Development and evaluation of protamine-coated PLGA nanoparticles for nose-to-brain delivery of tacrine: In-vitro and in-vivo assessment

Insulin is a peptide hormone with many physiological functions, besides its use in diabetes treatment. An important role of insulin is related to the wound healing process—however, insulin itself is too sensitive to the external environment requiring the protective of a nanocarrier. Polymer-based nanoparticles can protect, deliver, and retain the protein in the target area. This study aims to produce and characterize a topical treatment for wound healing consisting of insulin-loaded poly-DL-lactide/glycolide (PLGA) nanoparticles. Insulin-loaded nanoparticles present a mean size of approximately 500 nm and neutral surface charge. Spherical shaped nanoparticles are observed by scanning electron microscopy and confirmed by atomic force microscopy. SDS-PAGE and circular dichroism analysis demonstrated that insulin preserved its integrity and secondary structure after the encapsulation process. In vitro release studies suggested a controlled release profile. Safety of the formulation was confirmed using cell lines, and cell viability was concentration and time-dependent. Preliminary safety in vivo assays also revealed promising results.

Download Full-text

In vivo assessment of a single adenine mutation in 5′UTR of Endothelin-1 gene in paediatric cases with severe pulmonary hypertension: an observational study

BMC Research Notes ◽

10.1186/s13104-021-05609-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Abhishek Kumar ◽

Minati Choudhury ◽

Sakshi Dhingra Batra ◽

Kriti Sikri ◽

Anushree Gupta

Keyword(s):

Pulmonary Hypertension ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Small Sample ◽

Severe Pulmonary Hypertension ◽

Endothelin 1 ◽

Circulating Levels ◽

In Vivo Assessment

Abstract Objective Endothelin-1 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of severe pulmonary hypertension. The + 139 ‘A’, adenine insertion variant in 5′UTR of edn1 gene has been reported to be associated with increased expression of Endothelin-1 in vitro. The aim of present study was to explore the association of this variant with the circulating levels of Endothelin-1 in vivo using archived DNA and plasma samples from 38 paediatric congenital heart disease (cyanotic and acyanotic) patients with severe pulmonary hypertension. Results The plasma Endothelin-1 levels were highly varied ranging from 1.63 to75.16 pg/ml. The + 139 ‘A’ insertion variant in 5′UTR of edn1 was seen in 8 out of 38 cases with only one acyanotic sample demonstrating homozygosity of inserted ‘A’ allele at + 139 site (4A/4A genotype). The plasma Endothelin-1 levels in children with homozygous variant 3A/3A genotype were comparable in cyanotic and acyanotic groups. Lone 4A/4A acyanotic sample had ET-1 levels similar to the median value of ET-1 associated with 3A/3A genotype and was absent in cyanotic group presumably due to deleterious higher ET-1 levels. The discussed observations, limited by the small sample size, are suggestive of homozygous adenine insertion variant posing a risk in cyanotic babies with Severe Pulmonary Hypertension.

Download Full-text