ABSTRACT
Highly effective and minimally toxic antimicrobial agents have been prepared by immobilizing glucose oxidase (GOx) onto biocompatible chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs). CS-NPs were prepared via ionotropic gelation and used for the immobilization of GOx via approaches of covalent attachment (CA), enzyme coating (EC), enzyme precipitate coating (EPC), and magnetic nanoparticle-incorporated EPC (Mag-EPC). EPC represents an approach consisting of enzyme covalent attachment, precipitation, and cross-linking, with CA and EC being control samples while Mag-EPC was prepared by mixing magnetic nanoparticles (Mag) with enzymes during the preparation of EPC. The GOx activities of CA, EC, EPC, and Mag-EPC were 8.57, 17.7, 219, and 247 units/mg CS-NPs, respectively, representing 26 and 12 times higher activity of EPC than those of CA and EC, respectively. EPC improved the activity and stability of GOx and led to good dispersion of CS-NPs, while Mag-EPC enabled facile magnetic separation. To demonstrate the expandability of the EPC approach to other enzymes, bovine carbonic anhydrase was also employed to prepare EPC and Mag-EPC samples for their characterizations. In the presence of glucose, EPC of GOx generated H2O2 in situ, which effectively inhibited the proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus in both suspended cultures and biofilms, thereby demonstrating the potential of EPC-GOx as environmentally friendly and highly effective antimicrobial materials.
Subject(s)
Anti-Infective Agents , Chitosan , Enzymes, Immobilized , Glucose Oxidase , Magnetite Nanoparticles/chemistry , Staphylococcus aureus/growth & development , Anti-Infective Agents/chemistry , Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology , Chitosan/chemistry , Chitosan/pharmacology , Enzymes, Immobilized/chemistry , Enzymes, Immobilized/pharmacology , Glucose Oxidase/chemistry , Glucose Oxidase/pharmacologyABSTRACT
[Purpose] The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of a standard transfer exercise program on the transfer quality and activities of daily living (ADL) in wheelchair-dependent spinal cord injury patients. [Subjects and Methods] We randomly divided 22 patients into 2 groups. During the intervention period, one group received treatment with both conventional physical therapy and a standard sitting pivot transfer exercise program (experimental group, n=12) and the other group was managed solely with conventional physical therapy (control group, n=10). The standard transfer exercise program comprised of an independent and a dependent program. Exercises were conducted 30 minutes daily, 3 times per week, over a period of 6 weeks. All subjects were tested using a transfer assessment instrument (TAI) and spinal cord independence measure (SCIM) before and after the intervention. [Results] Compared to the control group, the intervention group scored higher on both the transfer assessment instrument (TAI Part 1, Part 2, TAI total score) and spinal cord independence measure tests (SCIM mobility room and toilet score; SCIM total score). [Conclusion] In conclusion, the standard transfer exercise program is an effective tool which improves transfer quality and the ability of wheelchair-dependent spinal cord injury patients to carry out their ADLs.
