3D-printed morphology-customized microneedles: Understanding the correlation between their morphologies and the received qualities.

Despite remarkable progress in the last decade in transdermal microneedle drug delivery systems, great difficulties in precisely manufacturing microneedles with sophisticated microstructures still strongly retard their practical applications. Herein we propose morphology-customized microneedles (spiral, conical, cylindroid, ring-like, arrow-like and tree-like) fabricated by stereolithography (SLA) based 3D-printing technique, and in-depth investigate the correlation between the customized morphologies and the received qualities of the corresponding microneedles such as the mechanical properties and skin penetration behavior, drug loading capacity and the drug release profiles. Results indicated that 3D-printed morphology-customized microneedles not only enhanced the mechanical strength but also improved both drug loading capacity and drug release behavior, which resulted from their highly controllable and 3D-printable morphologies (surface area and volume).

Effects of L-carnitine supplementation on glucolipid metabolism: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

: L-carnitine supplementation has been utilized against glucolipid metabolism disruption. However, to the best of our knowledge, no meta-analysis process has analyzed the effects of L-carnitine supplementation on insulin resistance, fasting blood glucose, lipid metabolism, and liver enzyme levels in adults. : Through the analysis and screening of 12 221 studies, 15 studies were selected from eligible trials for meta-analysis.

Angiopoietin-Like 8 in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: Reduced Levels in Third Trimester Maternal Serum and Placenta, Increased Levels in Cord Blood Serum.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) poses a significant health risk to pregnant women, and thus exploring the potential underlying mechanism is highly desirable. The aim of the study was to compare maternal serum, cord blood serum, and placental angiopoietin-like 8 (ANGPTL8) levels in the third trimester of pregnancy in women with and without gestational diabetes and explore the potential underlying mechanism. A total of 42 pregnant women (23 with GDM and 19 with normal glucose tolerance (NGT)) along with 29 age-matched non-pregnant healthy females were enrolled.

Hydrophilic Excipient-Independent Drug Release from SLA-Printed Pellets.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology, specifically stereolithography (SLA) technology, has recently created exciting possibilities for the design and fabrication of sophisticated dosages for oral administration, paving a practical way to precisely manufacture customized pharmaceutical dosages with both personalized properties and sustained drug release behavior. However, the sustained drug release achieved in prior studies largely relies on the presence of hydrophilic excipients in the printing formulation, which unfortunately impedes the printability and formability of the corresponding printing formulations. The current study developed and prepared mini-sized oral pellets using the SLA technique and successfully accomplished a hydrophilic excipient-independent drug release behavior.

Recent progress of 3D-printed microneedles for transdermal drug delivery.

Microneedles as novel transdermal drug delivery systems have lately attracted extensive attention due to their distinguished properties, including improved patient compliance and self-administration, compared to traditional parenteral administrations such as intravenous injection, intramuscular injection and subcutaneous injection. However, the great difficulties of precisely manufacturing those microneedles and patches within micro scale have strongly retarded their commercialization and clinical applications, particularly for the personalized medicine. Recently, numerous researches of utilizing 3D-priting process to fabricate transdermal drug delivery systems have been reported, not only adopting versatile printing methodologies, but also utilizing with different formulation strategies, to fabricate both artificial cargo delivery systems and sophisticated bio-inspired microneedles.

Neuropeptide Y-Positive Neurons in the Dorsomedial Hypothalamus Are Involved in the Anorexic Effect of Angptl8.

Angiopoietin-like protein 8 (Angptl8), a recently identified member of the angiopoietin-like protein family (ANGPTLs), is a 22-kDa peptide synthesized in the liver. It participates in lipid metabolism by inhibiting lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity, consequently increasing the triglyceride levels. Despite evidence that Angptl8 is involved in feeding control, the underlying mechanisms are unclear.

The roles of bone morphogenetic protein 2 in perfluorooctanoic acid induced developmental cardiotoxicity and l-carnitine mediated protection.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a wide spread environmental pollutant, was associated with developmental cardiotoxicity in chicken embryo, while the underlying molecular mechanism had not been fully elucidated. In the current study, 2 mg/kg (egg weight) PFOA and/or 100 mg/kg (egg weight) l-carnitine were exposed to embryonic day zero (ED0) chicken embryo via air cell injection, and then bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP2) silencing lentivirus or BMP2 recombinant protein were introduced into ED2 embryo. Electrocardiography and histological methods were utilized to assess the cardiac function and morphology in hatchling chickens, respectively.

Effects of HV-CRRT on PCT, TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 in patients with pancreatitis complicated by acute renal failure.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of high-volume continuous renal replacement therapy (HV-CRRT) on procalcitonin (PCT), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 in acute pancreatitis complicated by acute renal failure. Eighty-six patients with acute pancreatitis complicated with acute renal failure were selected from September 2014 to September 2016 in our hospital, and were treated by continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH). The patients were randomly divided into the observation group, treated by the HV-CVVH model with a displacement rate of 4 l/h, and the control group, treated by the normal capacity model with a displacement rate of 2 l/h.

Protective effects of Arctium lappa L. root extracts (AREs) on high fat diet induced quail atherosclerosis.

Background: This study was designed to evaluate the protective effects of Arctium lappa L. root extracts (AREs) from different extraction methods (aqueous, ethanol, chloroform and flavone) on atherosclerosis.

Methods: Quails (Coturnix coturnix) were subjected to high fat diet, with or without one of the four different AREs or positive control simvastatin.

Modulation of oxidized-LDL receptor-1 (LOX1) contributes to the antiatherosclerosis effect of oleanolic acid.

Oleanolic acid (OA) is a bioactive pentacyclic triterpenoid. The current work studied the effects and possible mechanisms of OA in atherosclerosis. Quails (Coturnix coturnix) were treated with high fat diet with or without OA.

L-carnitine ameliorated fatty liver in high-calorie diet/STZ-induced type 2 diabetic mice by improving mitochondrial function.

Background: There are an increasing number of patients suffering from fatty liver caused by type 2 diabetes. We intended to study the preventive and therapeutic effect of L-carnitine (LC) on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetic mice and to explore its possible mechanism.

Methods: Thirty male Kungming mice were randomly divided into five groups: control group, diabetic group, pre-treatment group (125 mg/kg BW), low-dose (125 mg/kg BW) therapeutic group and high-dose (250 mg/kg BW) therapeutic group.

Effect of combination of dizocilpine with general antiepileptic drugs on amygdala kindling models in rats.

Aim: To investigate the antiepileptic effect of dizocilpine (MK-801) on amygdala kindling models in rats and the effects of its combination with general antiepileptic drugs.

Methods: To establish amygdala kindling models in rats and observe the effect of dizocilpine on kindling models and its combination with general antiepileptic drugs (phenobarbital, valproate and nicardipine) at ineffective dose. The influence of dizocilpine on convulsions induced by semicarbazide (SCZ) in mice were also observed.