Physicochemical investigation and in vivo activity of anti-malarial drugs co-loaded in Tween 80 niosomes

Abstract

Drugs used for the treatment and prevention of malaria are often plagued by the problem of development of resistance. This has hampered their therapeutic efficiency and rendered them ineffective for monotherapy. However, if re-packaged and combined properly, many of these neglected anti-malarial drugs can possibly find their way back into the treatment regime. The present study evaluates the use of curcumin (CC) and primaquine (PRI) as an anti-malarial combination, packaged within niosomes, in comparison to their respective monotherapy options. It was observed that in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice, mice treated with a combination of 35?mg/kg of CC along with either 5?mg/kg or 1?mg/kg body weight of PRI demonstrated 100% anti-malarial activity and survivability beyond 20 days. The niosome-based PRI–CC combination therapy provided increased protection and survival rate that was associated with prevention in recrudescence. The findings of the study suggest that niosome-based PRI–CC combination therapy may be a promising approach in the treatment of malaria.     

INHIBITION OF EHRLICH TUMOR GROWTH IN MICE BY ELECTRIC INTERFERENCE THERAPY (IN VIVO STUDIES)

A study of solid tumor growth retardation by employing extremely low frequency (ELF) electric fields has been carried out. ELF electric fields were generated in tumor tissue in mice by the interference of two high frequency sinusoidal waves with the beat frequency centered at the tumor core. The results indicated a pronounced decrease in tumor growth rate in animals exposed to a 5-Hz interferential frequency for 1 hr daily. The 1 hr/day treatment produced a greater retardation effect than the 1 hr/week treatment. This indicates that treatment duration at the applied field frequency appears to play an important role in tumor growth delay. The dielectric properties of the tumor cells showed higher permittivity and conductivity values than homologous normal tissue. The permittivity of tumor cells treated daily with 5 Hz reaches nearly the same value as control tissue. Moreover, histological studies show that tumor tissues treated daily with the same frequency undergo partial regression and shrinkage of the aggregates of neoplastic cells leaving very little of them. We conclude that this new interferential technique is promising for tumor treatment in which a resonating electric field affects cell-to-cell communication.     

Glibenclamide modulates glucantime activity and disposition in Leishmania major

A source of chemotherapeutic failure in anti-infective therapies is the active movement of drugs across membranes, through ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. In fact, simultaneous administration of therapeutic drugs with ABC transporter blockers has been invoked to be the way to actively prevent the emergence of drug resistance. Herein, we demonstrate that glucantime’s efficacy in decreasing the infection rate of Leishmania-infected macrophages is strongly enhanced when used in combination with glibenclamide, a specific blocker of ABC transporters. Intracellular ABC transporters mediate glucantime sequestration in intracellular organelles. Their selective inhibition may effectively increase the cytoplasmic concentration of glucantime and its leishmanicidal activity. Our results reveal for the first time that glibenclamide targets in Leishmania major a compartment associated with a multivesicular system that is simultaneously labeled by the acidic marker LysoTracker-red and may represent the organelle where antimonials are sequestered. These results constitute a proof of concept that conclusively demonstrates the potential value that combination therapy with an ABC transporter blocker may have for leishmaniasis therapy.     

Synthesis,photophysical properties and biological evaluation of β-alkylaminoporphyrin for photodynamic therapy

A series of β-alkylaminoporphyrins conjugated with different amines at β position (D1–D3) or with electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents at phenyl position (D4–D6) were synthesized. Their photophysical and photochemical properties, intracellular localization, photocytotoxicities in vitro and vivo were also investigated. All target compounds exhibited no cytotoxicities in the dark and excellent photocytotoxicities against HeLa cells. Among them, D6 showed the highest phototoxicity and the lowest dark toxicity, which was more phototoxic than Hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether (HMME). In addition, D6 exhibited best photodynamic antitumor efficacy on BALB/c nude mice bearing HeLa tumor. Therefore, D6 is a powerful and promising antitumor photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy.     

2种不同器械扩锉后根管壁的细菌学研究

目的通过对临床病例的研究,比较减速镍钛机扩和普通不锈钢K型锉清洁根管的能力。方法选取临床需要根管治疗的患牙60例,随机分为2组,经开髓拨髓后分别用镍钛减速机扩和不锈钢K型及H型锉进行根管预备,预备完成后用灭菌棉捻擦拭管壁,作微生物检查。结果2组方法扩锉后对根管内微生物的变化做统计学分析,差异有显著性(P<0.05)。结论镍钛减速机扩对根管的清洁能力高于普通不锈钢扩锉,值得临床的推广。     

骨髓基质细胞与神经损伤和神经退行性疾病

骨髓基质细胞(bone marrow stromal cells,BMSCs)又名成纤维细胞样克隆形成单位(fibroblast colonyforming units,CFU-F)、间质干细胞(mesenchymal stem cells,MSCs)、间质祖细胞(mesenchymal progenitor cells．MPCs)。本文统一用BMSCs这一概念,对其生物学特性及其神经损伤修复作用进行综述。     

ω-6脂肪酸脱氢酶基因在乳腺癌细胞内的表达和作用

为探讨ω- 6脂肪酸脱氢酶基因fat -1在人类乳腺癌细胞MCF- 7中表达和对其生长的作用,将fat -1基因插入到腺病毒载体中,构建腺病毒重组载体(Ad·GFP·fat1) .通过包装细胞系(2 93)产生重组腺病毒,感染MCF 7细胞.用核糖核酸酶保护性分析技术,检测fat -1基因在MCF- 7细胞内的表达,细胞增殖试剂盒(MTT)和凋亡染色试剂盒染色分析fat 1基因对MCF- 7细胞增殖和凋亡的影响,用酶联免疫分析花生酸类(eicosanoids)前列腺素E2 (prostaglandinE2 )的含量.结果显示,腺病毒介导的fat- 1基因能在MCF- 7细胞内有效异源表达,抑制MCF -7细胞的增殖且导致凋亡,前列腺素的含量也明显地减少.结果说明,fat- 1基因在乳腺癌的基因治疗中具有良好利用价值.     

肿瘤抑素抗肿瘤相关肽的克隆及生物活性

为得到肿瘤抑素中具有直接抗肿瘤活性肽并检测其生物学活性,人工合成肿瘤抑素中185～2 0 3位氨基酸(19肽)所对应的核苷酸序列,将其连接到融合蛋白表达载体pTYB2中,酶切和测序鉴定后,转化到大肠杆菌BL 2 1(DE3)中诱导表达.表达的融合蛋白经几丁质亲和层析、二硫苏糖醇(DTT)的柱内还原,直接获得可溶性19肽.利用MTT法,细胞生长曲线,小鼠H2 2腹水型转移型肝癌实体瘤模型抑瘤实验并结合组织病理学切片,研究19肽的生物学活性.获得的19肽对B16小鼠黑色素瘤细胞、人SMMC 772 1肝癌细胞、人脐静脉内皮细胞的生长均具有抑制作用.小鼠H2 2腹水型肝癌抑瘤率达4 8 4 6 % .病理学切片显示,19肽可促使小鼠肿瘤组织坏死,血管数量减少.19肽具有较强的直接抗肿瘤活性,有可能成为肿瘤治疗的一种新的有前景的药物.     

鸟氨酸脱羧酶基因反义RNA对前列腺癌细胞生长的抑制作用

为研究鸟氨酸脱羧酶 (ODC)基因反义RNA对前列腺癌细胞的生长抑制作用 ,将表达ODC第 3外显子反义RNA的重组腺病毒rAd ODC Ex3as分别感染前列腺癌细胞株PC 3和LNCap .通过MTT法观察其对前列腺癌细胞增殖的影响 ,并确定不同细胞合适的感染滴度 ,再采用Western印迹和流式细胞术检测rAd ODC Ex3as对细胞中ODC表达的抑制作用、对细胞周期和凋亡的影响以及与CDK抑制物p2 1的关系 .实验显示 ,rAd ODC Ex3as分别以 5 0MOI、2 5MOI感染PC 3和LNCap细胞可明显抑制其生长增殖 ,而不引起细胞毒性作用 ;其对两种细胞中ODC表达的抑制作用分别为4 5 %和 5 9% .流式细胞DNA含量分析证实 ,rAd ODC Ex3as可引起PC 3和LNCap细胞周期G1期阻滞 ,但并未引起凋亡 .通过Western印迹发现 ,细胞中ODC表达的降低可诱导p2 1蛋白的过表达 .结果表明 ,rAd ODC Ex3as在体外能有效地干扰ODC基因的表达 ,并通过诱导p2 1的过表达使其细胞周期停于G1期 ,从而抑制前列腺癌细胞PC 3和LNCap的增殖 ,为其进一步基因治疗的研究打下基础 .