Gutmicrobiome modulation:Ancillary effects of inorganic nanoparticles on gut microflora

The association of gut microflora and human health is being increasingly recognized,and the impact of gut microflora on the host is well characterized,including the body’s energy metabolism and immune system maintenance.Several human diseases,including metabolic,autoimmune,obesity,hypothyroidism,and intestinal disorders,are closely associated with gut dysbiosis.Inorganic nanoparticles(NPs)are extensively utilized in numerous fields due to their distinctive,attractive physicochemical properties.Estimation of the potential impacts of NPs,with a high number of microorganisms inside the human body(microbiota)and its genomes(microbiome),represents one of the most important aspects of nano-toxicology.This review article aims to provide information on the association of gut microflora alterations to diseases and describe the impacts of various inorganic NPs,including silver,zinc,selenium,titania,silicon,and copper,on gut microflora.Research on the effect of inorganic NPs on gut microflora of animal models and the poultry industry is reviewed.The response of pathogenic Enterobacter species to inorganic NPs has been expounded in detail.This review also highlights the need to focus on the ancillary effects of various inorganic NPs on gut microflora to expedite the suitable advancement of these particles for future use.Finally,the key opportunistic areas for the application of nanotechnology are underlined to manipulate the microbiome of gut dysbiosis,provide an overview,and address potential challenges and our perspective on this evolving field.

Globodera pallida,a non-transgenic invertebrate as a new model for investigating Alzheimer’s disease(and other proteinopathies)?

Biological models of Alzheimer’s disease(AD):Non-human models have contributed tremendously to the understanding of AD and its underlying pathological processes.These models have aided the investigation of the genetic and environmental risk factors.They also have enabled the progression of candidate therapies into human clinical trials.Because of similarities with human brain anatomy and genetics,rodent models have been used extensively to recapitulate some aspects of AD pathology,measure AD-associated behavioral parameters and related nervous system dysfunctions(Eriksen and Janus,2007).For instance,transgenic mice overexpressing human amyloid precursor protein have furthered the development of the amyloid cascade hypothesis as a central pillar of familial AD.

Determination of isotretinoin in pharmaceutical formulations by reversed-phase HPLC

The development of facile and rapid quantification of biologically active biomolecules such as isotretitoin in therapeutic drugs contained in many generic formu- lations is necessary for determining their efficiency and their quality to improve the human health care. Isotretritoin finds its applications in the maintenance of epithelial tissues. Different processes to date such as normal phase HPLC, or gas chromatrography am- ong others are able to separate and quantify isote- troin. However, the extraction is quite complex and in the case of HPLC, the analysis requires long retention times. In such context, an isocratic reversed- phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HP- LC) technique coupled with an UV-vis detector is described here for easy separation and quantification of 13-cis-retinoic (isotretinoin) from soft gelatin capsule formulations. The isotretinoin was extracted from three different commercial drug samples with tetrahydrofuran (THF) solvent by a procedure that can be completed in less than 10 minutes. Subsequent separation and quantification were accomplished in less than 5 minutes under isocratic reversed-phase conditions on a Lichrospher RP18 column and a mobile phase consisting of 0.01% TFA/acetonitrile (15/85, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. Isotretoin was detected for the three samples via its UV-vis absorbance at 342 nm. The method was validated and the results showed good linearity, precision and accuracy for sensitive and selective quantitative determination of isotretinoin in the different pharmaceutical formulations. We found that the average isotretinoin content in two of the three commercial pro- ducts fell outside the 90-110% United States Pha- rmacopeia specifications. Consequently, the facile extraction and the precise method for the biomole- cule quantification open up tremendous possibilities in improving the quality control of drugs which can exist as different generic brands.

Surface Plasmon Resonance for C-Reactive Protein Detection in Human Plasma

In this work, we describe an approach of detecting biomarkers by Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging (SPRi) technique in real samples. Two C-Reactive Protein (CRP)-antibody immobilization methods were used: The first method was based on direct physisorption of CRP-antibody onto gold surface;the second one was based on oriented CRP-antibody with protein G intermediate layer. The two developed immunosensors were tested against CRP antigen in phosphate buffer saline solution with the SPRi technique. The response of the developed immunosensors was reproducible and stable. The detection limit of 10 pg&#183mL&#451 and 50 pg&#183mL&#451 CRP-antigen was observed with and without protein G respectively with this technique. Moreover, the developed SPRi immunosensor was used for CRP-antigen detection in human plasma. A detection limit of 5 ng&#183mL&#451 and 10 ng&#183mL&#451 was obtained with and without protein G respectively. These obtained results were compared to those obtained with QCM (Quartz Crystal Microbalance) and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) techniques.