Dutasteride nanoemulsion preparation to inhibit 5-alpha-hair follicle reductase enzymes in the hair follicle; an ex vivo study.

Alopecia is a treatable disorder that usually occurs due to high levels of 5-alpha dihydrotestosterone in hair follicles. To enhance the storage capacity of hair follicles and alleviate the inherent characteristics of dutasteride, 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, a prolonged-release nanocarrier was synthesised, and its influence on rat abdomen's skin was investigated. Results showed the lower ratio of S/Co (higher ethanol concentration) increased the hydrodynamic nanocarriers' particle size due to thermodynamic disturbance and Ostwald ripening. In contrast, an increase in surfactant through a decrease in interfacial tension resulted in smaller nanocarriers of 32.4 nm. Moreover, an increase in viscosity had an inverse correlation with the nanoemulsions' particle size. Nanocarriers containing ethanol showed less entrapment efficacy, perhaps due to the rapid dissolution of dutasteride into ethanol during nanoemulsification, while, based on Stokes' equation, the addition of ethanol resulted in smaller particle size and stability of the system. Skin permeation analysis using Franz diffusion cells showed nanocarriers could pass through the skin and release dutasteride for 6 days. In conclusion, the optimum concentration of ingredients is decisive in guaranteeing the ideal particle size, stability, and skin permeation of nanocarriers. The Present dutasteride nanocarrier would promise a prolonged and sustained-release drug delivery system for Alopecia therapy.

Mechanical Properties of Recycled Aggregate Concretes Containing Silica Fume and Steel Fibres.

In this study, the impact of steel fibres and Silica Fume (SF) on the mechanical properties of recycled aggregate concretes made of two different types of Recycled Coarse Aggregates (RCA) sourced from both low- and high-strength concretes were evaluated through conducting 60 compressive strength tests. The RCAs were used as replacement levels of 50% and 100% of Natural Coarse Aggregates (NCA). Hook-end steel fibres and SF were also used in the mixtures at the optimised replacement levels of 1% and 8%, respectively. The results showed that the addition of both types of RCA adversely affected the compressive strength of concrete. However, the incorporation of SF led to compressive strength development in both types of concretes. The most significant improvement in terms of comparable concrete strength and peak strain with ordinary concrete at 28 days was observed in the case of using a combination of steel fibres and SF in both recycled aggregate concretes, especially with RCA sourced from high strength concrete. Although using SF slightly increased the elastic modulus of both recycled aggregate concretes, a substantial improvement in strength was observed due to the reinforcement with steel fibre and the coexistence of steel fibre and SF. Moreover, existing models to predict the elastic modulus of both non-fibrous and fibrous concretes are found to underestimate the elastic modulus values. The incorporation of SF changed the compressive stress-strain curves for both types of RCA. The addition of steel fibre and SF remarkably improved the post-peak ductility of recycled aggregates concretes of both types, with the most significant improvement observed in the case of RCA sourced from a low-strength parent concrete. The existing model to estimate the compressive stress-strain curve for steel fibre-reinforced concrete with natural aggregates was found to reasonably predict the compressive stress-strain behaviour for steel fibres-reinforced concrete with recycled aggregate.

Anti-inflammatory ethosomal nanoformulation in combination with iontophoresis in chronic wound healing: An ex vivo study.

Prescription of anti-inflammatory drugs may be considered as a promising strategy in chronic wound healing where the inflammatory disturbance has delayed the healing process. It seems that hydrocortisone 17-butyrate (HB17) would be promising in the form of a nano-formulation to enhance drug delivery efficacy. In the present study, transdermal delivery of nano-HB17 in combination with iontophoresis was investigated ex vivo. Ethosomal-HB17 was synthesised using lecithin, ethanol and cholesterol with a different ratio by hot method. The negative ethosomal-HB17 particle size was around 244 ± 4.3 nm with high stability of up to 30 days. Additionally, evaluated entrapment efficiency of HB17 in ethosomes by high performance liquid chromatography was 40.6 ± 2.21%. Moreover, the permeation speed and amount of H17B in complete-thickness rat skin in the presence and absence of iontophoresis showed that the penetration of free H17B and ethosomal-H17B formulations were zero and 7.98 µg/cm2 in 120 min, respectively. Whereas in the case of applying iontophoresis, permeation amount obtained was zero and 19.69 µg/cm2 in 30 min in free H17B and ethosomal-H17B formulations, respectively. It has been concluded that transdermal delivery of ethosomal-H17B is an effective strategy to enhance drug delivery and it will be improved when it is combined with iontophoresis.

A combination therapy of nanoethosomal piroxicam formulation along with iontophoresis as an anti-inflammatory transdermal delivery system for wound healing.

Inflammation accounts as one of the major phases in wound healing, while prolonged and chronic inflammation may lead to adverse pathological conditions. Therefore, transdermal delivery of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) such as encapsulated piroxicam into a nanocarrier seems to be promising. For the first time, a nanoethosomal piroxicam of <200 nm was prepared and combined with iontophoresis. Results showed that there was a critical point at the concentration of 5 mg lecithin with the smallest particle size. Besides, lecithin concentration had direct and inverse linear relationships with turbidity and pH of nanocarriers, respectively. Moreover, as there was no linear relationship between the lecithin concentration and particle size, the effect of lecithin concentration was dominant on turbidity compared with particle size. It seems that a pH higher than 5.5 disturbed the linear relationship of pH and entrapment efficacy percentage (EE%) while at the pH range of 4 to 5.5, the relationship was linear and EE% gradually decreased with increasing pH. These data showed that an optimised nanocarrier with special physicochemical properties is dominant to the just particle size. Besides, ex vivo permeation studies in rat skin showed that there was no significant difference between the permeation of free drug and ethosomal ones. However, iontophoresis significantly enhanced ethosomal piroxicam permeation compared with the free drug. Overall, these data emphasise the superiority of iontophoresis for the transdermal delivery of nanoethosomal medications while nanoethosomal delivery without iontophoresis did not show significant transdermal potential. To sum up, transdermal nanoethosomal piroxicam along with iontophoresis seems to be promising in wound healing.

Fractional CO2 laser treatment for post-surgical lip scars in cleft lip and palate patients.

Post-surgical scars of cleft lip patients can lead to abnormal lip activity, which causes deficient maxillary growth. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of laser therapy on the appearance and electrical activity of the upper lip in cleft lip and palate patients. Twelve patients with cleft lip and palate participated in this study. All patients had surgically repaired the cleft lip at the age of about 3-6 months. The lip scars underwent five fractional CO2 laser treatment sessions with a 4-week interval. Improvement of the quality of the skin texture was recorded according to quartile grading scale based on photographs taken before and 1 month after treatment. Patients' satisfaction survey was also recorded using Patient Scar Assessment Questionnaire (PSAQ) before and after laser therapy. Moreover, the EMG activity of the upper lip muscle was measured before and after treatment. According to dermatologists, the improvement of scar appearance ranged from 0.5 to 3, with a mean of 1.29 ± 0.86. Mean scores of the scar appearance (p < 0.001), symptoms (p = 0.003), and scar consciousness (p < 0.001) subscales of the PSAQ questionnaire had significantly increased after treatment. The EMG recording of the upper lip had decreased significantly after laser treatment at rest (p = 0.009) and maximum lip compression (p = 0.007). The fractional CO2 laser is an effective method for treating old scars of the cleft lip with a significant change in the opinion of patients about their scar appearance. Also, the therapy can help to reduce the EMG activity of the upper lip at rest.

The effects of unripe grape extract on systemic blood pressure and serum levels of superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde and nitric oxide in rat.

BACKGROUNDS: The new lifestyle increases the incidence of hypertension. In Iranian folk medicine, it is believed that Verjuice obtained by unripe grape (Vitis vinifera) could control blood pressure. We tested the effects of unripe grape extract (UGE) in blood pressure alteration, serum antioxidant level and aorta endothelial permeability in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four groups of rats were treated daily by placebo and three different doses of UGE (50, 150 and 300 mg/kg/day). Four weeks later, the animals were anesthetized and catheterized. The direct mean arterial, systolic and diastolic pressures (MAP, SP and DP) were recorded. The endothelial permeability was determined and the serum levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), malonaldialdehyde (MDA) and nitrite were measured. RESULTS: High dose of UGE increased MAP and SP significantly (P < 0.05) when compared with the control group. Decrease of MDA and increase of SOD and nitrite also were detected statistically in animals treated with high dose of UGE (P < 0.05). No difference in aorta endothelial permeability was observed between the groups. CONCLUSION: The effect of UGE on blood pressure was dose dependent. High dose of UGE increased MAP and SP although its antioxidant activity was significantly high. Such observation mechanisms need to be defined.

A new fast nonlinear modeling of soft tissue for surgical simulation.

In this paper, soft tissue is modeled by a mass-spring-damper system and tissue deformations under the compression of surgical instruments are simulated. For this purpose, soft tissue confined in a cubic plastic mold is studied using a nonlinear viscoelastic model. Displacements resulting from probe insertions are measured and modeled for use in robotic surgery. Data is collected on bovine sirloin using the Instron hardness tester. The model's dynamic equations are obtained in the form of ordinary differential equations. The external force is considered as the input and the resulting deformation as the output of the model. Simulation results are compared with laboratory findings, and the nonlinear model's unknown parameters are estimated. The threshold force and displacement before the tearing of the soft tissue are respectively determined by analyzing the force-time and displacement-time diagrams obtained for the test samples.

Synthesis, spectroscopic and thermal studies of some IIB group complexes with a new N2-Schiff base ligand.

Synthesis, spectroscopic and thermal studies of some complexes of a new N(2)-Schiff base ligand of N(1),N(2)-bis((E)-2-methyl-3-phenylallylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine (L) with a general formula of MLX(2) (M = Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II); X = Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), SCN(-) and N(3)(-)) are described. The ligand and its complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance, UV-vis spectra, FT-IR spectra, MS, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR spectra. The conductivity measurement as well as spectral data indicated that the complexes are non-electrolyte. (1)H and (13)C NMR spectra have been studied in DMSO-d(6) and/or CDCl(3). The thermal behavior of the complexes shows weight loss by decomposition of the anions and ligand segments in the subsequent steps. Activation thermodynamic parameters of decomposition such as E*, ΔH*, ΔS* and ΔG* were calculated from TG curves.