Women rag pickers at a dump in Ahmedabad: Genotoxicity and oxidative stress.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) generated in Ahmedabad, India, and the surrounding area is dumped at the Pirana site; rag pickers collect materials for re-sale. We have compared genotoxicity and oxidative stress in samples from women rag pickers working at this site, with women involved only in door-to-door waste picking (in residential areas near the university campus) as "controls". The buccal Cytokinesis-Block Micronucleus (CBMN) assay showed significantly higher frequencies of Micronucleus (MN), Nucleoplasmic Bridges (NPB), and Nuclear Buds (NB) in the rag pickers than in the "controls". The buccal Micronuclei Cytome (BMCyt) assay showed significantly higher prevalence of nuclear anomalies, such as micronucleus, karyorrhexis, karyolytic cells, and nuclear buds. Blood samples from the rag pickers showed lower levels of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase), lower total serum protein concentrations, and greater lipid peroxidation compared to the "control" group. Exposure to hazardous solid waste may lead to increased oxidative damage and genotoxicity; improved safety procedures and the use of personal protective equipment are recommended.

Development and Characterization of Ultrasound Activated Lipopolyplexes for Enhanced Transfection by Low Frequency Ultrasound in In Vitro Tumor Model.

This work focuses on the development of ultrasound contrast vesicles for ultrasound-mediated enhanced transfection of nucleic acids in the cancer cells and projects its application as a tool for diagnostic imaging. The ultrasound contrast vesicles are stable, anionic, nanoscaled vesicles with ultrasound contrast equivalent to the commercially available SonoVue. These anionic lipid vesicles establish electrostatic interaction with cationic polyplexes based on linear polyethylenimine (22kDa) forming lipopolyplexes with ultrasound contrast. The lipopolyplexes are characterized regarding shape, size, and zeta potential. When exposed to low frequency ultrasound, these carriers show elevated transfection efficiency and reduced cytotoxicity. The effect of post-transfection ultrasound on cellular uptake of lipopolyplexes is also evaluated. An analogous transfection is also observed in the tumor mimicking multicellular 3D spheroid culture of ovarian cancer cells. The emergence of tumor imaging and enhanced gene delivery by medical ultrasound, a noninvasive imaging modality, is considered paving the way for efficient theranostic gene therapy.

Statistical modeling of zaltoprofen loaded biopolymeric nanoparticles: Characterization and anti-inflammatory activity of nanoparticles loaded gel.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study is to formulate polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with zaltoprofen, an NSAID drug. The optimization, in terms of polymer concentration, stabilizer concentration and pH of the formulation was employed by 3-factor-3-level Box-Behnken experimental design. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The NPs of zaltoprofen were fabricated using chitosan and alginate as polymers by ionotropic gelation. The ionic interaction between the ionic polymers was studied using Fourier transform infrared and differential scanning calorimetry study. RESULT: For different formulation the average particle size ranged between 156 ± 1.0 nm and 554 ± 2.8 nm. The drug entrapment ranged between 61.40% ± 3.20% and 90.20% ± 2.47%. The ANOVA results exhibited that all the three factors were significant. The resultant optimized batch was characterized by particle size 156.04 ± 1.4 nm, %entrapment efficacy 88.67% ± 2.0%, zetapotential + 25.3 mV and polydispersity index 0.320. The scanning electron microscopy showed spherical NPs of average size 99.5 nm. The optimized NPs were loaded in carbopol gel, which was subjected to study of drug content, viscosity, spreadability, in vitro drug diffusion and in vivo antiinflammatory test on rats. CONCLUSION: This study showed that zaltoprofen NPs prepared using the ratio of polymer CS:AG:1:1.8, stabilizer concentration 0.98% and pH 4.73 was found to be of optimized particle size, maximum drug entrapment. The NPs loaded gel showed controlled release for 12 h following Korsmeryer-peppas model of the diffusion profile. The in vivo antiinflammatory study showed prolonged effect of NPs loaded gel for 10 h.

Spectrophotometric determination of 4-acetamidophenyl N'-(sulphanilamide) acetate in biological fluids.

A simple, accurate and low cost spectrophotometric method is proposed for the determination of the synthesized paracetamol derivative; 4-acetamidophenyl N'-(sulphanilamide) acetate (APSA) in biological fluids. The spectrophotometric method is based on a condensation reaction between the alcoholic solution of APSA and acidic solution of p-dimethylaminobenzaldeyde (DPMK) to generate a yellow colored product. The linear range for the determination of APSA was 1-10 µg mL(-1) with molar absorptivity of 3.6877 × 10(4) L mol(-1) cm(-1) and Sandell's sensitivity of 0.001 µg cm-2/0.001 absorbance unit. During the inter-day and intra-day analysis, the relative standard deviation for replicated determination of APSA was found to be less than 2.0% and accuracy was 99.20-101.60% and 99.10-101.30% in blood and urine samples, respectively. There was no interference with commonly used blood and urine sample. The developed spectrophotometric method was successfully applied to assess APSA in biological fluids.