Publications by authors named "Nushin Niknia"

This study reports for the first time the fabrication of highly porous aerogels of mixed gum tragacanth-polyvinyl alcohol (GT-PVA) for loading and oral delivery of silymarin (SM). Various analytical techniques were used to investigate changes in the physical, textural, mechanical and microstructural properties of aerogels as affected by blending ratio and vacuum impregnation (VI) of SM. Results showed that the mixing ratio of 1:1 led to aerogels of larger surface area (1029.

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In this study silymarin (SM) loaded cryo- and xerogels of gum tragacanth-polyvinyl alcohol (GT-PVA) were prepared and their physico-mechanical, microstructural and release properties were investigated. The results showed that unlike cryogels, which were highly porous, xerogels exhibited a densely packed agglomerated microstructure with a continuous network of cracks. The bulk density, mechanical strength and SM retention of xerogels were also much higher than those of cryogels.

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Gum tragacanth (GT) gels are usually formed by using chemical crosslinkers which cause safety concerns owing to their toxicity. This study introduces a novel and safe method for gelation of GT in the presence of small amounts of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) followed by successive freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles. Gel formation was performed at two GT: PVA mixing ratios (1:1 and 3:1), four F-T consecutive cycles and two different thawing temperatures (25 and 5°C).

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