ABSTRACT
As cytotoxicity and antibacterial properties are considered as two essential factors for advanced wound care dressings, many attempts have been made to introduce and apply potent substances to provide these requirements. In this study, keratin as a valuable substance extracted of human hair waste and fabricated to a nanofibrous scaffold for achieving to least cytotoxic and improved antibacterial properties. Keratin was extracted of human hair waste by an alkaline method and it was characterized by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis method. Extracted keratin was accompanied in different concentrations with PVA and silver nanoparticles and then fabricated into nano-fibrous scaffold through electrospinning method. Fabricated scaffolds were investigated and compared by scanning electron microscopy, measuring antibacterial activity [AATCC Test method 100-2004] and MTT assay [directly and by ISO 10993-5 standard method]. Keratin with molecular masses of 56-65 kDa observed in the extracted substance. 3D scaffolds of nanofibers with diameter between 90-180 nm fabricated with different concentrations of kertain successfully. With the increase in keratin concentrations in fabricated scaffolds, their antibacterial activity against both Escherichia coli [ATCC8793] and Staphylococcus aureus [ATCC6538] bacteria were improved significantly. Furthermore, incorporating of keratin caused improved cell viability about 21% more in compare with the control sample. Valuable keratin was obtained from an economical source with an alkaline method. Beside the intrinsic and proven properties of keratin such as compatibility with human skin, introducing this substance to nanofibrous scaffolds caused improved antibacterial properties and cell viability making it as a potent candidate for advanced wound caring purposes
ABSTRACT
In order to overcome the limitation of systemic administration of methylene blue, this study investigated the encapsulation of methylene blue in polymeric liposomes and drug release following sonication. We encapsulated methylene blue into nanoliposomes. The dynamic light scattering [DLS] method was used to measure the size distribution of the liposomes. After loading methylene blue into these liposomes, both drug encapsulation efficiency and stability were fluorometrically determined. Biodistribution of drug was studied in vivo in a mouse model of adenocarcinoma tumor cells. The amount of drug released upon 1 MHz sonication at an intensity of 2 W/cm2 was fluorometrically verified in vitro. DLS studies showed that the synthesized liposomes had an average size of 66.19 +/- 4.49 nm. Methylene blue was efficiently encapsulated in nanoparticles at an average of 65.21 +/- 3.47%. Stability of the generated liposomes decreased with time. Biodistribution study revealed that the drug content in the group that received liposomal drugs in their tumor tissue was significantly higher than in the group that received methylene blue in its free form and in the heart was inverse [P<0.05]. The results indicated that a 5 min application of 1 MHz ultrasound caused a methylene blue release of approximately 51.8 +/- 8.3% from the nanoparticles. This study has shown that fabricated liposomes are suitable for the encapsulation and delivery of hydrophilic photosensitizers such as methylene blue. Ultrasound-triggered release was achieved by the use of a 1 MHz ultrasound
ABSTRACT
Seborrhoeic dermatitis [SD] is a common skin disorder. Malassezia yeasts have an important role in the etiology of SD. Since anti-fungal agents, especially in azoles are effective for treating SD, in this study, the effect of ketoconazole 2% solution on clinical signs and Malassezia in SD patients were assayed. 100 patients with SD were enrolled in this study. Patients were scored in regard to the severity of lesions at the initial evaluation and every 2 weeks for a 1 month period. Microscopic examination and culture of patients scale in days 0 and 28 were used for isolation and identification of Malassezia species. Patients were divided into two groups [ketoconazole 2% solution and shampoo] and followed after 14 and 28 days, and then clinical response was graded. 58% of patients showed lesions on their heads. In day 0, 51% of patients showed > 7 yeasts in each microscopic field. 77% of scale samples were positive to Malassezia spp. Growth and M. globosa [57.1%] had the most frequency. In day 28, 89.6% and 82.6% of treated patients with solution and shampoo showed 1-3 yeast in within entire smear, respectively. 94.8% and 82.6% of scale samples were negative to Malassezia spp growth, respectively. In day 0, patients with moderate SI had the most prevalence, whereas in day 28, patients with mild SI were predominant. Statistical test showed the correlation is significance only between SI and treatment with solution. The results of our study showed that according to decrease of yeast load and increase of improvement of SD signs after treatment with ketoconazole 2% solution, compared with ketoconazole 2% shampoo, 2% ketoconazole solution can be considered as an appropriate agent in treatment of Sd
Subject(s)
Humans , Dermatitis, Seborrheic/drug therapy , Malassezia , Treatment Outcome , Antifungal AgentsABSTRACT
A simple, sensitive and specific HPLC method and also a simple and fast extraction procedure were developed for quantitative analysis of fentanyl transdermal patches. Chloroform, methanol and ethanol were used as extracting solvents with recovery percent of 92.1, 94.3 and 99.4% respectively. Fentanyl was extracted with ethanol and the eluted fentanyl through the C18 column was monitored by UV detection at 230 nm. The linearity was at the range of 0.5-10 microg/mL with correlation coefficient [r[2]] of 0.9992. Both intra and inter-day accuracy and precision were within acceptable limits. The detection limit [DL] and quantitation limit [QL] were 0.15 and 0.5 microg/mL, respectively. Other validation characteristics such as selectivity, robustness and ruggedness were evaluated. Following method validation, a system suitability test [SST] including capacity factor [k'], plate number [N], tailing factor [T], and RSD was defined for routine test