Development of Spray-Dried Micelles, Liposomes, and Solid Lipid Nanoparticles for Enhanced Stability.

Micelles, liposomes, and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) are promising drug delivery vehicles; however, poor aqueous stability requires post-processing drying methods for maintaining long-term stability. The objective of this study was to compare the potential of lipid-based micelles, liposomes, and SLNs for producing stable re-dispersible spray-dried powders with trehalose or a combination of trehalose and L-leucine. This study provides novel insights into the implementation of spray drying as a technique to enhance long-term stability for these lipid-based nanocarriers.

A Guinea Pig Model of Pediatric Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis: Poor Vitamin C Status May Advance Disease.

Children and teenagers display a distinct metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) phenotype, yet studies of childhood MASH are scarce and validated animal models lacking, limiting the development of treatments. Poor vitamin C (VitC) status may affect MASH progression and often co-occurs with high-fat diets and related metabolic imbalances. As a regulator of DNA methylation, poor VitC status may further contribute to MASH by regulating gene expression This study investigated guinea pigs-a species that, like humans, depends on vitC in the diet-as a model of pediatric MASH, examining the effects of poor VitC status on MASH hallmarks and global DNA methylation levels.

Changes in Vertical Stratification of Neotropical Nymphalid Butterflies at Forest Edges Are Not Directly Caused by Light and Temperature Conditions.

Habitat fragmentation and land use changes threaten neotropical habitats and alter patterns of diversity at forest edges. Like other arthropod assemblages, neotropical fruit-feeding butterfly communities show strong vertical stratification within forests, with some recent work showing its potential role in speciation. At forest edges, species considered to be forest canopy specialists have been observed descending to the forest understory, with the similarity in light conditions between the canopy and understory strata at edges hypothesized to be responsible for this phenomenon.

Tacrolimus- and Mycophenolate-Mediated Toxicity: Clinical Considerations and Options in Management of Post-Transplant Patients.

Tacrolimus and mycophenolate are important immunosuppressive agents used to prevent organ rejection in post-transplant patients. While highly effective, their use is associated with significant toxicity, requiring careful management. Tacrolimus, a calcineurin inhibitor, is linked to nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, metabolic disturbances such as diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular complications such as hypertension and arrhythmias.

Development and preclinical testing of a naloxone prodrug depot for extended protection against opioid overdose.

The opioid crisis, driven by synthetic opioids like fentanyl, demands innovative solutions. The opioid antidote naloxone has a short action ( ~ 1 hour), requiring repeated doses. To address this, we present a new and simple naloxone prodrug delivery system repurposing a hydrophilic derivative of acoramidis, a potent transthyretin ligand.

Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Mediated Weight Loss and Diabetes Mellitus Benefits: A Narrative Review.

Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are chronic diseases with increasing prevalence, underscoring the urgent need for effective treatment and management strategies. Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have emerged as an essential class of drugs for managing both obesity and T2DM, offering additional benefits for cardiovascular and kidney health. GLP-1 RAs work by targeting GLP-1 receptors, mimicking the effects of the natural hormone GLP-1 to regulate blood glucose levels, promote weight loss, and provide potential benefits for cardiovascular health.

Series expansion of a scalable Hermitian excitonic renormalization method.

Utilizing the sparsity of the electronic structure problem, fragmentation methods have been researched for decades with great success, pushing the limits of ab initio quantum chemistry ever further. Recently, this set of methods has been expanded to include a fundamentally different approach called excitonic renormalization, providing promising initial results. It builds a supersystem Hamiltonian in a second-quantized-like representation from transition-density tensors of isolated fragments, contracted with biorthogonalized molecular integrals.

5-Substituted Flavones-Another Class of Potent Triplex DNA-Specific Ligands as Antigene Enhancers.

In the field of drug development, the quest for novel compounds that bind to DNA with high affinity and specificity never ends. In the present work, we report the newest development in this field, namely, triplex DNA-specific binding ligands based on the 5-substituted flavone scaffold in our lab. Biophysical studies showed that the newly synthesized flavone derivatives (depending on the side chains) bind to triplex DNA with binding affinities better than or similar to 5-substituted 3,3',4',7-tetramethoxyflavonoids.

Evolving Treatment Strategies for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Clinical Practice: A Narrative Review.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that more commonly affects African American people, although it is seen in people of all racial backgrounds. This condition is characterized by a dysregulated immune response resulting in widespread inflammation. Clinical manifestations caused by this inflammation include arthritis, anemia, cutaneous rashes, pleuritis, and nephritis.

Deep Learning-Based Three-Dimensional Analysis Reveals Distinct Patterns of Condylar Remodelling After Orthognathic Surgery in Skeletal Class III Patients.

Objective: This retrospective study aimed to evaluate morphometric changes in mandibular condyles of patients with skeletal Class III malocclusion following two-jaw orthognathic surgery planned using virtual surgical planning (VSP) and analysed with automated three-dimensional (3D) image analysis based on deep-learning techniques.

Materials And Methods: Pre-operative (T1) and 12-18 months post-operative (T2) Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) scans of 17 patients (mean age: 24.8 ± 3.

Impacts of hazardous noise levels on hearing loss and tinnitus in dental professionals.

Background: Hazardous noise exposure is an important health concern in many workplaces and is one of the most common work-related injuries in the United States. Dental professionals are frequently exposed to high levels of occupational noise in their daily work environment. This noise is generated by various dental handpieces such as drills, suctions, and ultrasonic scalers.

Protein Sample Preparation for Bottom-Up, Label-Free Quantitative Proteomics of Adipose Tissue.

Adipose tissue (AT) is a complex, multifunctional endocrine organ that plays a significant role in animal evolution and human disease. Profiling of the proteome, or the set of proteins produced by a cell or tissue at a given time, can be used to explore the myriad functions of adipose tissue and understand its role in health and disease. The main challenges of adipose tissue proteomics include the high lipid and low protein content of the tissue and association of many proteins with lipid droplets.

Advancing 3D dental scanning: The use of photogrammetry with light detection and ranging for edentulous arches.

Statement Of Problem: The advent of computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD-CAM) has necessitated the acquisition of digital scans. However, there are limitations and problems with acquiring accurate 3-dimensional (3D) casts from edentulous patients, especially in the presence of saliva.

Purpose: The purpose of this in vitro study was to develop a novel approach for obtaining 3D casts of edentulous arches by using 2-dimensional (2D) images as an alternative to traditional 3D scanners with and without light detection and ranging (LiDAR).

Genetic Manipulation of Caveolin-1 in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Aortic Root Aneurysm: Sex-Dependent Effects on Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Function.

Marfan syndrome (MFS) is a systemic connective tissue disorder stemming from mutations in the gene encoding Fibrillin-1 (Fbn1), a key extracellular matrix glycoprotein. This condition manifests with various clinical features, the most critical of which is the formation of aortic root aneurysms. Reduced nitric oxide (NO) production due to diminished endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity has been linked to MFS aortic aneurysm pathology.

Conformational Flexibility of the C-Terminal Region Influences Distal Active Site Residues Across the Tautomerase Superfamily.

Consisting of more than 11,000 members distributed over five families, the tautomerase superfamily (TSF) is a large collection of proteins with diverse biological functions. While much attention has been given to individual TSF enzymes, a majority remain structurally and functionally uncharacterized. Given its large size, studying a representative member of each family offers a viable approach for extracting mechanistic insights applicable to the entire superfamily.

Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) Vaccine in America and Overseas: A Narrative Review.

This narrative review examines the role of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in global tuberculosis (TB) control efforts, with particular emphasis on the differences in vaccination policies between countries, such as the US, where routine BCG administration is not practiced. A significant complication of the BCG vaccine is false positive results in the tuberculin skin test (TST), often leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments. To address these issues, interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) have emerged as a more specific diagnostic tool that reduces false positives associated with prior BCG vaccination.

Inhibition of OATP1B1/3 Rather Than UGT1A1 May Be the Major Cause of the Bilirubin Elevation After Atazanavir Administration.

Atazanavir has been reported to increase total serum bilirubin level up to ninefold. It is widely believed that the observed total bilirubin elevation is primarily due to UGT1A1 inhibition. However, UGT enzymes are well-known as a low-affinity and high-capacity system, and the observed drug-drug interaction mediated by UGTs is usually less than twofold.

Effects of light, electromagnetic fields and water on biological rhythms.

The circadian rhythm controls a wide range of functions in the human body and is required for optimal health. Disruption of the circadian rhythm can produce inflammation and initiate or aggravate chronic diseases. The modern lifestyle involves long indoor hours under artificial lighting conditions as well as eating, working, and sleeping at irregular times, which can disrupt the circadian rhythm and lead to poor health outcomes.

Kratom: A Narrative Review of the Possible Clinical Uses and Dangers of This Opioid-Like Plant.

The term "kratom" refers to a plant species formally known as  Kratom is composed of over 40 alkaloids, a type of organic compound that contains nitrogen. These compounds work primarily via binding to opioid receptors expressed on neurons, where they stimulate signal transduction mechanisms involving the activation of G proteins. Kratom has been shown to cause both a stimulant-like effect and a sedative effect in humans.

Bridging from research evidence to treatment decisions: The case of treatment based on predicted mandibular growth.

Introduction: Norms for mandibular growth are well-established, but they have large variances, and no research has been conducted on how practitioners use them in clinical judgment to guide the treatment of individual patients.

Methods: Co-Pog projections of mandibular growth were combined from the Burlington and Michigan growth studies following statistical adjustments. Cervical measures were also evaluated.

Ageism and Ableism in Individuals Aging with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Biomedical and structural factors impact oral health for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The onset of age prevalent chronic diseases and conditions can result in new cognitive or physical disabilities leaving individuals with IDD to contend with ageism as well as ableism and further exclusion from the oral health care systems. Environments and attitudes that inform how health care systems are built and maintained significantly impact quality of life and outcomes, more than the fact of being disabled or old.