Aluminium stress tolerance by Citrus plants: a consolidated review.

Aluminium, a metallic element abundant in soils as aluminosilicates minerals, poses a toxic threat to plants, particularly in acidic soil conditions, thereby affecting their growth and development. Given their adaptability to diverse soil and climate conditions, Citrus plants have gained significant attention regarding their tolerance to Aluminium toxicity. In the North-eastern region of India, where soils are often slightly acidic with elevated aluminium levels, Citrus species are predominantly found. Understanding the tolerance mechanisms of these Citrus fruits and screening wild Citrus species for their adaptability to abiotic stresses is crucial for enhancing fruit production. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that Citrus species exhibit remarkable tolerance to aluminium contamination, surpassing the typical threshold of 30% incidence. When cultivated in acidic soils, Citrus plants encounter restricted root growth and reduced nutrient and moisture uptake, leading to various nutrient deficiency symptoms. However, promisingly, certain Citrus species such as Citrus jambhiri (Rough lemon), Poncirus trifoliata, Citrus sinensis, and Citrus grandis have shown considerable aluminium tolerance. This comprehensive review delves into the subject of aluminium toxicity and its implications, while also shedding light on the mechanisms through which Citrus plants develop tolerance to this element.

Conventional and nanotechnology based sensors for creatinine (A kidney biomarker) detection: A consolidated review.

There is an increasing demand for developing the novel methods for the detection of clinically important metabolites. One among those metabolites is creatinine (2-amino-1-methyl-5H-imidazol-4-one), a waste product, produced by the catabolism of phosphocreatine from muscle and protein metabolism. It is very important to measure the creatinine level in human blood and urine as it reflects the muscular and thyroid functions. Importantly, the elevated level of creatinine is considered to be as impairment of the kidney. There are numerous methods existed to measure the concentration of creatinine in blood and urine. In this review, we consolidated the different conventional methods (chromatography, spectroscopy, immune sensor and enzyme-based detections) and their shortcomings. On other hand, we also dissertated the various nanomaterials (chemiluminescence, voltametric, amperometric, conductometric, potentiometric, impedimetric and nano polymer) based creatinine detection methods and their advantages. Finally, we also focussed on the point-of-care detection methods of creatinine determination. This review can conclude the low cost, more efficient and reliable nanotechnology-based new sensors for the detection of creatinine.

Insight from nanomaterials and nanotechnology towards COVID-19.

The pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) becomes one of the most dreadful disease in the history of mankind in the entire world. The covid-19 outbreak started from Wuhan city of China and then rapidly transmitted throughout the world causing mass destruction and seldom. This sporadical disease has taken many lives due to sudden outbreak and no particular vaccines were available at the early wave. All the vaccines developed are mostly targeted to spike protein of the virus which involves the encapsulation of mRNA and nanoparticles. Nanotechnology intervention in fighting against the covid-19 is one way to tackle the disease from different angles including nano coating mask, nano diagnostic kits, nano sanitizer, and nano medicine. This article highlights the intervention of nanotechnology and its possible treatment against the covid-19. It is high time to come together all the units of material science and biological science to fight against the dreadful COVID-19. As an alternative strategy, a multidisciplinary research effort, consisting of classical epidemiology and clinical methodologies, drugs and nanotechnology, engineering science and biological apprehension, can be adopted for developing improved drugs exhibiting antiviral activities. The employment of nanotechnology and its allied fields can be explored to detect, treat, and prevent the covid-19 disease.

Paclitaxel: Application in Modern Oncology and Nanomedicine-Based Cancer Therapy.

Paclitaxel is a broad-spectrum anticancer compound, which was derived mainly from a medicinal plant, in particular, from the bark of the yew tree Taxus brevifolia Nutt. It is a representative of a class of diterpene taxanes, which are nowadays used as the most common chemotherapeutic agent against many forms of cancer. It possesses scientifically proven anticancer activity against, e.g., ovarian, lung, and breast cancers. The application of this compound is difficult because of limited solubility, recrystalization upon dilution, and cosolvent-induced toxicity. In these cases, nanotechnology and nanoparticles provide certain advantages such as increased drug half-life, lowered toxicity, and specific and selective delivery over free drugs. Nanodrugs possess the capability to buildup in the tissue which might be linked to enhanced permeability and retention as well as enhanced antitumour influence possessing minimal toxicity in normal tissues. This article presents information about paclitaxel, its chemical structure, formulations, mechanism of action, and toxicity. Attention is drawn on nanotechnology, the usefulness of nanoparticles containing paclitaxel, its opportunities, and also future perspective. This review article is aimed at summarizing the current state of continuous pharmaceutical development and employment of nanotechnology in the enhancement of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic features of paclitaxel as a chemotherapeutic agent.

Therapeutic Applications of Curcumin Nanomedicine Formulations in Cardiovascular Diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) compromises a group of heart and blood vessels disorders with high impact on human health and wellbeing. Curcumin (CUR) have demonstrated beneficial effects on these group of diseases that represent a global burden with a prevalence that continues increasing progressively. Pre- and clinical studies have demonstrated the CUR effects in CVD through its anti-hypercholesterolemic and anti-atherosclerotic effects and its protective properties against cardiac ischemia and reperfusion. However, the CUR therapeutic limitation is its bioavailability. New CUR nanomedicine formulations are developed to solve this problem. The present article aims to discuss different studies and approaches looking into the promising role of nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems to deliver CUR and its derivatives in CVD treatment, with an emphasis on their formulation properties, experimental evidence, bioactivity, as well as challenges and opportunities in developing these systems.

Cordyceps spp.: A Review on Its Immune-Stimulatory and Other Biological Potentials.

In recent decades, interest in the Cordyceps genus has amplified due to its immunostimulatory potential. Cordyceps species, its extracts, and bioactive constituents have been related with cytokine production such as interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, phagocytosis stimulation of immune cells, nitric oxide production by increasing inducible nitric oxide synthase activity, and stimulation of inflammatory response via mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Other pharmacological activities like antioxidant, anti-cancer, antihyperlipidemic, anti-diabetic, anti-fatigue, anti-aging, hypocholesterolemic, hypotensive, vasorelaxation, anti-depressant, aphrodisiac, and kidney protection, has been reported in pre-clinical studies. These biological activities are correlated with the bioactive compounds present in Cordyceps including nucleosides, sterols, flavonoids, cyclic peptides, phenolic, bioxanthracenes, polyketides, and alkaloids, being the cyclic peptides compounds the most studied. An organized review of the existing literature was executed by surveying several databanks like PubMed, Scopus, etc. using keywords like Cordyceps, cordycepin, immune system, immunostimulation, immunomodulatory, pharmacology, anti-cancer, anti-viral, clinical trials, ethnomedicine, pharmacology, phytochemical analysis, and different species names. This review collects and analyzes state-of-the-art about the properties of Cordyceps species along with ethnopharmacological properties, application in food, chemical compounds, extraction of bioactive compounds, and various pharmacological properties with a special focus on the stimulatory properties of immunity.