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Paclitaxel is one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents for treating various types of cancer. However, the clinical application of paclitaxel in cancer treatment is considerably limited due to its poor water solubility and low therapeutic index. Thus, it requires an urgent solution to improve therapeutic efficacy of paclitaxel. In this study, folate decorated paclitaxel loaded PLA-TPGS nanoparticles were prepared by a modified emulsification/solvent evaporation method. The obtained nanoparticles were characterized by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) method. The spherical nanoparticles were around 50 nm in size with a narrow size distribution. Targeting effect of nanoparticles was investigated in vitro on cancer cell line and in vivo on tumor bearing nude mouse. The results indicated the effective targeting of folate decorated paclitaxel loaded copolymer nanoparticles on cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo.

Background: The decrease in circulating testosterone levels with advancing age has been shown to be related to biological changes in healthy men., Objective: We investigated the relationship between total testosterone and several laboratory blood tests (glucose, total cholesterol, total proteins, albumin, RBC) in elderly institutionalized men (mean age: 82.7 years) with chronic illness., Results: There was a dramatically low level of total testosterone in the sample and a strongly significant inverse correlation between testosterone and fasting blood glucose. Hematocrit and albumin were positively correlated to testosterone., Conclusion: The negative correlation between testosterone and fasting blood glucose observed in healthy men also exists in institutionalized subjects. The link between testosterone and the related other biological parameters is questioned.