ABSTRACT
Scientific evidence exists about the association between neurological diseases (i.e., Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, depression, and memory loss) and oxidative damage. The increasing worldwide incidence of such diseases is attracting the attention of researchers to find palliative medications to reduce the symptoms and promote quality of life, in particular, in developing countries, e.g., South America and Africa. Among potential alternatives, extracts of Cannabis Sativa L. are suitable for people who have neurological disorders, spasticity, and pain, nausea, resulting from diseases such as cancer and arthritis. In this review, we discuss the latest developments in the use of Cannabis, its subtypes and constituents, extraction methods, and relevant pharmacological effects. Biomedical applications, marketed products, and prospects for the worldwide use of Cannabis Sativa L. extracts are also discussed, providing the bibliometric maps of scientific literature published in representative countries from South America (i.e., Brazil) and Africa (i.e., South Africa). A lack of evidence on the effectiveness and safety of Cannabis, besides the concerns about addiction and other adverse events, has led many countries to act with caution before changing Cannabis-related regulations. Recent findings are expected to increase the social acceptance of Cannabis, while new technologies seem to boost the global cannabis market because the benefits of (-)-trans-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) use have been proven in several studies in addition to the potential to general new employment.
ABSTRACT
Wounds result from different causes (e.g., trauma, surgeries, and diabetic ulcers), requiring even extended periods of intensive care for healing, according to the patient's organism and treatment. Currently, wound dressings generated by polymeric fibers at micro and nanometric scales are promising for healing the injured area. They offer great surface area and porosity, mimicking the fibrous extracellular matrix structure, facilitating cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation, and accelerating the wound healing process. Such properties resulted in countless applications of these materials in biomedical and tissue engineering, also as drug delivery systems for bioactive molecules to help tissue regeneration. The techniques used to engineer these fibers include spinning methods (electro-, rotary jet-), airbrushing, and 3D printing. These techniques have important advantages, such as easy-handle procedure and process parameters variability (type of polymer), but encounter some scalability problems. RJS is described as a simple and low-cost technique resulting in high efficiency and yield for fiber production, also capable of bioactive agents' incorporation to improve the healing potential of RJS wound dressings. This review addresses the use of RJS to produce polymeric fibers, describing the concept, type of configuration, comparison to other spinning techniques, most commonly used polymers, and the relevant parameters that influence the manufacture of the fibers, for the ultimate use in the development of wound dressings.
