Crystallinity and lattice vacancies of different mesoporous g-C3N4 for photodegradation of tetracycline and its cytotoxic implication.

Tetracycline (TC) antibiotic removal from water bodies is important to provide clean water and sanitation. Mesoporous graphitic carbon nitride (GCN) photocatalyst derived from three different types of precursors manages to remove TC effectively under visible light irradiation. Among urea, thiourea, and melamine precursors, melamine-prepared GCN (MGCN) via thermal polymerization has the highest efficiency to photodegrade tetracycline (TC) antibiotics up to 99.5% (0.0122 min-1) within 240 min. The COD for TC removal by using MGCN was up to 77.5% after 240 min of degradation. This is due to the slow charge recombination and rapid charge carrier migration. The MGCN encounters different properties such as high crystallinity, dense structure allowing fast charges migration, and nitrogen vacancies that create a defect state that suppresses charge recombination. It was found that the conduction band (CB) of MGCN was located at a more negative position (ECB = -0.33 V) than (O2/O2•-) and the valence band (VB) was placed at a more positive position (EVB = 2.30 V) than (H2O/OH•), which allows generation of both radicals for photodegradation. Based on the cell viability test, the photodegraded TC in the water how non-toxicity toward Balb/c 3T3 cells after being irradiated (λ > 420 nm) for 240 min under visible light. The MGCN prepared in this study demonstrated the highest effectiveness and recyclable photocatalyst for the removal of TC among all GCNs.

Biochemical studies of Piper betle L leaf extract on obese treated animal using 1H-NMR-based metabolomic approach of blood serum samples.

Piper betle L. (PB) belongs to the Piperaceae family. The presence of a fairly large quantity of diastase in the betel leaf is deemed to play an important role in starch digestion and calls for the study of weight loss activities and metabolite profile from PB leaf extracts using metabolomics approach to be performed. PB dried leaves were extracted with 70% ethanol and the extracts were subjected to five groups of rats fed with high fat (HF) and standard diet (SD). They were then fed with the extracts in two doses and compared with a negative control group given water only according to the study protocol. The body weights and food intakes were monitored every week. At the end of the study, blood serum of the experimental animal was analysed to determine the biochemical and metabolite changes. PB treated group demonstrated inhibition of body weight gain without showing an effect on the food intake. In serum bioassay, the PB treated group (HF/PB (100mg/kg and 500mg/kg) showed an increased in glucose and cholesterol levels compared to the Standard Diet (SD/WTR) group, a decrease in LDL level and increase in HDL level when compared with High Fat Diet (HF/WTR) group. For metabolite analysis, two separation models were made to determine the metabolite changes via group activities. The best separation of PCA serum in Model 1 and 2 was achieved in principle component 1 and principle component 2. SUS-Plot model showed that HF group was characterized by high-level of glucose, glycine and alanine. Increase in the ß-hydroxybutyrate level similar with SD group animals was evident in the HF/PB(500mg/kg) group. This finding suggested that the administration of 500mg/kg PB extracts leads to increase in oxidation process in the body thus maintaining the body weight and without giving an effect on the appetite even though HF was continuously consumed by the animals until the end of the studies and also a reduction in food intake, thus maintaining their body weight although they were continuously consumed HF.

Cell therapy: the final frontier for treatment of neurological diseases.

Neurodegenerative diseases are devastating because they cause increasing loss of cognitive and physical functions and affect an estimated 1 billion individuals worldwide. Unfortunately, no drugs are currently available to halt their progression, except a few that are largely inadequate. This mandates the search of new treatments for these progressively degenerative diseases. Neural stem cells (NSCs) have been successfully isolated, propagated, and characterized from the adult brains of mammals, including humans. The confirmation that neurogenesis occurs in the adult brain via NSCs opens up fresh avenues for treating neurological problems. The proof-of-concept studies demonstrating the neural differentiation capacity of stem cells both in vitro and in vivo have raised widespread enthusiasm toward cell-based interventions. It is anticipated that cell-based neurogenic drugs may reverse or compensate for deficits associated with neurological diseases. The increasing interest of the private sector in using human stem cells in therapeutics is evidenced by launching of several collaborative clinical research activities between Pharma giants and research institutions or small start-up companies. In this review, we discuss the major developments that have taken place in this field to position stem cells as a prospective candidate drug for the treatment of neurological disorders.

Impact of passing mesenchymal stem cells through smaller bore size needles for subsequent use in patients for clinical or cosmetic indications.

BACKGROUND: Numerous preclinical and clinical studies have investigated the regenerative potential and the trophic support of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) following their injection into a target organ. Clinicians favor the use of smallest bore needles possible for delivering MSCs into vascular organs like heart, liver and spleen. There has been a concern that small needle bore sizes may be detrimental to the health of these cells and reduce the survival and plasticity of MSCs. METHODS: In this report, we aimed to investigate the smallest possible bore size needle which would support the safe delivery of MSCs into various tissues for different clinical or cosmetic applications. To accomplish this we injected cells via needle sizes 24, 25 and 26 G attached to 1 ml syringe in the laboratory and collected the cells aseptically. Control cells were ejected via 1 ml syringe without any needle. Thereafter, the needle ejected cells were cultured and characterized for their morphology, attachment, viability, phenotypic expression, differentiation potential, cryopreservation and in vivo migration abilities. In the second phase of the study, cells were injected via 26 G needle attached to 1 ml syringe for 10 times. RESULTS: Similar phenotypic and functional characteristics were observed between ejected and control group of cells. MSCs maintained their cellular and functional properties after single and multiple injections. CONCLUSIONS: This study proves that 26 G bore size needles can be safely used to inject MSCs for clinical/therapeutics purposes.