Publications by authors named "Dragan E"

Bacterial contamination is a major public health concern on a global scale. Treatment resistance in bacterial infections is becoming a significant problem that requires solutions. We were interested in obtaining new polymeric functionalized compounds with antibacterial properties.

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Background: Arterial stiffness is a crucial factor in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, often associated with aging. However, the impact of smoking on arterial stiffness is frequently underestimated. This study aims to investigate the intricate relationship between smoking and arterial stiffness to advance our understanding of and therapeutic approaches to cardiovascular health.

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Statins competitively inhibit the activity of HMGCR (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase), which is a key enzyme in cholesterol synthesis. These are effective drugs for the management of cardiovascular disease and are generally well tolerated but several side effects have been reported. Muscular adverse symptoms are various and, rarely, statin exposure may lead to authentic immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), namely anti-HMGCR myopathy.

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The introduction of selective recognition sites toward certain heavy metal ions (HMIs) is a great challenge, which has a major role when the separation of species with similar physicochemical features is considered. In this context, ion-imprinted polymers (IIPs) developed based on the principle of molecular imprinting methodology, have emerged as an innovative solution. Recent advances in IIPs have shown that they exhibit higher selectivity coefficients than non-imprinted ones, which could support a large range of environmental applications starting from extraction and monitoring of HMIs to their detection and quantification.

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It is still a challenge to develop advanced materials able to simultaneously remove more than one pollutant. Exclusive cationic composite double- and triple-network cryogels, with adequate sustainability in the removal of CrO and HPO oxyanions, were developed in this work starting from single-network (SN) sponges. Chitosan (CS), as the only polycation originating from renewable resources, and poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethylmethacrylate) (PDMAEMA) and polyethyleneimine (PEI), as synthetic polycations, were employed to construct multi-network cationic composite cryogels.

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Nowadays, pollution has become the main bottleneck towards sustainable technological development due to its detrimental implications in human and ecosystem health. Removal of pollutants from the surrounding environment is a hot research area worldwide; diverse technologies and materials are being continuously developed. To this end, bio-based composite hydrogels as sorbents have received extensive attention in recent years because of advantages such as high adsorptive capacity, controllable mechanical properties, cost effectiveness, and potential for upscaling in continuous flow installations.

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Vertical bone resorption is a frequent consequence of tooth loss. Hence, implant-supported restorations imply, first of all, bone reconstruction. We aimed to review the current status of guided bone regeneration and autologous bone block augmentation for vertical dental restoration of dental implants.

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The paper reports on the performances of cross-linked amidoxime hosted into mesoporous silica (AMOX) in the removal of As(III) and As(V). The optimum pH for sorption of As(III) and As(V) was pH 8 and pH 5, respectively. The PFO kinetic model and the Sips isotherm fitted the best the experimental data.

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In this paper, we present the synthesis of new polymeric adsorbents derived from macroporous chloromethylated styrene-divinylbenzene (DVB) copolymers with different cross-linking degrees functionalized with the following aminobenzoic groups: styrene-6.7% DVB (PAB1), styrene-10% DVB (PAB2), and styrene-15% DVB (PAB3). The new polymeric products, PAB1, PAB2, and PAB3, were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and EDX, SEM, and BET analysis, respectively.

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Atherosclerosis is a progressive, chronic inflammatory disease of the large arteries caused by the constant accumulation of cholesterol, followed by endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation. We hypothesized that delivery of extracellular vesicles (EVs), recognized for their potential as therapeutic targets and tools, could restore vascular function in atherosclerosis. We explored by comparison the potential beneficial effects of EVs from subcutaneous adipose tissue stem cells (EVs (ADSCs)) or bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (EVs (MSCs)) on the consequences of atherogenic diet on vascular health.

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Chitosan (CS)-based drug delivery systems (DDSs) are often stabilized by chemical cross-linking. A much more friendly approach to deliver drugs in a controlled manner is represented by polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) physically stabilized by spontaneous interactions between CS and natural or synthetic biocompatible polyanions. PECs with tunable structures, morphologies, and mechanical properties were fabricated in this paper by an innovative and sustainable strategy.

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Article Synopsis
  • * In a study with hypertensive hamsters, researchers noted structural changes like lipid droplet accumulation and gap junction relocation without damage to heart contractility, alongside increased levels of certain proteins and pathways linked to fat metabolism and cell signaling.
  • * The findings suggest that these adaptive responses may help maintain heart function in hypertensive conditions, providing insights for future heart failure prevention strategies.
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Curcumin (CCM) is a natural hydrophobic polyphenol known for its numerous applications in the food industry as a colorant or jelly stabilizer, and in the pharmaceutical industry due to its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-cancer, and anti-Alzheimer properties. However, the large application of CCM is limited by its poor solubility in water and low stability. To enhance the bioavailability of CCM, and to protect it against the external degradation agents, a novel strategy, which consists in the preparation of semi-interpenetrating polymer networks, (s-IPNs) based on poly(,-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate) entrapped in poly(acrylamide) networks, by a cryogelation technique, was developed in this work.

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Due to their excellent mechanical and biocompatibility properties, titanium-based implants are successfully used as biomedical devices. However, when new bone formation fails for different reasons, impaired fracture healing becomes a clinical problem and affects the patient's quality of life. We aimed to design a new bioactive surface of titanium implants with a synergetic PEG biopolymer-based composition for gradual delivery of growth factors (FGF2, VEGF, and BMP4) during bone healing.

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Phosphate anions are recognized as the main responsible for the eutrophication of surface waters. In this work, two strong base anion exchangers having either N,N-dimethyl 2-hydroxyethylammonium (SBAEx.2M) or N,N-diethyl 2-hydroxyethylammonium (SBAEx.

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In light of the fact that two with good compatibility are better than one, the homo-interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) strategy was used in this work to design novel amidoxime (AOX)-interpenetrating networks into porous silica (PSi) with the final aim to enhance the sorption performances of composite sorbents toward Cs and Sr. To achieve this goal, first, a homo-IPN of poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) was constructed inside the channels of two kinds of porous silica, one mesoporous (PSi1) and one macroporous (PSi2), the textural properties of silica being exploited in controlling the sorption performances of the composites. The novel composites were fully characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the nitrogen sorption/desorption isotherms (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis).

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Materials coming from renewable resources have drawn recently an increased attention in various applications as an eco-friendly alternative in the synthesis of novel functional materials. Polysaccharides, with their prominent representative - chitosan (CS), are well-known for their sorption properties, being able to remove metal ions from dilute solutions either by electrostatic interactions or chelation. In this context, we proposed here a comparative study on Cu, Zn, Ni, Fe, and Cr metal ions removal from industrial wastewaters by CS-based composite cryogels using batch technique.

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Removal of Cr(VI) from the environment represents a stringent issue because of its tremendous effects on living organisms. In this context, design of sorbents with high sorption capacity for Cr(VI) is getting a strong need. For this purpose, poly(vinylbenzyl chloride), impregnated into porous silica (PSi), was cross-linked with either ,,','-tetramethyl-1,2-ethylenediamine (TEMED) or ,,','-tetramethyl-1,3-propanediamine, followed by the reaction of the free -CHCl groups with ,-diethyl-2-hydroxyethylamine to generate strong base anion exchangers (ANEX) inside the pores.

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Atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease development is the outcome of intermediate processes where endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation are main protagonists. Cell-derived microvesicles (MVs), endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), and circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are known as biomarkers and potential regulators for atherosclerotic vascular disease, but their role in the complexity of the inflammatory process and in the mechanism of vascular restoration is far from clear. We aimed to evaluate the biological activity and functional role of MVs, in particular of the EPCs-derived MVs (MVEs), of healthy origins in reducing atherosclerotic vascular disease development.

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Design of polymeric matrices for loading/release purposes is of great interest in various applications, such as drug delivery systems, antimicrobial surfaces, biosensors, water purification. Compared with other strategies to fabricate materials for such applications, the Layer-by-Layer (LbL) assembly remarked itself by the countless possibilities to tailor the organic architectures at nanoscale owing to the structural diversity of "nano-bricks" suitable for assembly and easiness to control the deposition features. LbL assembled systems have been extensively used as matrices to load/release low molecular compounds such as drugs and dyes, proteins and enzymes, or DNA (RNA).

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Macromolecular drugs, such as proteins and peptides, are lately readily available and used in the treatment of diseases including diabetes and cancer, as well as in therapies such as gene therapy, wound dressing, and tissue engineering. However, the bioavailability, the extent and the rate at which these drugs reach the target tissue are highly dependent on the carrier and on the route of administration. Among the multitude of biocompatible polymers used to design vehicles for macromolecular drugs, polysaccharides are preferred due to their mucoadhesive, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties.

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Copper, nickel, zinc, chromium, and iron ions are the prevailing contaminants in the aqueous effluents resulting from the photo-etching industry. In this context, we investigate here the metal ion sorption performance of an ion-imprinted cryogel (IIC), consisting of low-cost materials coming from renewable resources, towards multi-component metal ion solutions. The IIC sorbent, which is based on a chitosan matrix embedding a natural zeolite, was synthesized using a straightforward strategy by coupling copper-imprinting and unidirectional ice-templating methods.

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