High-fat diets enhance and delay ursodeoxycholic acid absorption but elevate circulating hydrophobic bile salts.

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a natural drug essential for the treatment of cholestatic liver diseases. The food effects on the absorption of UDCA and the disposition of circulating bile salts remain unclear despite its widespread global uses. This study aims to investigate the effects of high-fat (HF) diets on the pharmacokinetics of UDCA and disclose how the circulated bile salts were simultaneously perturbed.

Tandem DNAzyme for double digestion: a new tool for circRNA suppression.

Circular RNA (circRNA) play a crucial role in many biological processes and have been proved as potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets in many diseases. Manipulation of their expression is a critical task. In this study, we developed a new strategy for circRNA suppression with DNAzyme.

[Development and evaluation of ultrasound contrast agents with AS1411-conjugated nanoparticles with liquid core].

To prepare AS1411 targeted nano-ultrasonic contrast agent with liquid core, and to evaluate its ability for ultrasonic contrast enhancement and targeting MCF-7 cell in vitro.
 Methods: The modified solvent evaporation, self-synthesized membrane material and perfluorobrominane (PFOB) was used to form nano-ultrasonic contrast agent with PFOB core (nanoparticles, NP); then N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride and N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS) catalysis was used to connect AS1411 to the surface of NP to prepare NP-AS1411. The transmission electron microscopy was chosen to check the morphology of NP-AS1411.

[Transhepatic arterial embolization with superparamagnetic iron oxide and lipiodol for the treatment of VX2 tumor in rabbits].

To evaluate the feasibility and therapeutic efficacy of transhepatic arterial embolization with superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) and lipiodol (LIP) for the treatment of VX2 tumor in rabbits.
 Methods: Twenty-four rabbits with hepatic VX2 tumors by surgical implantation were randomly divided into 4 groups and treated with transhepatic arterial embolization of 4 different agents as follows (n=6 each): doxorubicin (DOX) group, DOX-LIP group, SPIO-DOX group, and SPIO-DOX-LIP group. Liver function (AST and ALT) was measured at 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 d after transhepatic arterial embolization.

SM-1, a novel PAC-1 derivative, activates procaspase-3 and causes cancer cell apoptosis.

Purpose: To develop more potent procaspase-3 activator, 7 novel derivatives of PAC-1 were synthesized and evaluated. Among them, SM-1 stood out for its promising activity and good pharmacokinetics properties. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the pharmacological mechanism of SM-1 and evaluate its efficacy and toxicity in-depth.

[Progress in study of nitroimidazole as hypoxia imaging agents in tumor].

Radionuclide hypoxia imaging has become an indispensable core of tumor diagnosis. Nitroimidazole derivatives have been extensively used as the hypoxia imaging agents in preclinical and clinical research. It is the key to design the ideal structure for promising agents.

Systemic delivery of siRNA by hyaluronan-functionalized calcium phosphate nanoparticles for tumor-targeted therapy.

In this study, hyaluronan (HA)-functionalized calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CaP-AHA/siRNA NPs) were developed for an injectable and targetable delivery of siRNA, which were prepared by coating the alendronate-hyaluronan graft polymer (AHA) around the surface of calcium phosphate-siRNA co-precipitates. The prepared CaP-AHA/siRNA NPs had a uniform spherical core-shell morphology with an approximate size of 170 nm and zeta potential of -12 mV. The coating of hydrophilic HA improved the physical stability of nanoparticles over one month due to the strong interactions between phosphonate and calcium.