especially with respect to their surface charge still needs to be elaborated in certain phenomena i.e. cytotoxicity, cellular uptake and inflammatory profiling. In this study, two oppositely charged CDs were synthesized and compared for their surface charge dependent interaction with different cell lines. Positively charged CDs were synthesized by using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and negatively charged CDs were synthesized using citric acid (CA) by acidic hydrolysis and reflux methods, respectively. Using both CDs, a concentration dependent cytotoxicity was carried out on 3T3 fibroblast, MDA-MB-231 breast cancer and RAW 264.7 macrophage cell lines, while cellular uptake and inflammatory studies were conducted with RAW 264.7 macrophages cell line. Results showed that both BSA and CA-CDs were not cytotoxic up to 400 μg/mL. Flow-cytometry studies indicated that cellular uptake of negatively charged CA-CDs was quite higher (~6.25%) than that of positively charged BSA-CDs (~1.24%). On the other hand, positively charged BSA-CDs have significantly enhanced the inflammatory cytokines release by RAW 264.7 macrophages cells. A concentration dependent increase in tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) was observed when RAW 264.7 macrophages cells were treated with BSA-CDs. In comparison, CA-CDs did not show any effect on these cytokines release. Therefore, it was concluded that the interaction of CDs with different cells is dependent on their surface charge which can also control their cellular influx and release of inflammatory cytokines.

In the present work, novel molecularly imprinted polymer porous beads for the selective separation of copper ions have been synthesized by combining two material-structuring techniques, namely, molecular imprinting and oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion polymerization. This method produces monodisperse spherical beads with an average diameter of ∼2-3 mm, in contrast to adsorbents produced in the traditional way of grinding and sieving. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy indicates that the beads are porous in nature with interconnected pores of about 25-50 μm. Brunner-Emmett-Teller analysis shows that the ion-imprinted beads possess a high surface area (8.05 m(2) /g), and the total pore volume is determined to be 0.00823 cm(3) /g. As a result of the highly porous nature and ion-imprinting, the beads exhibit a superior adsorption capacity (84 mg/g) towards copper than the non-imprinted material (22 mg/g). Furthermore, selectivity studies indicate that imprinted beads show splendid recognizing ability, that is, nearly fourfold greater selective binding for Cu(2+) in comparison to the other bivalent ions such as Mn(2+) , Ni(2+) , Co(2+) , and Ca(2+) . The imprinted composite beads prepared in this study possess uniform porous morphology and may open up new possibilities for the selective removal of copper ions from waste water/contaminated matrices.

The aim of the study was to control the size of gelatin nanoparticles under varied conditions of nanoprecipitation. The gelatin concentration in the solvent phase and different combination of nonsolvents was used to see influence on the size, polydispersity and recovery yield of produced nanoparticles. The size of the nanoparticles was determined by dynamic light scattering. The yield of gelatin nanoparticles after freezedrying was found gravimetrically. The morphology of nanoparticles was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The results suggest that the size of nanoparticles can be tuned within a range 250–350 nm with low polydispersity index because of the inhibition of particle aggregation during crosslinking. The produced nanoparticles are of spherical shape with a smooth surface. We found that the recovery yield was also dependent on the gelatin concentration in the solvent phase.

We report the development of effective drug loaded nanocarriers to combat multidrug resistant infection especially in case of osteomyelitis. The hollow mesoporous hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (hmHANPs) and solid/non-hollow hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (sHANPs) were synthesized by core–shell and co-precipitation techniques respectively. High encapsulation of the drug (ciprofloxacin) was observed in hmHANPs as compared to sHANPs, which may be due to the hollow porous structure of hmHANPs. These nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscope (FESEM), N2 adsorption/desorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Approximately 80% of the encapsulated drug was released at pH 4.5 within 5 days in case of hmHANPs while at pH 7.4, a sustained drug release profile was obtained and only 48.73% of the drug was released after 9 days. The results of kinetic drug release revealed that drug loaded hmHANPs showed fickian diffusion and anomalous drug diffusion mechanism at pH 4.5 and 7.4 respectively. Owing to their porous structure and high drug loading capacity, hmHANPs showed enhanced antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (drug resistant strains of osteomyelitis) in comparison to that with sHANPs. In addition, hmHANPs showed a pH sensitive drug release profile, high surface area (105.33 m2/g) with increased pore volume (0.533 cm3/g) and superior antimicrobial activity against osteomyelitis as compared to sHANPs.

Mubashar Rehman,1–3 Ayesha Ihsan,2 Asadullah Madni,1 Sadia Zafar Bajwa,2 Di Shi,3 Thomas J Webster,3,4 Waheed S Khan2 1Department of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan; 2Nanobiotech Group, National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan; 3Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA; 4Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Abstract: Thermoresponsive drug delivery systems are designed for the controlled and targeted release of therapeutic payload. These systems exploit hyperthermic tempera­tures (>39°C), which may be applied by some external means or due to an encountered symptom in inflammatory diseases such as cancer and arthritis. The objective of this paper was to provide some solid evidence in support of the hypothesis that solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) can be used for thermoresponsive targeting by undergoing solid–liquid phase transition at their melting point (MP). Thermoresponsive lipid mixtures were prepared by mixing solid and liquid natural fatty acids, and their MP was measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). SLNs (MP 39°C) containing 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were synthesized by hot melt encapsulation method, and were found to have spherical shape (transmission electron microscopy studies), desirable size (90% drug was released at 39°C after 5hours, suggesting that the SLNs show thermoresponsive drug release, thus confirming our hypothesis. Drug release from SLNs at 39°C was similar to oleic acid and linoleic acid nanoemulsions used in this study, which further confirmed that thermoresponsive drug release is due to solid–liquid phase transition. Next, a differential pulse voltammetry-based electrochemical chemical detection method was developed for quick and real-time analysis of 5-FU release, which also confirmed thermoresponsive drug release behavior of SLNs. Blank SLNs were found to be biocompatible with human gingival fibroblast cells, although 5-FU-loaded SLNs showed some cytotoxicity after 24hours. 5-FU-loaded SLNs showed thermoresponsive cytotoxicity to breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) as cytotoxicity was higher at 39°C (cell viability 72%–78%) compared to 37°C (cell viability >90%) within 1hour. In conclusion, this study presents SLNs as a safe, simple, and effective platform for thermoresponsive targeting. Keywords: temperature sensitive, breast cancer, 5-fluorouracil, nanostructured lipid carriers, emulsions, fatty acids

Thermoresponsive targeting is used to deliver therapeutic agents at hyperthermic conditions (39–45 °C). However, available thermoresponsive drug delivery systems (TDDS), including liposomes, have a complex method of preparation involving toxic solvents and reagents. The objective of this in vitro study was to prepare and characterize thermoresponsive lipid nanoparticles (TLN) for treating glioblastoma, the most aggressive brain tumor whose treatment is limited by a low blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability of drugs. Thermoresponsive lipids were prepared by mixing liquid and solid fatty acids (0.1 : 1 to 2 : 1 ratio) and lipid mixtures exhibiting a solid–liquid phase transition at 39 °C were identified by plotting melting point against liquid contents. TLN were prepared by a hot melt encapsulation method using mono- or double-surfactant systems. TLN showed desirable size (