Biogenic Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Mediated by and Their Biological Evaluation.

In the present study, two berry extracts were used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). After the optimization of synthesis, the AgNPs were characterized using UV-Vis, FTIR, EDX, DLS, and STEM analyses. The stability in different media, phytotoxicity, as well as antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were also evaluated.

New Chitosan-Based Co-Delivery Nanosystem for Diabetes Mellitus Therapy.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most common metabolic disorders, with a major involvement of oxidative stress in its onset and progression. Pioglitazone (Pio) is an antidiabetic drug that mainly works by reducing insulin resistance, while curcumin (Cur) is a powerful antioxidant with an important hypoglycemic effect. Both drugs are associated with several drawbacks, such as reduced bioavailability and a short half-life time (Pio), as well as instability and poor water solubility (Cur), which limit their therapeutic use.

Dextran coated iron oxide nanoparticles loaded with protocatechuic acid as multifunctional therapeutic agents.

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in multifunctional therapeutic agents as valuable tools to improve and expand the applicability field of traditional bioactive compounds. In this context, the synthesis and main characteristics of dextran-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (IONP-Dex) loaded with both an antioxidant, protocatechuic acid (PCA), and an antibiotic, ceftazidime (CAZ) or levofloxacin (LEV) are herein reported for the first time, with emphasis on the potentiation effect of PCA on drugs activity. All nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometry, differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic light scattering.

New Hydrogels Nanocomposites Based on Chitosan, 2-Formylphenylboronic Acid, and ZnO Nanoparticles as Promising Disinfectants for Duodenoscopes Reprocessing.

New hydrogels nanocomposites, based on iminoboronate hydrogels and ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs), were obtained and characterised in order to develop a new class of disinfectants able to fight the nosocomial infections produced by duodenoscopes investigation procedures. The formation of the imine linkages between chitosan and the aldehyde was demonstrated using NMR and FTIR spectroscopy, while the supramolecular architecture of the developed systems was evaluated via wide-angle X-ray diffraction and polarised optical microscopy. The morphological characterisation of the systems via scanning electron microscopy revealed the highly porous structure of the materials, in which no ZnO agglomeration could be observed, indicating the very fine and homogenous encapsulation of the nanoparticles into the hydrogels.

Does Protocatechuic Acid Affect the Activity of Commonly Used Antibiotics and Antifungals?

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of protocatechuic acid (PCA) in enhancing the commonly used drugs used to fight against nosocomial infection. These drugs are represented by routinely used antibiotics, synthetic chemotherapeutic agents with an antimicrobial spectrum, and antifungals. Three concentrations of PCA were added to 12 types of commercial disks used for antibiotic and antifungal susceptibility and tested against bacterial and yeast strains represented by , , , and .

In Vitro and In Vivo Antioxidant Activity of the New Magnetic-Cerium Oxide Nanoconjugates.

Background: Cerium oxide nanoparticles present the mimetic activity of superoxide dismutase, being able to inactivate the excess of reactive oxygen species (ROS) correlated with a large number of pathologies, such as stents restenosis and the occurrence of genetic mutations that can cause cancer. This study presents the synthesis and biological characterisation of nanoconjugates based on nanoparticles of iron oxide interconnected with cerium oxide conjugates.

Methods: The synthesis of magnetite-nanoceria nanoconjugates has been done in several stages, where the key to the process is the coating of nanoparticles with polyethyleneimine and its chemical activation-reticulation with glutaraldehyde.

Duodenoscope-Associated Infections beyond the Elevator Channel: Alternative Causes for Difficult Reprocessing.

Objectives: Duodenoscopes have been widely used for both diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures, but recently, numerous outbreaks of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) infections have been reported which has led to extensive research for their possible causes. Consequently, the aim of this study is to search for possible duodenoscope surface damages that could provide an alternative and plausible source of infections.

Materials And Methods: In order to assess both outer and inner surfaces, a duodenoscope was dismantled and samples were taken from the outer resin polymer and from the air/water, elevator, and working (biopsy) channels that were characterized by FTIR, DSC, TGA, AFM, SEM techniques and the antimicrobial activity were tested.

Multifunctional magnetic cargo-complexes with radical scavenging properties.

Core-shell magnetic nanoparticle synthesis offers the opportunity to engineering their physical properties for specific applications when the intrinsic magnetic properties can be associated with other interesting ones. The purpose of this study was to design, synthesize, and characterize core-shell magnetic nanoparticles that mimic superoxide dismutase activity offering the possibility of guidance and therapeutic action. We proposed, for the first time, the synthesis and characterization of the nanocarriers comprised of magnetite nanoparticles functionalized with branched polyethyleneimine of low molecular weight (1.

Dynamic constitutional frameworks (DCFs) as nanovectors for cellular delivery of DNA.

We introduce Dynamic Constitutional Frameworks (DCFs), macromolecular structures that efficiently bind and transfect double stranded DNA. DCFs are easily synthesizable adaptive 3D networks consisting of core connection centres reversibly linked via labile imine bonds both to linear polyethyleneglycol (PEG, ∼1500 Da) and to branched polyethyleneimine (bPEI, ∼800 Da). DCFs bind linear and plasmid DNA, forming particulate polyplexes of 40-200 nm in diameter.