Amygdalin/chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol/cerium-tannic acid hydrogel as biodegradable long-time implant for cancer recurrence care applications: An in vitro study.

Cancer recurrence following surgery is a serious and worrying problem for the patient. Common treatment strategies, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery, are restricted because of low uptake of the drugs, poor pharmacokinetic properties, and toxicity issues for healthy tissues. The development of engineering platforms for improving the postoperative treatment of cancer can help solve this problem. In this study, the ceria-tannic acid nanoparticles (CeTA-NPs) were successfully synthesized and characterized. Chitosan-polyvinyl/alcohol (CS-PVA) hydrogels containing CeTA NPs (CS-PVA/CeTA) and amygdalin as an anticancer substance were fabricated using freeze-thaw and immersion-drying techniques. The swelling and degradation behaviors, antibacterial activity, and biocompatibility of as-prepared hydrogel were done. The apoptotic effects of amygdalin/CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogel were evaluated by flow cytometry technique on a human colorectal cancer (SW-480) cell line. The CeTA-NPs were investigated as antibacterial and cross-linker agents for greater stability of the hydrogel network. The CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogel demonstrated good safety and antibacterial activity. The results of swelling and biodegradation suggest that CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogels can inspire long-time application. The anticancer effects of the amygdalin/CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogel were confirmed by apoptosis results. Hence, amygdalin/CS-PVA/CeTA hydrogel can be a promising candidate for long-time biomedical application.

Anti-plasmodial effects of quinine-loaded magnetic nanocomposite coated with heparin.

The application of nano-based materials in intelligent, innovative drug delivery systems (SDDS) is developing rapidly to treat infectious diseases like malaria. In the present study, magnetite (Fe3O4) nanocomposite coated with heparin (Hep) was designed to deliver quinine (Q) for anti-plasmodial purposes. The MTT assay, Artemia salina lethality, and hemolysis test were adopted to evaluate the nanocomposite's cytotoxicity, biotoxicity, and biocompatibility. The cumulative drug release profile revealed that this Q-loaded nanocomposite could accelerate the release of its payload in an acidic condition (pH 5.4), which mimics the digestive vacuole (DV) of the parasite. The in vivo anti-plasmodial activity indicated that the Q-loaded nanocomposite exhibited great anti-plasmodial activity than free quinine. The experimental results showed that the presence of heparin on the surface of the nanocomposite could significantly reduce cytotoxicity, biotoxicity, and acute toxicity. Besides, SEM, TEM, and HRTEM images indicated that nonstabilized Fe3O4 particles have significant aggregation, but the presence of heparin can play a role as a stabilizing agent. These biocompatible, nontoxic nanocomposites offer great potential for anti-plasmodial drug delivery.