Leptospiral Infection, Pathogenesis and Its Diagnosis-A Review.

Leptospirosis is a perplexing conundrum for many. In the existing literature, the pathophysiological mechanisms pertaining to leptospirosis is still not understood in full. Considered as a neglected tropical zoonotic disease, leptospirosis is culminating as a serious problem worldwide, seemingly existing as co-infections with various other unrelated diseases, including dengue and malaria. Misdiagnosis is also common as non-specific symptoms are documented extensively in the literature. This can easily lead to death, as the severe form of leptospirosis (Weil's disease) manifests as a complex of systemic complications, especially renal failure. The virulence of Leptospira sp. is usually attributed to the outer membrane proteins, including LipL32. With an armament of virulence factors at their disposal, their ability to easily adhere, invade and replicate within cells calls for a swift refinement in research progress to establish their exact pathophysiological framework. As an effort to reconstitute the current knowledge on leptospirosis, the basis of leptospiral infection, including its risk factors, classification, morphology, transmission, pathogenesis, co-infections and clinical manifestations are highlighted in this review. The various diagnostic techniques are also outlined with emphasis on their respective pros and cons.

Utilization of gum polysaccharide of Araucaria heterophylla and Azadirachta indica for encapsulation of cyfluthrin loaded super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for mosquito larvicidal activity.

Surface engineering of super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) favor the tagging of any molecule or compound onto it, encapsulating them with a biopolymer make them biocompatible and favor slow release of loaded molecules. Recovery of SPIONs is easier as they obey to external magnetic field. In this study, SPIONS were used for mosquito larvicidal activity after surface engineered with oleic acid to favor the tagging of Cyfluthrin (mosquito larvicidal agent), it was then encapsulated with gum polysaccharide derived from Azadirachta indica and Araucaria heterophylla. Every stage of coreshell formation was microscopically and spectroscopically characterized. The coreshell SPIONs produced using Azadirachta indica and Araucaria heterophylla gum derived polysaccharide encapsulation were found to be the size around 80 nm. Thus, prepared coreshell SPIONs was subjected for mosquito larvicidal activity against Culex sp. The coreshell SPIONs was efficiently killing the mosquito larva and its impact was studied by percentage mortality studies.

Preparation, characterization and utilization of coreshell super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for curcumin delivery.

In this study, super paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) were produced by chemical co-precipitation method, then it was constructed to be a core shell nanoparticle by functionalizing with SDS, loading with curcumin and coating with a biopolymer i.e. chitosan. Each step was analyzed microscopically and spectroscopically. The produced coreshell particles were between 40 and 45nm and these coreshell particles were utilized for drug delivery studies against cervical cancer cell line-HeLa cells. The coreshell SPIONs were found to be releasing curcumin in between 6 and 12 h, which was evidenced by increased apoptotic cells and increased caspase 3 expression in HeLa cells.