PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF EDIBLE OIL NANOEMULSIONS FOR ENHANCED STABILITY AND ORAL DELIVERY OF CURCUMIN

Objective: This work aims to improve the oral bioavailability and long-term aqueous stability of curcumin using various edible oil nanoemulsions (NEs).Methods: NEs were optimized using the water titration method. Curcumin was loaded into optimized emulsions, and the physicochemical characteristics were determined. Long-term stability of curcumin in the edible oil NEs was analyzed by determining the droplet size, PDI and curcumin concentrations over 4 mo. Release of curcumin from the NEs was determined using a Franz diffusion apparatus and analysed using 5 mathematical models.Results: The absorbance of curcumin was linear over the concentration range of 1 to 10 μg. ml-1. The LOD and LOQ ranged from 0.57 to 1.26μg. ml-1 and 1.89 to 4.19μg. ml-1 respectively. All the NEs were monodisperse and had a droplet size less than 150 nm. Long-term emulsion stability shows no change in droplet size and PI (Dunnett's multiple comparisons test with a confidence interval of 95%). Olive oil NE showed significantly low release in gastric fluid (9.28%) with a good release (92.99%) in intestinal fluid and 48% in a body fluid by 8 h.Conclusion: The work highlights the use of olive oil NEs as a delivery vehicle for curcumin with excellent release characteristics and the ability to protect curcumin in an aqueous environment

Salt stress and its impact on rice physiology with special reference to India- A review

With the increasing population, by 2030, the population of India will have seen an unprecedented rise of 1.43 billion and require food grains of around 311 million tones. Of the total area, nearly 5% of the area in India is affected by soil salinity. It is said that about 10% of soil is salinized every year. At this rate, 50% of the land area will be salinized by 2050.These repercussions challenge us to expand the area under cultivation or to increase the yield per unit area to maintain food security and sustainability. In order to meet the growing demands of the increased population, two major approaches can be met. Firstly, the available area under cultivation must be increased, which can be done by the reclamation of various problematic soils and making them suitable for cultivation. The second and holistic approach is to employ various biotechnological and breeding aspects in the development of resistant varieties surviving the harsh and unfavourable environment and showing no subsequent reduction in the yield parameters. For this, one must understand the various physiological aspects of tolerance for screening the elite varieties suited for a particular ecosystem or environment. Thus, the present study vividly explains the various physiological aspects of salt stress on rice. Employing these techniques, one can screen superior genotypes resistant to various stresses, thus keeping the Malthus predictions at bay

Neurosphere based differentiation of human iPSC improves astrocyte differentiation

Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are traditionally maintained and proliferated utilizing two-dimensional (2D) adherent monolayer culture systems. However, NPCs cultured using this system hardly reflect the intrinsic spatial development of brain tissue. In this study, we determined that culturing iPSC-derived NPCs as three-dimensional (3D) floating neurospheres resulted in increased expression of the neural progenitor cell (NPC) markers, PAX6 and NESTIN. Expansion of NPCs in 3D culture methods also resulted in a more homogenous PAX6 expression when compared to 2D culture methods. Furthermore, the 3D propagation method for NPCs resulted in a significant higher expression of the astrocyte markers  GFAP and aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in the differentiated cells. Thus, our 3D propagation method could constitute a useful tool to promote NPC homogeneity and also to increase the differentiation potential of iPSC towards astrocytes

Comparison of 2D and 3D neural induction methods for the generation of neural progenitor cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells

Neural progenitor cells (NPCs) from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are frequently induced using 3D culture methodologies however, it is unknown whether spheroid-based (3D) neural induction is actually superior to monolayer (2D) neural induction. Our aim was to compare the efficiency of 2D induction with 3D induction method in their ability to generate NPCs, and subsequently neurons and astrocytes. Neural differentiation was analysed at the protein level qualitatively by immunocytochemistry and quantitatively by flow cytometry for NPC (SOX1, PAX6, NESTIN), neuronal (MAP2, TUBB3), cortical layer (TBR1, CUX1) and glial markers (SOX9, GFAP, AQP4). Electron microscopy demonstrated that both methods resulted in morphologically similar neural rosettes. However, quantification of NPCs derived from 3D neural induction exhibited an increase in the number of PAX6/NESTIN double positive cells and the derived neurons exhibited longer neurites. In contrast, 2D neural induction resulted in more SOX1 positive cells. While 2D monolayer induction resulted in slightly less mature neurons, at an early stage of differentiation, the patch clamp analysis failed to reveal any significant differences between the electrophysiological properties between the two induction methods. In conclusion, 3D neural induction increases the yield of PAX6(+)/NESTIN(+) cells and gives rise to neurons with longer neurites, which might be an advantage for the production of forebrain cortical neurons, highlighting the potential of 3D neural induction, independent of iPSCs' genetic background