Biochemical characterization of blood plasma of coronary artery disease patients by in vitro high-resolution proton NMR spectroscopy.

This study aimed to investigate the biochemical profile of blood plasma of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and angiographically normal subjects (controls) to determine biomarkers for their differentiation. In this double blind study, 5 mL venous blood was drawn before angiography from CAD patients (n=60) and controls (n=13) comprising angiography normal individuals. In vitro high-resolution NMR spectroscopy of these blood plasma samples was carried out at 400 MHz, and intensity data were analysed with partial least square discriminant analysis. Categorization of subjects as controls or CAD patients and the patients further as single vessel disease (SVD), double vessel disease (DVD) and triple vessel disease (TVD) was done at the end of the study based on their angiography reports. Raised levels of lipids, alanine (Ala) and isoleucine/leucine/valine (Ile/Leu/Val) were observed in CAD patients compared with controls. Partial least square discriminant analysis showed separation between controls vs CAD patients. TVD patients showed increased levels of Ile/Leu/Val and Ala compared with controls and SVD. Alanine, Ile/Leu/Val, and LDL/VLDL appear as possible biomarkers for distinguishing between controls and patients with SVD and TVD. A metabolic adaptation of myocardium may play a role in raising the Ala level.

Engineered multifunctional nanomaterials for multimodal imaging of retinoblastoma cells in vitro.

Multifunctional nanoparticles are next generation materials that can be simultaneously used for imaging, diagnosis, and delivery of drugs. However, materials intended for cancer diagnosis need to be investigated for its cell uptake, toxicity, and effectiveness. In the current work, we have synthesized fluorescent iron oxide nanoparticles and evaluated its efficacy against retinoblastoma cell imaging. The iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized and stabilized using oleic acid. Sulforhodamine B was adsorbed onto albumin over the oleic acid-capped iron oxide nanoparticles. Our results demonstrated good cell uptake in a time-dependent manner and nanoparticles were found to localize in the cytosol. Further, the nanoparticles exhibited excellent negative contrast in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) experiments and with no cytoxicity (5-100 µg/mL iron oxide nanoparticles) to both normal as well as cancer cells demonstrating its biocompatibility. Thus, this novel material integrates the ability to image tissues with high sensitivity by MRI and specifically visualize Y79 retinoblastoma cells by fluorescence imaging with no toxicity.