New Plant Species Showing Antiprotozoian Activity.

The effects of extracts of ten plant species from Russia and five species from Vietnam on the growth and survival of ciliates Tetrahymena pyriformis were studied. T. pyriformis belongs to the subkingdom Protozoa, which also includes pathogens of protozoan infections.

Nano-Lipids Based on Ginger Oil and Lecithin as a Potential Drug Delivery System.

Lipid nanoparticles based on lecithin are an interesting part of drug delivery systems. However, the stability of lecithin nano-lipids is problematic due to the degradation of lecithin, causing a decrease in pH. In this study, the modification of the conventional nano-lipid-based soybean lecithin was demonstrated.

Comparative Study of the Effect of Snake Venoms on the Growth of Ciliates Tetrahymena pyriformis: Identification of Venoms with High Antiprotozoal Activity.

To search for compounds with antiprotozoal activity, effects of snake venoms on the ciliates Tetrahymena pyriformis was studied. T. pyriformis from subkingdom of Protozoa, including the protozoal pathogens, was used as a model organism to select the venoms that are the most active against parasitic protozoans.

Retrovirus Drugs-Loaded PEGylated PAMAM for Prolonging Drug Release and Enhancing Efficiency in HIV Treatment.

Polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM) with its unique characteristics emerges as a potential drug delivery system which can prolong releasing time, reduce the side effects but still retaining treatment efficiency. In this study, methoxy polyethylene glycol modified PAMAM generation 3.0 (G3.

A new triterpenoid and other compounds from lichens Makhija & Patw.

Ten compounds () were purified from the extract of lichens , and among these one new triterpenoid, cryptothecin A () was characterized through mass spectrometric and 2D NMR spectroscopic analyses. Some of the isolated compounds were assessed for their antimicrobial (, , and ) and cytotoxic activity (, , and ), but only weak inhibitory effects were observed.

Modified Carboxyl-Terminated PAMAM Dendrimers as Great Cytocompatible Nano-Based Drug Delivery System.

Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers are extensively researched as potential drug delivery system thanks to their desirable features such as controlled and stable structures, and ease of functionalization onto their surface active groups. However, there have been concerns about the toxicity of full generation dendrimers and risks of premature clearance from circulation, along with other physical drawbacks presented in previous formulations, including large particle sizes and low drug loading efficiency. In our study, carboxyl-terminated PAMAM dendrimer G3.

Investigation of Chitosan Nanoparticles Loaded with Protocatechuic Acid (PCA) for the Resistance of Fungus against Rice Blast.

In this study, chitosan nanoparticles were used as a carrier for Protocatechuic acid (PCA) to resist against rice blast. The final compound was characterized using zeta potentials for its surface electricity, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were conducted for functional groups and for particle sizes and shape, respectively. The zeta potential results showed that loading PCA causes chitosan nanoparticle (CSNP) to decrease in surface electrons.

PEGylated PAMAM dendrimers loading oxaliplatin with prolonged release and high payload without burst effect.

Oxaliplatin (OXA) was coupled to PEGylated polyamidoamine dendrimers of fourth generation (G4-PEG@OXA) in the comparison to PEGylated ones of odd generation (G3.5-PEG@OXA). Proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy were used to confirm the successful incorporation of OXA as well as the synthesis of carrier systems.

Low-molecular-weight compounds with anticoagulant activity from the scorpion Heterometrus laoticus venom.

Low-molecular-weight compounds with anticoagulant activity were isolated from the scorpion Heterometrus laoticus venom. The determination of the structure of the isolated compounds by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry showed that one of the isolated compounds is adenosine, and the other two are dipeptides leucyl-tryptophan and isoleucyl-tryptophan. The anticoagulant properties of adenosine, which is an inhibitor of platelet aggregation, is well known, but its presence in scorpion venom is shown for the first time.

Low systemic toxicity nanocarriers fabricated from heparin-mPEG and PAMAM dendrimers for controlled drug release.

In this report, poly(amide amine) (PAMAM) dendrimer and Heparin-grafted-monomethoxy polyethylene glycol (HEP-mPEG) were synthesized and characterized. In aqueous solution, the generation 4 PAMAM dendrimers (G4.0-PAMAM) existed as nanoparticles with particle size of 5.

Redox and pH Responsive Poly (Amidoamine) Dendrimer-Heparin Conjugates via Disulfide Linkages for Letrozole Delivery.

Heparin (Hep) conjugated to poly (amidoamine) dendrimer G3.5 (P) via redox-sensitive disulfide bond (P-SS-Hep) was studied. The redox and pH dual-responsive nanocarriers were prepared by a simple method that minimized many complex steps as previous studies.

Highly lipophilic pluronics-conjugated polyamidoamine dendrimer nanocarriers as potential delivery system for hydrophobic drugs.

In the study, four kinds of pluronics (P123, F68, F127 and F108) with varying hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) values were modified and conjugated on 4th generation of polyamidoamine dendrimer (PAMAM). The obtained results from FT-IR, H NMR and GPC showed that the pluronics effectively conjugated on the dendrimer. The molecular weight of four PAMAM G4.

Hierarchical self-assembly of heparin-PEG end-capped porous silica as a redox sensitive nanocarrier for doxorubicin delivery.

Porous nanosilica (PNS) has been attracting a great attention in fabrication carriers for drug delivery system (DDS). However, unmodified PNS-based carriers exhibited the initial burst release of loaded bioactive molecules, which may limit their potential clinical application. In this study, the surface of PNS was conjugated with adamantylamine (A) via disulfide bonds (PNS-SS-A) which was functionalized with cyclodextrin-heparin-polyethylene glycol (CD-HPEG) for redox triggered doxorubicin (DOX) delivery.

Aquated cisplatin and heparin-pluronic nanocomplexes exhibiting sustainable release of active platinum compound and NCI-H460 lung cancer cell antiproliferation.

In recent decades, platinum compounds have been many contributions in medicine. Development of new drugs from the active platinum compounds as well as nanocarriers for targeted delivery and reducing side effects of the drugs has paid much attention. In the study, nanocomplexes were prepared from aquated species of cisplatin and pluronic-conjugated heparin which distributed in the range of 80-100 nm by Transmission Electron Microscopy and 134 nm by Dynamic light scattering (DLS).

Nonconventional three-finger toxin BMLCL from krait Bungarus multicinctus venom with high affinity interacts with nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

Nonconventional three-finger toxin BMLCL was isolated from B. multicinctus venom, and its interaction with different subtypes of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) was studied. It was found that BMLCL is able to interact with high efficiency with both α7 and muscle type nAChRs.

Pegylated dendrimer and its effect in fluorouracil loading and release for enhancing antitumor activity.

Dendrimer, a new class of hyper-branched polymer with predetermined molecular weight, is being received much attention in nano biomedical applications such as anticancer drug delivery, gene therapy, disease diagnosis and etc. In this study, polyamidoamine (PAMAM)-based dendrimer generation 3.0 (G 3.

Tetronic-grafted chitosan hydrogel as an injectable and biocompatible scaffold for biomedical applications.

In recent years, injectable chitosan-based hydrogels have been widely studied towards biomedical applications because of their potential performance in drug/cell delivery and tissue regeneration. In this study, we introduce a simple and organic solvent-free method to prepare tyramine-tetronic-grafted chitosan (TTeC) via activation of four terminal hydroxyl groups of tetronic, partial tyramine conjugate into the activated product and grafting the remaining activated moiety of tetronic-tyramine onto chitosan. The grafted copolymer was well characterized by UV-Visible, (1)H NMR, and Thermogravimetric analysis.