Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Delivery of Chemotherapeutics: A Review

The efficacy of current standard chemotherapy is suboptimal due to the poor solubility and short half-lives of chemotherapeutic agents, as well as their high toxicity and lack of specificity which may result in severe side effects, noncompliance and patient inconvenience. The application of nanotechnology has revolutionized the pharmaceutical industry and attracted increasing attention as a significant means for optimizing the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents and enhancing their efficiency and safety profiles. Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are lipid-based formulations that have been broadly studied as drug delivery systems. They have a solid matrix at room temperature and are considered superior to many other traditional lipid-based nanocarriers such as nanoemulsions, liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) due to their enhanced physical stability, improved drug loading capacity, and biocompatibility. This review focuses on the latest advances in the use of NLCs as drug delivery systems and their preparation and characterization techniques with special emphasis on their applications as delivery systems for chemotherapeutic agents and different strategies for their use in tumor targeting.This research was funded by Aljalila foundation, grant number AJF201777

Chromohysteroscopy after failed intracytoplasmic sperm injection

Background: ICSI is the injection of a single sperm directly into the cytoplasm of the oocyte (ICSI). The failure to achieve pregnancy after ICSI has been studied over many years to reach the possible and preventable causes to avoid another failure. The aim of this study was to assess the value of using Chromohysteroscopy as a part of the work up of cases with one or more failed ICSI. The Ultimate goal is to detect the possible endometrial abnormalities and /or endometritis.Methods: Prospective cohort study was carried out with total of 50 infertile women recruited from infertility clinic in Elshatby Maternity University Hospital, Alexandria University, Egypt. Cases were allocated in 2 groups with 25 cases in each group. The first group included cases that had a failed trial of ICSI. The second group included control cases who were seeking for fertility treatment with no previous history of ICSI or any uterine surgery or anatomical abnormalities. In the postmenstrual period, Chromohysteroscopy was done by the same surgeon and documentation of all findings in the cavity and presence of endometritis.Results: There was a significant increase in the incidence of endometritis among the study group 68% in comparison to 16% in the control group.Conclusions: In this study endometrial dying with methylene blue at hysteroscopy improve the detection of chronic endometritis

P324 RADIOGRAPHIC KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS IS ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASE IN TRABECULAR BUT NOT CORTICAL BONE MINERAL DENSITY USING PERIPHERAL QUANTITATIVE CT

Digitalitzat per Artypla

Intravitreal aflibercept following treat and extend protocol versus fixed protocol for treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Background To assess the morphological and functional outcome of intravitreal aflibercept following the treat and extend protocol compared to the fixed protocol for treatment of eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Methods This retrospective study included 126 eyes of 113 patients with primary onset neovascular age-related macular degeneration who were followed for 12 months. All eyes were treated with 2 mg/0.05 mL aflibercept. All eyes received an upload with three monthly aflibercept injections. We subsequently studied two groups of eyes. For group 1, 54 eyes were treated following the treat and extend protocol. For group 2, 72 eyes were treated following the fixed protocol (fixed 2-monthly interval). Main outcome measures included: best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT) and number of injections. Results BCVA (logMAR) in group 1 vs group 2 was (0.61 ± 0.3 vs 0.72 ± 0.3, p = 0.09) before treatment and (0.48 ± 0.3 vs 0.51 ± 0.3, p = 0.6) after one year of treatment. CMT in group 1 vs group 2 was (371 ± 101 μm vs 393 ± 116 μm, p = 0.5) before treatment and (284 ± 60 μm vs 290 ± 67 μm, p = 0.1) after one year of treatment. Number of injections/eye in group 1 vs group 2 was (8.5 ± 2.2 vs 7.0 ± 0, p < 0.001). Conclusions Significant differences regarding BCVA and central macular thickness were not found between both treatment protocols during the first year of treatment using aflibercept. However, a significantly higher number of injections was needed for eyes in the treat and extend group during the first year of treatment. This might suggest that aflibercept should better not be extended past an 8 weeks interval during the first year of treatment. Study registration This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Association of Saarland, Germany (Nr. 123/20, Date: 16.06.2020). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors

Maternal supplementation of diabetic mice with thymoquinone protects their offspring from abnormal obesity and diabetes by modulating their lipid profile and free radical production and restoring lymphocyte proliferation via PI3K/AKT signaling

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have shown that the offspring of mothers who experience diabetes mellitus during pregnancy are seven times more likely to develop health complications than the offspring of mothers who do not suffer from diabetes during pregnancy. The present study was designed to investigate whether supplementation of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic pregnant mice with thymoquinone (TQ) during pregnancy and lactation improves the risk of developing diabetic complications acquired by their offspring. METHODS: Three groups of pregnant female mice were used: non-diabetic control dams (CD), diabetic dams (DD), and diabetic dams supplemented with TQ (DD + TQ) during pregnancy and lactation (n = 10 female mice in each group). RESULTS: Our data demonstrated a marked decrease in the number of neonates born to DD, and these neonates showed a marked increase in their mean body weight (macrosomic pups) compared to those born to CD and DD + TQ. The induction of diabetes during pregnancy and lactation resulted in macrosomic pups with several postpartum complications, such as a marked increase in their levels of blood glucose, free radicals, plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α), and lipids, and a tendency toward abnormal obesity compared to the offspring of CD. By contrast, macrosomic offspring born to DD exhibited a marked reduction in plasma cytokine levels (IL-2, -4 and -7), an obvious reduction in the number of circulating lymphocytes, decreased proliferation of superantigen (SEB)-stimulated lymphocytes and aberrant AKT phosphorylation. Interestingly, the supplementation of DD with TQ during pregnancy and lactation had an obvious and significant effect on the number and mean body weight of neonates. Furthermore, TQ significantly restored the levels of blood glucose, insulin, free radicals, plasma cytokines, and lipids as well as lymphocyte proliferation in the offspring. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the nutritional supplementation of DD with the natural antioxidant TQ during pregnancy and lactation protects their offspring from developing diabetic complications and preserves an efficient lymphocyte immune response later in life

Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Biological Activities of Organically Templated Cobalt Phosphite (H2DAB)[Co(H2PO3)4]·2H2O

A novel hybrid cobalt phosphite, (H2DAB)[Co(H2PO3 )4 ] 2H2O, was synthesized by using a slow evaporation method in the presence of cobalt nitrate, phosphorous acid, and 1,4-diaminobutane (DAB = 1,4-diaminobutane) as a structure-directing agent. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the compound crystallizes in the triclinic system (space group P-1(n.2)) with the following unit cell parameters (Å, ◦ ) a = 5.4814 (3), b = 7.5515 (4), c = 10.8548 (6), α = 88.001 (4), β = 88.707 (5), γ = 85.126 (5), and V = 447.33 (4) Å3 . The crystal structure is built up from corner-sharing [CoO6 ] octahedra, forming chains parallel to [001], which are interconnected by H2PO3 − pseudo-tetrahedral units. The diprotonated cations, residing between the parallel chains, interact with the inorganic moiety via hydrogen bonds, thus leading to the formation of the 3D crystal structure. The Fourier transform infrared spectrum showed characteristic bands corresponding to the phosphite group and the organic amine. The thermal behavior of the compound mainly consisted of the loss of its organic moiety and the water molecules. The biological tests exhibited significant activity against Candida albicans and Escherichia coli strains at different concentrations, while less inhibitory activity was pronounced against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and in the case of multi-cellular organisms, no activity against the nematode model Steinernema feltiae was detected

Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Biological Activities of Organically Templated Cobalt Phosphite (C4N2H14)Co(H2PO3)4·2H2O

A novel hybrid phosphite [(C4N2H14)Co(H2PO3)4·2H2O] was synthesized with 1,4- diaminobutane (dabn) as a structure-directing agent using slow evaporation method. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis showed that it crystallizes in the triclinic system (S.G: P-1, #2) with the following unit cell parameters (Å, °) a = 5.4814 (3), b = 7.5515 (4), c = 10.8548 (6), α = 88.001 (4), β = 88.707 (5), γ = 85.126 (5). The crystal structure was built up from corner-sharing [CoO6]-octahedrons, forming chains parallel to [001], which are interconnected by H2PO3 pseudo-pyramid units. The diprotonated 1,4-diaminobutane molecules, residing between the parallel chains, interacted with the inorganic moiety via hydrogen bonds leading thus to the formation of the 3D crystal structure. The Fourier transform infrared result exhibited characteristic bands corresponding to the phosphite group and the organic molecule. The thermal decomposition of the compound consists mainly of the loss of the organic moiety and the water molecules. The biological tests exhibited significant activity against Candida albicans and Escherichia coli strains in all used concentrations, while less activity was pronounced when tested against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, while there was no activity against the nematode model Steinernema feltiae

Report on needs and priorities in the field of international cooperation agreements on water management in the target MACs

This report aims to provide a revision of the water related goals within the international agreements joined by the three case study countries,Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, while emphasizing the critical points that should be developed and reinforced in the near future through an integrated approach for water policies, initiatives and management

Impact of malaria control interventions on malaria infection and anaemia in low malaria transmission settings: a cross-sectional population-based study in Sudan

BACKGROUND: The past two decades were associated with innovation and strengthening of malaria control interventions, which have been increasingly adopted at large scale. Impact evaluations of these interventions were mostly performed in moderate or high malaria transmission areas. This study aimed to evaluate the use and performance of malaria interventions in low transmission areas on malaria infections and anaemia. METHODS: Data from the 2016 Sudan malaria indicator survey was used. Multi-level logistic regression analysis was used to assess the strength of association between real-life community-level utilization of malaria interventions [diagnosis, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs)] and the study outcomes: malaria infections and anaemia (both overall and moderate-to-severe anaemia). RESULTS: The study analysis involved 26,469 individuals over 242 clusters. Malaria infection rate was 7.6%, overall anaemia prevalence was 47.5% and moderate-to-severe anaemia prevalence was 4.5%. The average community-level utilization was 31.5% for malaria diagnosis, 29.9% for ACTs and 35.7% for LLINs. The odds of malaria infection was significantly reduced by 14% for each 10% increase in the utilization of malaria diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) per 10% utilization 0.86, 95% CI 0.78-0.95, p = 0.004). However, the odds of infection was positively associated with the utilization of LLINs at community-level (aOR per 10% utilization 1.20, 95% CI 1.11-1.29, p < 0.001). No association between malaria infection and utilization of ACTs was identified (aOR per 10% utilization 0.97, 95% CI 0.91-1.04, p = 0.413). None of the interventions was associated with overall anaemia nor moderate-to-severe anaemia. CONCLUSION: There was strong evidence that utilization of malaria diagnosis at the community level was highly protective against malaria infection. No protective effect was seen for community utilization of ACTs or LLINs. No association was established between any of the interventions and overall anaemia or moderate-to-severe anaemia. This lack of effectiveness could be due to the low utilization of interventions or the low level of malaria transmission in the study area. Identification and response to barriers of access and low utilization of malaria interventions are crucial. It is crucial to ensure that every suspected malaria case is tested in a timely way, notably in low transmission settings