Nanomedicine Journal
Volume:10 Issue: 1, Winter 2023

Chemical and biological methods are available for synthesizing manganese dioxide nanoparticles, with the characteristic electrochemical features tunable through natural product extract. MnO2 nanoparticles reduce the prevalence of organism resistance to drugs. Manganese dioxide nanoparticles are effective against various bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli. Manganese dioxide nanoparticles can potentially be used in the treatment of osteoarthritis and the preservation of cartilage. They are also promising ROS scavengers and may be used to fabricate antioxidant polymer microreactors. In cancer treatment, the MnO2 nanoparticles inhibit ATP production by cancer cells. In magnetic resonance imaging, the nanoparticles improve the signal-to-noise ratio and selectivity. Based on this background information, MnO2 nanoparticles today find use in photodynamic, chemodynamic, and immune therapy and diagnostics, where the oxygen produced by MnO2 nanoparticles is said to improve the therapeutic efficiency. Hybrid nanoparticles of gold nanorods and MnO2 nanoparticles enhance the performance in hormone-, pH-, and NIR- responsiveness. Other applications include glucose oxidase activity, photothermal conversion, and enhanced antitumor immunity. On the other hand, the nanoparticles can cause spermatogenesis failure, oxidative stress, active oxygen, and sperm motility reduction. As surface functionalization can improve the overall functional properties of the nanoparticles, polymer coating on MnO2 nanoparticles brings about new and improved properties. For instance, the layer of biopolymers such as chitosan enhances the magnetic resonance images’ quality and opens up the potential for attaching drugs and targeting moieties.

Due to the unique properties of chitosan (antibacterial and stimulating tissue repair factors) in improving cell function, modified chitosan derivatives are widely used to improve the function of blood products. However, interaction of chitosan positive surface charge with negatively charged blood cells and anionic proteins, increases hemolysis, platelet activation, and dysfunction of plasma proteins, so the use of chitosan in blood applications requires surface modifications. Therefore, in this review study, we review the literature (2010–2022) to determine whether the charged-modified chitosan could eliminate the effects of chitosan on blood products and prepare a platform for more research to improve the preservation of the blood products such as erythrocytes, platelets and plasma proteins (albumin, immunoglobulin (Ig) and factor (FVIII)). Overall, the results of this review study show that negative surface-charged chitosan can increase hematopoiesis and increase the preservation of erythrocytes, platelet, and plasma products. Modified chitosan can be used as an anticoagulant compound for purification and filtration of plasma proteins, gene transfer of FVIII, and to increase the stability of plasma proteins. In addition, due to its antibacterial and hemostatic properties, negatively charged chitosan can stimulate coagulation factors and rapid wound healing and can be used in the production of wound dressings. This review study provides researchers with a new insight into the effectiveness of negative-charged chitosan in improving the preservation of blood products including erythrocytes, platelets, and plasma products (albumin, immunoglobulin, and FVIII) and promises to increase the efficacy of negative-charged chitosan in the future research.

Oxidative stress has a considerable role in prevalence probability of many widely common eye problems including cataract, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration. It has been revealed that using oral antioxidants could prevent or delay the incidence of these problems. α-Lipoic acid (ALA) is an endogenous molecule with an excellent antioxidant properties which makes its oral and topical usage suitable as supplement. The special characteristics of cationic nano-emulsions (NEs) makes them an optimum carrier for ocular drug delivery. These nanoparticles provide a high drug loading efficiency for water insoluble substances like ALA and improves the penetration through electrostatic interactions with negatively charged ocular surface. 

In this study, ALA loaded cationic NEs were prepared and characterized by size, release profile, loading efficiency and their physicochemical properties. After thermodynamic stability evaluations, the animal studies conducted to examine the safety of final preparation in rabbit. 

Results demonstrated a drug loading efficiency of 61% for ALA and the size of cationic NEs increased from 132 nm to 289 nm after ALA entrapment. The prepared nanoparticles showed acceptable physicochemical properties and released up to 10% of loaded ALA during 6 h. the final preparation passed thermodynamic stability tests and was safe in ocular irritancy studies. 

In this study the developed cationic NE formulation of ALA demonstrated to be useful for further evaluations in future.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common causes of infections affecting the skin and soft tissues, which causes many types of syndromes, including skin and soft tissue infections in humans. The quick occurrence of resistance to many antimicrobial substances and severe infections requires long-term intravenous administration of beta-lactamase-resistant Penicillin. 

The antimicrobial activity of γ-Al2O3 nanoparticles (NPs) against 20 clinical samples of S. aureus isolated from skin exudates compared with the standard  ATCC 25923 strain investigated alone and in synergy with an antibiotic showed resistance. The most resistant isolates were selected based on being positive for MepA and Kirby and Bauer disc diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of γ-Al2O3 NPs against S. aureus was determined within 0-360 min treatment time. Then, the double-disc synergy test (DDST) method was performed for semi-sensitive and antibiotic-resistant strains to evaluate the probable inhibitory effect in synergy form.

The selected isolate expressed the MepA gene, showed the highest susceptibility reaction against γ-Al2O3 NPs in Z=78.125 ml/μg-1 and Z=156.25 ml/μg-1, and the process continued by performing the best ratio of NPs on semi-sensitive and also resistance antibiotic in synergy with NPs for the bacteria strains. The synergy of γ-Al2O3 NPs and Tetracycline, Oxacillin, and Ceftazidime showed higher sensitivity compared to using antibiotics alone. 

The results of this study demonstrate that γ-Al2O3 has a strong antimicrobial effect and can enhance the properties and characteristics of antibacterial potency in synergy or developed synthetic functionalized NPs with antibiotics.

Recently, medicinal plants have grabbed much attention in the prevention and treatment of cancer due to their ability to increase the efficiency of chemotherapy agents. Luteolin is a flavonoid widely studied for its antitumor effects. However, luteolin has low bioavailability and poor efficacy due to its hydrophobicity. This study aimed to prepare luteolin nanoemulsion (NE) and evaluate its physicochemical and anti-tumor properties in combination with doxorubicin (DOX) in vitro. 

NE containing luteolin was prepared by the prob-sonicate method. The physicochemical properties of nanoparticles, including particle size, zeta potential, morphology, encapsulation efficiency, viscosity, pH, drug release profile, and thermal stability were investigated. Finally, the toxicity of free luteolin and luteolin NEs at different concentrations, with and without DOX, was assessed against normal L929 fibroblast and C26 colon cancer cells in vitro. 

Luteolin NE was found to mimic a non-newtonian fluid with pH: 5.5 and an average particle size of 38.72 nm. The encapsulation efficiency was obtained at 79.61%. No significant changes were observed in particle size, PDI, and zeta potential after three months of storage at 4 °C. Seventy-two-hour drug release from these nanoparticles was about 25% in a neutral environment and 85% in an acidic environment. The combination of DOX and luteolin NE showed synergistic antitumor effects, while neither free luteolin nor luteolin NE showed significant toxicity against normal cells up to the 50 µg/ml concentration. 

The simultaneous administration of DOX and luteolin NE synergistically increased the cytotoxicity of DOX against the C26 cell line. Therefore, the novel formulation developed can be considered a suitable alternative to increase the anti-tumor efficiency of DOX.

To eliminate the side effects of anti-cancer medications, the master plan is to use the nano-drug delivery system to deliver two or more anti-cancer medicines. This study aimed to use a binary drug delivery system to deliver Resveratrol (RES) and Tretinoin (TTN) to breast cancer cells and assess the effectiveness of this approach on two types of breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and SK-Br-3). 

Binary-drug Solid Lipid Nanocarrier (SLN) formation was confirmed through dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis spectrophotometers, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).  In this study, both breast cancer cell lines were cultured under various concentrations of free and dual drug (RES+TTN)-SLN. 

In vitro anticancer analysis, including MTT and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) assays, revealed lower cell viability rates in both breast cancer cell lines compared with the control. Additionally, antiapoptotic-related genes were up-regulated and apoptotic-related genes were down-regulated when MCF-7 and SK-Br-3 were treated with RES+TTN-SLN. Furthermore, dual-encapsulation of RES and TTN significantly reduced cell viability percentage, even at the lowest concentrations (1 and 5 uM) compared with free drug and control groups for 48 hr. To sum it up, dual delivery systems of RES and TTN by SLN can deliver the optimal dose of RES and TTN into both MCF-7 and SK-Br-3 cell lines. 

Conclusively, RES+TTN-SLN even at the lowest concentration (1 μM and 5 μM) showed a synergistic anti-cancer effect in MCF-7 and SK-Br-3 with a better enhancement of apoptotic gene expression by enhanced/controlled intracellular penetration.

Bacterial adhesion to orthodontic brackets is a significant issue in orthodontic treatment. Most plaque control approaches rely on the patient’s cooperation which is not good enough to control the pathogenic oral microorganisms in most cases. Considering the growth rate of antibacterial resistance species, finding new antibacterial agents to control the oral microbial load seems necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial and cytotoxic effects of Ag/ZnO NPs loaded PCL/CS composites.

Ag/ZnO NPs were synthesized and characterized using sol-gel and DLS, respectively. After preparing three concentrations of Ag/ZnO NPs, they were loaded on the scaffolds. The release of NPs was measured in the artificial saliva. The antibacterial activities of NPs were evaluated on the medium plates of S. aureus and S. mutants using the inhibition zone method and compared to the control group (scaffolds without Ag/ZnO NPs). The cytotoxic effects of NPs were assessed using fibroblasts with MTT assay and compared to the control group.

The results showed that Ag/ZnO nanoparticles have antibacterial properties that increase over time. The 25  µg/mL concentration of these NPs had the least effect on L929 fibroblasts.

The Ag/ZnO NPs loaded the PCL/CS scaffolds have controlled slow-released properties. These NPs have antibacterial effects on oral microfilms and can be used to control pathogenic oral microorganisms. Moreover, they are safe with no cytotoxic effects the fibroblast cells and can be used in the oral cavity and skin.

One of the effective strategies for targeted chemotherapy of cancer is the use of lipid nanocarriers. In this study, an optimal formulation of niosomal drug containing doxorubicin was developed to monitor the potency against cancer cells. 

In this experimental study, niosomal vesicles were prepared using phosphatidylcholine (20%), span60 (52.5%), cholesterol (22.5%), and DSPE-PEG2000 (5%) by the thin-film method. Doxorubicin was loaded into the niosomes using an inactive loading method. 

The features and characteristics of the nanocarrier were evaluated using Zeta-Sizer, SEM, FTIR, drug release, cellular uptake, and the cytotoxicity of the nanodrug carrier system by the MTT method. Niosomal vesicles-containing doxorubicin showed a size of ~156.8 nm, drug encapsulation efficiency of ~94.18%, zeta potential of ~-3.52 mV, and polydispersity index (PDI) of ~0.265. The prepared niosomes indicated a drug-controlled release system and FTIR analysis showed no interaction between nanocarriers containing drug and doxorubicin. Moreover, morphological examination of nanocarriers using SEM microscopy revealed that they had spherical structures. Also, cellular studies showed that drug toxicity was higher in encapsulated form of the drug compared with non-encapsulated doxorubicin which was confirmed by the cellular uptake results. 

The results confirmed the proper physicochemical characteristics of these nanocarriers that significantly increased the toxicity of the encapsulated drug against the KG-1 cell line. It seems niosomal nanocarriers can be considered suitable carriers for drug delivery to cancer cells.