3D printing processes in precise drug delivery for personalized medicine.

With the advent of personalized medicine, the drug delivery system will be changed significantly. The development of personalized medicine needs the support of many technologies, among which three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology is a novel formulation-preparing process that creates 3D objects by depositing printing materials layer-by-layer based on the computer-aided design method. Compared with traditional pharmaceutical processes, 3DP produces complex drug combinations, personalized dosage, and flexible shape and structure of dosage forms (DFs) on demand. In the future, personalized 3DP drugs may supplement and even replace their traditional counterpart. We systematically introduce the applications of 3DP technologies in the pharmaceutical industry and summarize the virtues and shortcomings of each technique. The release behaviors and control mechanisms of the pharmaceutical DFs with desired structures are also analyzed. Finally, the benefits, challenges, and prospects of 3DP technology to the pharmaceutical industry are discussed.

Inhibition of ferroptosis: A new direction in the treatment of ulcerative colitis by traditional Chinese medicine.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic idiopathic intestinal disease of unknown cause and has been classified as one of the modern intractable diseases by the World Health Organization (WHO). Ferroptosis, as an iron-ion-dependent mode of programmed cell death, is closely related to iron metabolism, lipid peroxidation, and imbalance of the antioxidant system, and plays an important role in the development of UC. In this paper, we will review the regulatory pathways of ferroptosis, the relationship between ferroptosis and the pathogenesis of UC, and the treatment of UC by TCM from the perspective of ferroptosis inhibition, and summarize the mechanism of action of the active ingredients of TCM and TCM compounds to improve UC through ferroptosis inhibition, and look forward to the prospect of the application of ferroptosis inhibition by TCM in the treatment of UC. AIM OF THIS REVIEW: This paper aims to elucidate the mechanism of action of TCM active ingredients and TCM combinations in the treatment of UC by inhibiting ferroptosis. The active ingredients of TCM have the significant advantages of multi-targets and multi-pathways, and ferroptosis is the current research hotspot in the prevention and treatment of UC, so the inhibition of ferroptosis by TCM is a key direction for future research. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The keywords "ferroptosis", "ulcerative colitis" and "TCM" were searched in Pubmed, CNKI, and Wed of Science databases. Papers related to clinical trials and pharmacological research up to August 2023 were screened for inclusion. Combined with the theory of TCM, we systematically summarized the effects of TCM active ingredients and TCM combinations in inhibiting ferroptosis and thus preventing UC. RESULTS: A large number of studies have shown that TCM active ingredients and TCM combinations inhibit the inflammatory response and oxidative stress in the course of UC mainly by interfering with iron metabolism, correcting lipid metabolism and peroxidative accumulation, and regulating the processes of glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), to improve colonic mucosal damage and promote the repair of colonic mucosal tissue. CONCLUSION: Since the study of ferroptosis in UC is still in the exploratory stage, many issues still deserve attention in the future. This paper reviews the mechanism of ferroptosis inhibition by TCM active ingredients and TCM combinations to prevent and treat UC. In the future, we should also further increase the number of clinical experimental studies to explore whether more TCM medicines can play a therapeutic role in UC by inhibiting ferroptosis, and explore more pathways and genes targeting the inhibition of ferroptosis, to seek more TCM therapies for UC. We believe that the use of TCM active ingredients and TCM combinations to regulate ferroptosis is an important direction for future UC prevention and treatment.

HA-Coated PLGA Nanoparticles Loaded with Apigenin for Colon Cancer with High Expression of CD44.

Apigenin (API) possesses excellent antitumor properties but its limited water solubility and low bioavailability restrict its therapeutic impact. Thus, a suitable delivery system is needed to overcome these limitations and improve the therapeutic efficiency. Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a copolymer extensively utilized in drug delivery. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a major extracellular matrix component and can specifically bind to CD44 on colon cancer cells. Herein, we aimed to prepare receptor-selective HA-coated PLGA nanoparticles (HA-PLGA-API-NPs) for colon cancers with high expression of CD44; chitosan (CS) was introduced into the system as an intermediate, simultaneously binding HA and PLGA through electrostatic interaction to facilitate a tighter connection between them. API was encapsulated in PLGA to obtain PLGA-API-NPs, which were then sequentially coated with CS and HA to form HA-PLGA-API-NPs. HA-PLGA-API-NPs had a stronger sustained-release capability. The cellular uptake of HA-PLGA-API-NPs was enhanced in HT-29 cells with high expression of CD44. In vivo, HA-PLGA-API-NPs showed enhanced targeting specificity towards the HT-29 ectopic tumor model in nude mice in comparison with PLGA-API-NPs. Overall, HA-PLGA-API-NPs were an effective drug delivery platform for API in the treatment of colon cancers with high expression of CD44.

Pathological mechanism and targeted drugs of ulcerative colitis: A review.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon with abdominal pain, diarrhea, and mucopurulent stools as the main symptoms. Its incidence is increasing worldwide, and traditional treatments have problems such as immunosuppression and metabolic disorders. In this article, the etiology and pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis are reviewed to clarify the targeted drugs of UC in the latest research. Our aim is to provide more ideas for the clinical treatment and new drug development of UC, mainly by analyzing and sorting out the relevant literature on PubMed, summarizing and finding that it is related to the main genetic, environmental, immune and other factors, and explaining its pathogenesis from the NF-κB pathway, PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, and JAK/STAT signaling pathway, and obtaining anti-TNF-α monoclonal antibodies, integrin antagonists, IL-12/IL-23 antagonists, novel UC-targeted drugs such as JAK inhibitors and SIP receptor agonists. We believe that rational selection of targeted drugs and formulation of the best dosing strategy under the comprehensive consideration of clinical evaluation is the best way to treat UC.

Object recognition in optical camera communication enabled by image restoration.

As an important branch of visible light communication (VLC), optical camera communication (OCC) has received increasing attention recently, owing to its availability and low cost of deployment by re-using cameras as VLC receivers. However, cameras on popular smartphones and/or closed-circuit television systems have their primary function for taking pictures and recognizing objects, where the recorded images with objects are inevitable to be distorted by the coded light under OCC. To this end, we propose and experimentally demonstrate an improved OCC system which is able to achieve data communication and object recognition simultaneously. Basically, we devise an image restoration (IR) scheme to repair the pixels damaged by modulated light during data transmission, and it hence provides better image input to realize object recognition. Moreover, to maintain a reasonable data rate of OCC, we also engineer an object avoidance (OA) scheme to remove the negative effect caused by the object background in OCC frame. Finally, we implement a prototype of the proposed system to verify its performance on object recognition and communication, and experimental results show that the proposed IR can bring an improvement over 37% in terms of object recognition accuracy comparing to the baseline under a data rate of 5 kbps.

Design and Construction of a Metal-Organic Framework as an Efficient Luminescent Sensor for Detecting Antibiotics.

We first design and synthesize a dendritic aromatic 6-carboxyl linker (H6TDCPB), which is successfully assembled with Cd(II) ion to construct a porous metal-organic framework with a raw Cd6 cluster, {[Cd3(TDCPB)·2DMAc]·DMAc·4H2O}n (namely, complex 1). More interestingly, six adjacent linkers are packed together by π-π-stacking interactions to form an amazing six-molecule accumulation in the crystal structure. By virtue of high stability and luminescent properties, the as-synthesized sample not merely owns an excellent detectable ability but also possesses an outstanding selectivity for nitrofurans with remarkable recursitivity.

Effect of α-asarone on ethanol-induced learning and memory impairment in mice and its underlying mechanism.

AIMS: Learning and memory impairment is a common symptom in the early stages of various types of dementia. It is likely to reduce the incidence of dementia with correct intervention. α-Asarone is the main bioactive substance isolated from Acorus tatarinowii Schott and has been proven to improve memory dysfunction; however, at present, the specific underlying mechanism is poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of α-asarone on ethanol-impaired cognitive ability and explore the underlying mechanism in mice. MAIN METHODS: A mouse model of impaired learning and memory was created by ethanol (2.0 g/kg, i.g.). α-Asarone (7.5, 15 or 30 mg/kg, i.p.) was delivered 10 min prior to ethanol administration. The behavioral effect of α-asarone was evaluated using the novel object recognition test. Glutamate (Glu) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) levels in the hippocampus were determined by ELISA, and the protein expression levels of hippocampal GluR2, NMDAR2B, SYNΙ, GLT-1 and CaMKⅡ were detected by western blotting. KEY FINDINGS: Pretreatment with α-asarone significantly improved the behavioral performance, regulated the imbalance of Glu and GABA in the hippocampus and the abnormal expression of related proteins. A possible underlying mechanism is regulation of the calcium signaling cascade to correct functioning of related proteins, and thus, maintain the level of Glu. SIGNIFICANCE: Our results show that the improvement in learning and memory elicited by α-asarone may providing a possible novel candidate for the prevention of learning and memory impairment in the early stages of dementia.