Screening of some Naturally Isolated Microalgal Strains for Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Production

Background and Purpose: Nowadays, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are playing a great role in human wellbeing and health improvement. A wide spectrum of biological, medical and health benefit effects ranging from cardiovascular, neuronal, anticancer and antioxidant have been reported from different PUFAs in human. Methodology: In this study, six different species of microalgae belonging to the chlorophyta and cyanobacteria phylum were isolated from soil and water samples collected from Persian Gulf. Their growth rate, biomass and lipid production and productivity and more importantly their ability to produce PUFAs was investigated. Results: The isolated species represented a great fatty acid profile including many different polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) ranging from 6-20 carbon atoms. S. obliquus and N. muscorum proven to have a better profile for PUFAs production, whilst C. vulgaris could be considered as a more robust strain to produce other fatty acid classes. Besides, C. vulgaris with its higher growth rates (0.39 d-1)and S. obliquus owing to its higher total lipid content (43.92%) seems more interesting strains for scale up studies. Conclusion: The obtained results demonstrated the great potential of naturally isolated strains of microalgae for PUFA production and provided some insights in next studies to explore more producing strains

Acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients receiving remdesivir: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Objectives: Remdesivir is an antiviral agent with positive effects on the prognosis of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). However, there are concerns about the detrimental effects of remdesivir on kidney function which might consequently lead to Acute Kidney Injury (AKI). In this study, we aim to determine whether remdesivir use in COVID-19 patients increases the risk of AKI. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, medRxiv, and bioRxiv were systematically searched until July 2022, to find Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) that evaluated remdesivir for its effect on COVID-19 and provided information on AKI events. A random-effects model meta-analysis was conducted and the certainty of evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. The primary outcomes were AKI as a Serious Adverse Event (SAE) and combined serious and non-serious Adverse Events (AE) due to AKI. Results: This study included 5 RCTs involving 3095 patients. Remdesivir treatment was not associated with a significant change in the risk of AKI classified as SAE (Risk Ratio [RR]: 0.71, 95% Confidence Interval [95% CI] 0.43‒1.18, p = 0.19, low-certainty evidence) and AKI classified as any grade AEs (RR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.52‒1.33, p = 0.44, low-certainty evidence), compared to the control group. Conclusion: Our study suggested that remdesivir treatment probably has little or no effect on the risk of AKI in COVID-19 patients

Pharmacy or PharmaNBIC: Thinking about 50 years ahead of pharmacy

The contemporary trends and concepts in pharmacy are widely affected by the emergence of Nano-, Bio- or Info- technologies (NBI) as an attempt to develop different principles of medicine. This commentary is trying to make a think tank room for 50 years ahead of pharmacy where the ambience of pharmacy will be affected by such technologies (NBI) together with cognition (NBIC) to achieve intelligence, low adverse reaction and holistic action medicals.   </p

Preparation of meglumine antimonate loaded albumin nanoparticles and evaluation of its anti-leishmanial activity: an in vitro assay

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is still a health problem worldwide, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Currently, pentavalent antimony compounds are used to treat leishmaniasis. These compounds cause various side effects in the body. Therefore, there is a need to discover new drugs with less toxicity and more therapeutic effects. In this study, we encapsulated the meglumine antimonate into the albumin as a drug carrier and evaluated the anti-leishmanial effect of the prepared nanoparticles. The precipitation method was used for this purpose by applying different concentrations of glutaraldehyde and N-(3-Dimethylaminopropyl)-N-ethyl carbodiimide hydro chloride Ethyl (DEC) and then, field emission test was performed using Scanning Electron Microscopy for evaluating the morphology and size particles. The cytotoxicity and inhibitory of drugs were evaluated on J774 macrophages and Leishmania major promastigotes, respectively. Nanodrugs prepared using glutaraldehyde (10 μl/ml) and DEC (13 mg/ml) had the smallest and largest size, respectively. The highest anti-leishmanial activity was observed in the drugs prepared with glutaraldehyde (10 μl/ml). Also this nanodrug had the lowest cytotoxicity against macrophages. Given that meglumine antimonate loaded albumin nanoparticles prepared with glutaraldehyde (10 μg/ml), can improve the anti-leishmanial effects of this old drug, it can be a good option as a drug delivery syste

Effect of hydrodynamic parameters on hydrogen production by Anabaena sp. in an internal‑loop airlift photobioreactor

Global warming and air pollution caused by fossil fuel emissions have triggered the search for a clean, sustainable, and eco-friendly energy source such as H2, which can be produced by cyanobacteria and microalgae. In this study, Anabaena sp. was used in a photobioreactor to achieve biohydrogen production. To this end, hydrodynamic parameters such as gas holdup, liquid circulation velocity, oxygen mass transfer coefficient, and gas velocity were investigated. Results showed that the gas holdup, liquid circulation velocity, and oxygen mass transfer increased by increasing the inlet gas velocity without causing detrimental shear stress to cyanobacteria. A biomass concentration of 1.2 g L−1 and a total H2 production of 371 mL were recorded after 7 days using an inlet gas velocity of 0.524 cm s−1 and a light intensity of 140 µmol photons m−2 s−1. Using a superficial gas velocity of 0.524 cm s−1 resulted in the optimum gas holdup, mass transfer, and light availability to Anabaena sp. The growth of cyanobacteria in an internal-loop airlift photobioreactor was found to be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology for hydrogen production

Pharmacy or PharmaNBIC: Thinking about 50 years ahead of pharmacy today

The contemporary trends and concepts in pharmacy are widely affected by the emergence of Nano-, Bio- or Info- technologies (NBI) as an attempt to develop different principles of medicine. This commentary is trying to make a think tank room for 50 years ahead of today’s pharmacy, where the ambience of pharmacy will be affected by such technologies together with cognition (NBIC) to achieve intelligent, low adverse reaction and holistic action medicals

Investigation of Hydrodynamic Parameters in an Airlift Photobioreactor on CO2 Biofixation by Spirulina sp.

The rise of CO2 concentration on Earth is a major environmental problem that causes global warming. To solve this issue, carbon capture and sequestration technologies are becoming more and more popular. Among them, cyanobacteria can efficiently sequestrate CO2, which is an eco-friendly and cost-effective way of reducing carbon dioxide, and algal biomass can be harvested as valuable products. In this study, the hydrodynamic parameters of an airlift photobioreactor such as gas holdup, mean bubble diameter and liquid circulation velocity were measured to investigate CO2 biofixation by Spirulina sp. The total gas holdup was found to increase linearly with the increase in the gas velocity from 0.185 to 1.936 cm/s. The mean bubble velocities in distilled water only and in the cyanobacterial culture on the first and sixth days of cultivation were 109.97, 87.98, and 65.89 cm/s, respectively. It was found that shear stress at gas velocities greater than 0.857 cm/s led to cyanobacterial death. After 7 days of batch culture, the maximum dry cell weight reached 1.62 g/L at the gas velocity of 0.524 cm/s, whereas the highest carbon dioxide removal efficiency by Spirulina sp. was 55.48% at a gas velocity of 0.185 cm/s, demonstrating that hydrodynamic parameters applied in this study were suitable to grow Spirulina sp. in the airlift photobioreactor and remove CO2

Investigation of Hydrodynamic Parameters in an Airlift Photobioreactor on CO₂ Biofixation by <i>Spirulina</i> sp.

The rise of CO2 concentration on Earth is a major environmental problem that causes global warming. To solve this issue, carbon capture and sequestration technologies are becoming more and more popular. Among them, cyanobacteria can efficiently sequestrate CO2, which is an eco-friendly and cost-effective way of reducing carbon dioxide, and algal biomass can be harvested as valuable products. In this study, the hydrodynamic parameters of an airlift photobioreactor such as gas holdup, mean bubble diameter and liquid circulation velocity were measured to investigate CO2 biofixation by Spirulina sp. The total gas holdup was found to increase linearly with the increase in the gas velocity from 0.185 to 1.936 cm/s. The mean bubble velocities in distilled water only and in the cyanobacterial culture on the first and sixth days of cultivation were 109.97, 87.98, and 65.89 cm/s, respectively. It was found that shear stress at gas velocities greater than 0.857 cm/s led to cyanobacterial death. After 7 days of batch culture, the maximum dry cell weight reached 1.62 g/L at the gas velocity of 0.524 cm/s, whereas the highest carbon dioxide removal efficiency by Spirulina sp. was 55.48% at a gas velocity of 0.185 cm/s, demonstrating that hydrodynamic parameters applied in this study were suitable to grow Spirulina sp. in the airlift photobioreactor and remove CO2

Green Synthesis of Selenium Nanoparticles by Cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis (abdf2224): Cultivation Condition Quality Controls

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) are well-known bioactive compounds. Various chemical and biological methods have been applied to SeNP synthesis. Spirulina platensis is a widely used blue-green microalgae in various industries. In this study, the biosynthesis of SeNPs using sodium selenite and Spirulina platens has been developed. The SeNP synthesis was performed at different cultivation condition including pH and illumination schedule variation. The SeNPs were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, size, and zeta potential measurements, and the antioxidant activities of selected SeNPs were evaluated by DPPH and FRAP assays. FT-IR analysis showed the production of SeNPs. The 12 h dark/12 h light cycles and continuous light exposure at pH 5 led to the production of stable SeNPs with sizes of 145±6 and 171±13 nm, respectively. Antioxidant activity of selected SeNPs was higher than sodium selenite. It seems that green synthesis is a safe method to produce SeNPs as well as a convenient method to scale-up this production