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Chronic wounds represent a persistent clinical challenge due to prolonged inflammation and impaired tissue repair mechanisms. Cannabidiol (CBD), recognized for its anti-inflammatory and pro-healing properties, shows therapeutic promise in wound care. However, its delivery via lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) remains challenging due to CBD's inherent instability and low bioavailability. This study developed and characterized a novel hydrogel scaffold composed of CBD-loaded LNPs (CBD/LNPs) integrated into a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA) matrix, designed to enhance wound repair and mitigate inflammation. The characteristics of the hydrogel scaffold were observed including the degree of swelling and LNPs' release profiles. Furthermore, in the results, CBD/LNPs displayed enhanced stability and reduced cytotoxicity compared to unencapsulated CBD. In vitro assays demonstrated that CBD/LNPs significantly promoted fibroblast migration in gap-closure wound models and reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species, supporting their potential as a biocompatible and efficacious agent for cellular repair and oxidative stress attenuation. In vivo experiments using adult male Wistar rats with aseptic cutaneous wounds revealed that treatment with CBD/LNP-PVA/SA hydrogel scaffold significantly accelerated wound closure relative to blank hydrogel controls, demonstrating a substantial reduction in the wound area over time. Histological analysis confirms notable improvements in skin morphology in wounds treated with CBD/LNP-PVA/SA hydrogel scaffold with evidence of accelerated epithelialization, enhanced collagen deposition, and increased dermal thickness and vascularization. Additionally, skin histology showed a more organized epidermal layer and reduced inflammatory cell infiltration in CBD/LNP-PVA/SA hydrogel scaffold-treated wounds, corresponding to a 35% increase in the wound closure rate by day 28 post-treatment. These findings suggest that CBD/LNP-PVA/SA hydrogel scaffolds facilitate inflammation resolution and structural wound healing through localized, sustained CBD delivery. The dual anti-inflammatory and wound-healing effects position CBD/LNP-PVA/SA hydrogel scaffold as a promising approach for chronic wound management. Future investigations are warranted to elucidate the mechanistic pathways by which CBD modulates the skin architecture and to explore its translational applications in clinical wound care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unique marine productive ecosystem of the seagrass beds on Thailand's Libong has been identified, which may raise environmental concerns. However, limited data on the health status of marine animals, especially gastropods, as a good sentinel species, has been found. Therefore, the present study provides a detailed observation of the male reproductive health and spermatogenesis of three gastropod species, including Polinices mammilla, Cerithidea cingulata, and Nerita balteata as sentinel species, which are investigated using morphology and histological methods. All samples were collected randomly from seagrass areas with healthy and unhealthy conditions in April 2021. The samples' male gonads were then investigated using histological methods. The results indicate that the species shared testicular structure and spermatogenesis in different stages (spermatogonium to spermatozoa). Additionally, their spermatogenic stages were not significantly different in size and diameter. Consequently, the structure of brown cells was common and distributed among the spermatogenic stages. Brown cells have been reported in animals that are under stress or unhealthy, such as in seagrass areas with unhealthy conditions. These results suggest that environmental and seagrass loss and the threatened seagrass habitats on Libong Island may impact aquatic animal health, necessitating long-term monitoring in further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The striped acorn barnacle, Amphibalanus amphitrite, a taxon of Balanidae, is commonly found along Thailand's coastline. In this study, we used histological methods to describe the microscopic anatomy of A. amphitrite. All samples (n = 30) were obtained from the seagrass beds of Libong Island, Thailand, in the Andaman Sea. Histological observation of various longitudinal sections from specimens of A. amphitrite provides clear insights into the organization of organ systems in the species. The digestive tract was observed to be mainly divided into four subregions, including the cuticle‐lined mouth and esophagus, which is characterized by a high columnar epithelium, the stomach, and the intestine. The accessory organ, including the digestive gland, exhibited lobulated structures and was covered with low columnar epithelial cells on a thin layer of smooth muscle. Furthermore, we examined the reproductive system, including both the ovary and testes, as well as the process of gametogenesis. Testicular development was predominantly observed during active breeding seasons throughout the observation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic Parkinson's disease (DP) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with metabolic syndrome that is increasing worldwide. Emerging research suggests that cannabidiol (CBD) is a neuropharmacological compound that acts against this disease, especially CBD in nano-formulation. The safety of cannabidiol lipid nanoparticles (CBD-LNP) was evaluated by assessing in vitro cytotoxicity in neurons and therapeutic outcomes in a DP animal model, including metabolic parameters and histopathology. CBD-LNPs were fabricated by using a microfluidization technique and showed significantly lower cytotoxicity than the natural form of CBD. The DP rats were induced by streptozotocin followed by a 4-week injection of MPTP with a high-fat diet. Rats were treated orally with a vehicle, CBD, CBD-LNP, or levodopa for 4 weeks daily. As a result, vehicle-treated rats exhibited metabolic abnormalities, decreased striatal dopamine levels, and motor and memory deficits. CBD-LNP demonstrated reduced lipid profiles, enhanced insulin secretion, and restored dopamine levels compared to CBD in the natural form. CBD-LNP also had comparable efficacy to levodopa in ameliorating motor deficits and memory impairment in behavior tests. Interestingly, CBD-LNP presented migration of damaged neuronal cells in the hippocampus more than levodopa. These findings suggest that CBD-LNP holds promise as an intervention addressing both metabolic and neurodegenerative aspects of DP, offering a potential therapeutic strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scalloped perchlet Ambassis nalua is one of the dominant fishes in the Estuarine Pranburi River, Thailand. It is suggested that this fish is in the secondary trophic level with a carnivorous nature. Studies on digestive system will help us further identify the niche of this species in the food web/food chain. The present study therefore aimed to report the detailed structure and ultrastructure of A. nalua digestive system. Fish samples (n = 30) with a total length of 5.7 ± 0.5 cm were obtained using beach seines from the Estuarine Pranburi River. Their digestive tract length and intestine coeficient were 3.6 ± 0.07 cm and 0.91, respectively. Light microscopic observation showed that the digestive wall comprised four layers, namely mucosa, submucosa, muscularis, and serosa. The prominent mucous‐secreting cells were found in the mucosal oesophagus. The stomach had many gastric folds, with height and width being 649.76 ± 85.15 and 370.30 ± 68.56 μm, respectively. Gastric glands were found in the anterior stomach but not in the posterior stomach. Each gastric gland was made up of a single type of columnar cells. The gastric cells were ultrastructurally characterized by numerous mitochondria and well‐developed secretory granules of varying sizes. A few small vacuoles were also identified in the apical area of the gastric cells. The intestine had two regions (anterior and posterior intestines), and pyloric caecum was absent. The density of the goblet cell was significantly higher in the posterior intestine. These results provide basic knowledge of the digestive system of A. nalua, and the low intestine coefficient and the absence of pyloric caecum suggest the carnivorous feeding habit of this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hooded oyster, Saccostrea cucullata, is an economically important bivalve in Thailand with great potential for aquaculture production. Since its histological development remains unknown, we examined the organ development of field-collected S. cucullata associated with their shell size distributions from Libong Island, Thailand. The water quality parameters were not significantly different between the sampling areas except for the water temperature (p < 0.05). S. cucullata from the Stone Bridge (SB) site had smaller shell lengths and higher condition factors than those from Dugong Tourism by Drones (DT) except for the size of the organ. Histologically, the highest mean length of gill lamellae was 192.1±3.92 µm in 2.1-3 cm group. The thinnest of the mantle epithelium (73.78±3.08 µm in 4.1-5 cm group) of S. cucullata showed statistically significant difference between the sampled locations (Specific F value = 0.1783 and 0.8605 when p < 0.01 and p < 0.0001, respectively). The density of mucous-secreting cells (Msc) was more prominently distributed in the digestive gland than in other tissues. The 2.1-3 cm group or bigger had mature gonads with protandric characteristics, showing the rapid sexual differentiation in SB. Results obtained from this study improve the current knowledge of S. cucullata from natural environments, which potentially contributes to the establishment of its aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ambrosia beetle Xylosandrus compactus (Eichhoff, 1875) is a serious pest of economically important plants including Mitragyna speciosa, but its body structure and cellular composition remain uncharacterized. In this study, we described whole-body histological characteristics of female X. compactus. Our observation found two district regions in the nervous system: frontal ganglion and ventral nerve cord. The frontal ganglion contained two layers: outer cortex and inner medullae, and the outer cortex was lined with three major types of cells including neurosecretory cells, neuroglia, and neurons. The integumentary system contained three different layers: epicuticle, exocuticle, and endocuticle in the head, thoracic, abdomen, and leg regions. Apparently, only skeletal muscles possessed muscle fibers in the muscular system. The main organ of the urinary system was the Malpighian tubule, the epithelium of which was lined with the simple cuboidal layer. The digestive system consisted of several distinct parts including foregut (for example esophagus, crop, and proventriculus), midgut, and hindgut (or rectum). Three different cell types were identified in the epithelial midgut. The respiratory organ was visible among the adipose tissue close to the integument system. Although this organ was not easily identified, it was covered by a simple squamous epithelium. The female reproductive system of this insect was a telotrophic meroistic ovary. The distribution of nurse cells was restricted to the anterior tropharium, connected to oocytes. All the above results provide the first histological description of X. compactus, which might be useful for advancing research in the related fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese flathead, Inegocia japonica Cuvier, 1829 is a commercially important fish in small‐scale coastal fisheries in Thailand; however, an explanation of its digestive biology is missing. This study describes the digestive tract and accessory organs of I. japonica, using morphological and histological methods. The fish (10 individual fish, 24.5 ± 0.98 cm in total length) were obtained from Libong Island, Thailand. Integrated morphological and histological data showed that the digestive tract was composed of oesophagus, stomach, pyloric caeca and intestine, with accessory organs. All digestive tracts consisted of four layers, including mucosa, submucosa, muscularis and serosa. Two stomach regions were identified (cardiac and pyloric stomachs). Several clusters of gastric glands were identified in the cardiac stomach. Each gland was a unicellular structure. The apical surface of this gland contained the vacuolar cell. The intestine was lined with a simple columnar structure with goblet cells that was similar to pyloric caecum. Goblet cells were rare in the anterior intestine, in contrast to the posterior intestine where goblet cells were abundant. The numerous of hepatocyte was mostly observed in the liver, whereas an exocrine acinar cell of pancreas was also identified. The results of our observations provided the first information of the digestive tract of I. japonica and can be applied to advanced study, such as physiology and histopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to describe the structure and histochemistry of the systemic organs in the female marine water-strider Asclepios annandalei from Pranburi river estuary, Thailand. Results from this study revealed for the first time that the integumentary system of this species consisted of three layers including epicuticle, exocuticle and endocuticle. The muscular system apparently contained only skeletal muscle along the body. In the urinary system, we observed well-developed Malpighian tubules, each of which was covered with the simple cuboidal epitheliums. These epitheliums also contained the secretory granules that were reacted positively with periodic acid Schiff (PAS). The digestive system of this species was composed of three distinct parts including foregut, midgut and hindgut. The respiratory system was composed of the respiratory organ, which was rarely found near the integument system. This organ was lined with a simple squamous epithelium. Two regions of nervous system, i.e., frontal ganglion connected to the eye structure and ventral nerve cord, were found. Each ganglion basically consisted of two layers, outer cortex and inner medullae. The outer cortex contained three types of cells, including neurosecretory cells, neuroglial cells and neurons. The cytoplasmic inclusion of neurosecretory cells contained secretory granules, which reacted positively with PAS, indicating the presence the glycoprotein. The neuroglia and neuron were also observed in the inner medullae layer. The female reproductive system (the ovarian structure, the reproductive tract and the accessory organ) of this gerrid species was seen under histological sections. The well-developed integument system and Malpighian tubule as well as the abundant respiratory organ is a characteristic of this species, which might be useful for the adaption to the estuarine condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stressful environment in Pranburi River estuary of Thailand severely impacts the aquatic ecosystem and may be causing reproductive alteration in the estuarine fishes living in this area, although there is little evidence of such deteriorated reproductive system. Thus, we aim to investigate the reproductive system, in particular the ovarian alteration using histological techniques in two groups of fishes: (1) demersal fishes, viz. long-whisker catfish (Mystus gulio), dark sleeper (Butis humeralis) and maned goby (Oxyurichthys microlepis), and (2) pelagic fishes, viz. greenback mullet (Planiliza subviridis), green puffer (Tetraodon fluviatilis) and Singapore glassy perchlet (Ambassis kopsii). Ten samples of each fish were collected during January - March of 2016-2018. Histological observation demonstrates that both demersal and pelagic fishes have an asynchronous oocyte development and maturation, which proceeds through two successive phases: primary growth phase and secondary growth phase. The fishes exhibit significant histopathological alterations in ovaries, including the atretic oocytes in both phases, with irregular shapes and degeneration of yolk granules. Interestingly, all collected demersal fishes possess a significantly higher number of atretic oocytes compared to the pelagic fishes. The observed abnormalities seem to be associated with the environmental stress, which may be more severe in the benthic region of the estuary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hematological evaluation of fish is essential to the assessment of their physiological status. This study describes the morphometric analysis and comparison of blood cell characteristics in Zanarchopterus sp., Gerres filamentosus Cuvier, 1829 and Leiognathus decorus (De Vis, 1884). The species were collected at two locations off the coast of Trang Province, Thailand. A comparative hematological evaluation was made to assess the effects of environmental conditions on the blood of the fish. Ten individuals of each species were collected from a seagrass bed at Libong Island, where human activities are increasing, and from a secluded sandy beach. Their blood samples were analysed using the blood smear technique. Erythrocytes of all the studied fishes were either elliptical or oval. The morphometric data from both locations showed that erythrocytes were of similar size, except for those of Zanarchopterus sp. Fish from both stations showed several types of leukocytes, including neutrophils and lymphocytes.The highest proportion of leukocytes was made up of lymphocytes, followed by neutrophils. However, monocytes were only observed in fish from Libong Island and the erythrocytic nuclei of fish collected from Libong Island were both reniform and lobate. Our results show the potential of hematological evaluation as an early warning signal of environmental impacts on aquatic animals. The determination of baseline parameters could provide a tool for the monitoring of environmental quality., (© Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2023.)

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) from cord blood are potentially high sources for transplantation due to their low immunogenicity and the presence of the multipotent cells. These cells are capable of differentiating to produce various lineages of blood cells under specific conditions. We have enriched highly purified CD34(+) cells from cord blood, determined in vitro growth of the cells in culture systems in the absence (condition A) or presence of GM-CSF and G-CSF (condition B), and determined the profile of immune cells during the period of cultivation by using flow cytometry. PhytohemagglutininA (PHA) was used as a mitogen to stimulate T lymphocytes derived from hematopoietic stem cells. GM-CSF and G-CSF prolonged the survival of the growing cells and also maintained expansion of cells in blastic stage. By day 12 of cultivation, when cell numbers peaked, various types of immune cells had appeared (CD14(+) cells, CD40(+)HLA-DR(+) cells, CD3(+)CD56(+) cells, CD19(+) cells, CD3(+)CD4(+) cells, CD3(+)CD8(+)cells and CD3-CD56(+)). A significantly higher percentage of monocytes (p = 0.002) were observed under culture with GM-CSF, G-CSF when compared with culture without GM-CSF, G-CSF. In addition, T lymphocytes derived from HSC responded to 50 µg/ml of PHA. This is the first report showing the complete differentiation and proliferation of immune cells derived from CD34(+) HSC under in vitro culture conditions. Lymphocytes, monocytes, dendritic cells and polymorph nuclear cells derived from HSC in vitro are unique, and thus may benefit various studies such as innate immunity and pathophysiology of immune disorders.