Potential therapeutic effect of medium chain triglyceride oil in ameliorating diabetic liver injury in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic murine model.

OBJECTIVE: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most commonly arising endocrine conditions. The disorder gives rise to enduring damage to a number of body tissues and viscera as a result of related macrovascular and microvascular complications. In patients who are unable to maintain their nutritional status independently, medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil is frequently added as a supplement to parenteral nutrition. The aim of the present research is to establish whether MCT oil has a therapeutic influence on the hepatic damage occurring in male albino rats as a result of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 24 male albino rats were randomized into four cohorts, i.e., controls, STZ-diabetic, metformin-treated and MCT oil-treated. The rodents were fed a high-fat diet for 14 days; a low dose of intraperitoneal STZ was then administered in order to induce diabetes. The rats were subsequently treated for 4 weeks with metformin or MCT oil. Analysis included an appraisal of liver histology and biochemical indices, i.e., fasting blood glucose (FBG), hepatic enzymes and glutathione (GSH), the latter obtained from hepatic tissue homogenate. RESULTS: A rise in FBG and hepatic enzymes was observed, but in the STZ-diabetic cohort, hepatic GSH levels were diminished. Treatment with either metformin or MCT oil led to a decline in FBG and hepatic enzyme titers whereas GSH concentrations increased. Liver histology findings were notable amongst rodents within control, STZ-diabetic and metformin-treated groups. The majority of histological changes were resolved following therapy with MCT oil. CONCLUSIONS: The anti-diabetic and antioxidant characteristics of MCT oil have been substantiated by this work. MCT oil led to a reversal of the hepatic histological changes seen in STZ-induced diabetes in rats.

Ginger Loaded Polyethylene Oxide Electrospun Nanomembrane: Rheological and Antimicrobial Attributes.

Synthetic antibiotics have captured the market in recent years, but the side effects of these products are life-threatening. In recent times, researchers have focused their research on natural-based products such as natural herbal oils, which are eco-friendly, biocompatible, biodegradable, and antibacterial. In this study, polyethylene oxide (PEO) and aqueous ginger extract (GE) were electrospun to produce novel antibacterial nanomembrane sheets as a function of PEO and GE concentrations. A GE average particle size of 91.16 nm was achieved with an extensive filtration process, inferring their incorporation in the PEO nanofibres. The presence of the GE was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) through peaks of phenol and aromatic groups. The viscoelastic properties of PEO/GE solutions were analysed in terms of PEO and GE concentrations. Increasing PEO and GE concentrations increased the solution's viscosity. The dynamic viscosity of 3% was not changed with increasing shear rate, indicating Newtonian fluid behaviour. The dynamic viscosity of 4 and 5 wt% PEO/GE solutions containing 10% GE increased exponentially compared to 3 wt%. In addition, the shear thinning behaviour was observed over a frequency range of 0.05 to 100 rad/s. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) analysis also specified an increase in the nanofibre's diameter with increasing PEO concentration, while SEM images displayed smooth morphology with beadless nanofibres at different PEO/GE concentrations. In addition, PEO/GE nanomembranes inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, as presented by qualitative antibacterial results. The extent of PEO/GE nanomembrane's antibacterial activity was further investigated by the agar dilution method, which inhibited the 98.79% Staphylococcus aureus population at 30% GE concentration.

Electrospun Nanofiber/Textile Supported Composite Membranes with Improved Mechanical Performance for Biomedical Applications.

Textile-supported nanocomposite as a scaffold has been extensively used in the medical field, mainly to give support to weak or harmed tissues. However, there are some challenges in fabricating the nanofiber/textile composite, i.e., suitable porous structure with defined pore size, less skin contact area, biocompatibility, and availability of degradable materials. Herein, polyamide-6 (PA) nanofibers were synthesized using needleless electrospinning with the toothed wheel as a spinneret. The electrospinning process was optimized using different process and solution parameters. In the next phase, optimized PA nanofiber membranes of optimum fiber diameter with uniform distribution and thickness were used in making nanofiber membrane-textile composite. Different textile fabrics (woven, non-woven, knitted) were developed. The optimized nanofiber membranes were combined with non-woven, woven, and knitted fabrics to make fabric-supported nanocomposite. The nanofiber/fabric composites were compared with available market woven and knitted meshes for mechanical properties, morphology, structure, and chemical interaction analysis. It was found that the tear strength of the nanofiber/woven composite was three times higher than market woven mesh, and the nanofiber/knitted composite was 2.5 times higher than market knitted mesh. The developed composite structures with woven and knitted fabric exhibited improved bursting strength (613.1 and 751.1 Kpa), tensile strength (195.76 and 227.85 N), and puncture resistance (68.76 and 57.47 N), respectively, than market available meshes. All these properties showed that PA nanofibers/textile structures could be utilized as a composite with multifunctional properties.

Au nanoparticles decorated polypyrrole-carbon black/g-C3N4 nanocomposite as ultrafast and efficient visible light photocatalyst.

Modification and bandgap engineering are proposed to be extremely significant in improving the photocatalytic activity of novel photocatalysts. The current research focused on the fabrication of ultrafast and efficient visible light-responsive ternary photocatalyst containing g-C3N4 nanostructures in conjugation with polypyrrole doped carbon black (PPy-C) and gold (Au) nanoparticles by highly effectual, simple, and straightforward methodology. Various analytical techniques like XRD, FESEM, TEM, XPS, FTIR, and UV-Vis spectroscopy were applied for characterization purposes. The XRD and XPS results confirmed the successful creation of a nanocomposite framework among Au, PPy-C and g-C3N4. The TEM images revealed that bare g-C3N4 holds sheets or layered graphitic structure with sizes ranging from 100 to 300 nm. The sponge-like PPy-C network intermingled perfectly with g-C3N4 sheets along with homogeneously distributed 5-15 nm Au nanoparticles. The band gap energy (Eg) for bare g-C3N4, PPy-C/g-C3N4 and Au@PPy-C/g-C3N4 nanocomposites were found to be 2.74, 2.68, and 2.60 eV, respectively. The photocatalytic activity for all newly designed photocatalysts have been assessed during the degradation of insecticide Imidacloprid and methylene blue (MB) dye, where Au@PPy-C/C3N4 was found to be extremely efficient with ultrafast removal of both imidacloprid and MB in just 25 min of visible light irradiation. It was revealed that the Au@PPy-C/g-C3N4 ternary photocatalyst removed 96.0% of target analyte imidacloprid, which is ⁓ 2.91 times more efficient than bare g-C3N4 in treating imidacloprid. This report provides a distinctly promising, highly effectual and straightforward route to destruct extremely toxic and notorious pollutants and opens a new gateway in the present challenging scenario of environmental concerns.