Bioengineered Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle-Loaded Hydrogel for Combinative Treatment of Spinal Cord Transection

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most destructive diseases. The neuroinflammation microenvironment needs comprehensive mitigation of damages. Thus, regulation of local, microenvironment drugs could be a potential effective treatment. However, clinical studies on SCI with common treatment have reported it to cause systemic toxicity and side effects. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) have been widely reported to have satisfying anti-inflammation function. Furthermore, green synthesis procedures can improve the capability and possible utilization of ZnONPs. However, the efficient administration and underlying mechanism of ZnONPs in SCI treatment remain unclear. Herein, an innovative approach was built by utilizing ZnONPs loaded in a skeletal muscle-derived adhesive hydrogel (ZnONPs-Gel). Different from the systemic application of ZnONPs, the local administration of ZnONPs-Gel offered the ZnONPs-loaded extracellular matrix with beneficial biocompatibility to the injured spinal cord, thereby promoting effective function recovery. Mechanistically, the ZnONPs-Gel treatment not only markedly reduced ROS production but also decreased apoptosis in the injured spinal cord. Therefore, the strategy based on local administration of the ZnONPs-Gel in the early stage of SCI may be an effective therapeutic treatment.

Effect of the clathrate complex of selenopyran and β-cyclodextrin on the rate of healing of a conditionally aseptic full-thickness planar wound in rats

Introduction. Selenopyran is an organic selenium compound with sharply hydrophobic properties. An increase in solubility in water (and as a consequence – and bioavailability) is possible due to the formation of inclusion complexes with cyclodextrins.Aim. The aim of this work was to study the effect of a gel containing a clathrate complex of selenopyran with β-cyclodextrin on the rate of wound healing on a model of a conditionally aseptic full-thickness planar wound in rats.Materials and methods. The object of the study was a gel containing a clathrate complex of selenopyran with β-cyclodextrin (the content of selenopyran in the gel was 0.1 %). A model of a full-thickness planar wound in sexually mature male rats was used. 20 individuals were divided into 2 groups – intact (without treatment) and experimental (received gel treatment). Efficacy was assessed by the change in wound area at 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 14 days after application of wound.Results and discussion. The results of the study showed that the relative area of the wounds in the treated animals by the 3rd day of the experiment was less than in the intact ones. On the fifth day of the experiment, the differences were statistically significant (57.49 ± 12.51 % in treated animals versus 85.27 ± 26.61 % in intact animals). By the 14th day of the experiment, there were practically no differences in the groups of animals.Conclusion. The results obtained indicate that when using a gel containing selenopyran in combination with β-cyclodextrin, it accelerates the transition from the inflammation phase to the proliferation phase. This is most likely due to the antioxidant properties of selenopyran. Considering the lower concentration of selenopyran in comparison with the therapeutic concentrations of other antioxidants (taurine, allantoin), it can be considered as a promising wound healing agent for further study.

A Successful Field Application of Polymer Gel for Water Shutoff in a Fractured Tight Sandstone Reservoir

The wide existence of fractures makes conformance control by polymer gels more challenging in water-flooded oil reservoirs. Selection of an applicable gel system and design of an intelligent approach for gel treatment are key components for a successful field application. Moreover, selecting the candidate wells and determining the injection volume of gel are also critical to the success of gel treatments. A gel system with adjustable polymer concentrations was applied for conformance control in fractured tight sandstone reservoir, and notably, less than 5% of syneresis was detected after aging for one year at reservoir condition. The viscosity and the gelation time of this gel system can be adjusted according to the targeted reservoir conditions. The pilot test was conducted in Huabei oilfield (China), and the oil recovery after water flooding was only about 20% original oil in place (OOIP). With further exploitation of the oil field, the majority of the reservoir has suffered from poor sweep efficiency and extremely high water cuts. To characterize the distribution of fractures, the seismic coherence cube was utilized. In addition, the pressure transient test, interwell tracer test and the injection-production data were used collaboratively to determine the volume of fractures in the reservoir. The option of gel formulation and the determination of operational parameters are mainly based on the wellhead pressure. According to the seismic coherence cube, the zone of candidate well group shows a weak coherence state, indicating that numerous fractures exist. Furthermore, there is good continuity between the candidate injection well and the production well. According to the pressure transient test, the volume of re-open fracture is about 1730.9 m3, while the volume of micro-fracture is about 4839.4 m3. Comparably, based on the interwell tracer test, the estimated volume of fractures is approximately 3219.7 m3. Consequently, the designed volume of gel for treatment is 1500.0 m3 in total. The properties of gel slugs were carefully designed, which was tailored to the specific wellbore conditions and formation characteristics. Three months after the gel treatment, the average oil production was increased from 0.36 t/d to 0.9 t/d, and the water cut was decreased from 95.77% to 88.7%. The improved oil production was still benefited from this gel treatment after one year. This study provides a comprehensive approach, from optimization of gel formulation, followed by selection of candidate wells, to calculation of the injected volume, to design the viable operational parameters, for gel treatment field application in fractured reservoirs. It shows that, besides a gel system with superior properties, a suitable injected volume of gel may enhance the chance of success for gel treatments.

Design of in-Depth Conformance Gel Treatment to De-Risk ASP Flooding in a Major Carbonate Reservoir

Mature carbonate reservoirs under waterflood in Kuwait suffer from relatively low oil recovery due to poor sweep efficiency, both areal and microscopic. An Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) pilot is in progress targeting the Sabriyah Mauddud (SAMA) reservoir in pursuit of reserves growth and production sustainability. SAMA suffers from reservoir heterogeneities mainly associated with permeability contrast which may be improved with a conformance treatment to de-risk pre-mature breakthrough of water and chemical EOR agents in preparation for subsequent ASP injection and to improve reservoir contact by the injected fluids. Design of the gel conformance treatment was multi-faceted. Rapid breakthrough of tracers at the pilot producer from each of the individual injectors, less than 3 days, implied a direct connection from the injectors to the producer and poses significant risk to the success of the pilot. A dynamic model of the SAMA pilot was used to estimate in the potential injection of either a high viscous polymer solution (~200 cp) or a gel conformance treatment to improve contact efficiency, diverting injected fluid into oil saturated reservoir matrix. High viscosity polymer injection scenarios were simulated in the extracted subsector model and showed little to no effect on diverting fluids from the high permeability streak into the matrix. Gel conformance treatment, however, provides benefit to the SAMA pilot with important limitations. Gel treatment diverts injected fluid from the high permeability zone into lower permeability, higher oil saturated reservoir. After a gel treatment, the ASP increases the oil cut from 3% to 75% while increasing the cumulative oil recovery by more than 50 MSTB oil over ASP following a high viscosity polymer slug alone. Laboratory design of the gel conformance system for the SAMA ASP pilot involved blending of two polymer types (AN 125SH, an ATBS type polymer, and P320 VLM and P330, synthetic copolymers) and two crosslinkers (chromium acetate and X1050, an organic crosslinker). Bulk testing with the polymer-crosslinker combinations indicated that SAMA reservoir brine resulted in not gel system that would work in the SAMA reservoir, resulting in the recommendation of using 2% KCl in treated water for gel formulation. AN 125 SH with S1050 produce good gels but with short gelation times and AS 125 SH with chromium acetate developed low gels consistency in both waters. P330 and P320 VLM gave good gels with slow gelation times with X1050 crosslinker in 2% KCl. Corefloods with the P330-X 1050 showed good injectivity and ultimately a reduction of permeability of about 200-fold. A P330-X 1050 was recommended for numerical simulation studies. Numerical simulator was calibrated by matching bulk gel viscosity increases and coreflood permeability changes. Numerical simulation indicated two of the four injection wells (SA-0557 and SA-0559) injection profile will change compared to water. Overall injection rate was reduced by the conformance treatment and was the corresponding oil rate. Total oil production from the center pilot production well (SA-0560) decreased with gel treatment but ultimately increased to greater rates

Field Implementation of In-Depth Conformance Gel Treatment Prior to Starting an ASP Flooding Pilot

Mature carbonate reservoirs under waterflood in Kuwait suffer from relatively low oil recovery due to poor volumetric sweep efficiency, both areal, vertically, and microscopically. An Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) pilot using a regular five-spot well pattern is in progress targeting the Sabriyah Mauddud (SAMA) reservoir in pursuit of reserves growth and production sustainability. SAMA suffers from reservoir heterogeneities mainly associated with permeability contrast which may be improved with a conformance treatment to de-risk pre-mature breakthrough of water and chemical EOR agents in preparation for subsequent ASP injection and to improve reservoir contact by the injected fluids. Each of the four injection wells in the SAMA ASP pilot was treated with a chemical conformance improvement formulation. A high viscosity polymer solution (HVPS) of 200 cP was injected prior to a gelant formulation consisting of P300 polymer and X1050 crosslinker. After a shut-in period, wells were then returned to water injection. Injection of high viscosity polymer solution (HVPS) at the four injection wells showed no increase in injection pressure and occurred higher than expected injection rates. Early breakthrough of polymer was observed at SA-0561 production well from three of the four injection wells. No appreciable change in oil cut was observed. HVPS did not improve volumetric sweep efficiency based on the injection and production data. Gel treatment to improve the volumetric conformance of the four injection wells resulted in all the injection wells showing increased of injection pressure from approximately 3000 psi to 3600 psi while injecting at a constant rate of approximately 2,000 bb/day/well. Injection profiles from each of the injection well ILTs showed increased injection into lower-capacity zones and decreased injection into high-capacity zones. Inter-well tracer testing showed delayed tracer breakthrough at the center SA-0561 production well from each of the four injection wells after gel placement. SA-0561 produced average daily produced temperature increased from approximately 40°C to over 50°C. SA-0561 oil cuts increased up to almost 12% from negligible oil sheen prior to gel treatments. Gel treatment improved volumetric sweep efficiency in the SAMA SAP pilot area.

Synthesis and characterization of mesoporous gamma-alumina by glucose as soft-template for molybdenum-99 adsorption: high and low molar ratio of water to aluminium isopropoxide effect

The mesoporous gamma-alumina is a good material for metal adsorption. Its textural properties are excellent, mainly for molybdenum-99 radioisotopes adsorption as part of 99Mo/99mTc generator in nuclear medicine. In this work, we have prepared mesoporous gamma-alumina by sol-gel treatment in the presence of glucose as a soft template. The molar ratio of reactant (water: aluminium isopropoxide(AIP)) was applied in the high and low ratios (150:1 and 25:1). The resulted mesoporous gamma-alumina was investigated using characterization analysis of X-ray diffraction, Nitrogen adsorption-desorption, and FTIR. The results indicate that the mesoporous gamma-alumina in the high molar ratio of water to AIP had a higher surface area and better crystallinity than the low molar ratio of reactants. Furthermore, in the Mo adsorption test, the mesoporous gamma-alumina with the high molar ratio posed a higher Mo adsorption capacity up to 55.69 mg Mo g−1 adsorbent. In the future, the molar ratio of reactants should be tuned in the range of around 150:1 to obtain the optimal Mo adsorption capacities of the resulted mesoporous gamma-alumina using the glucose template.

Prevalence of androgen deficiency in aging male in an outpatient population and effects of testosterone gel reposition therapy

Background: Androgen deficiency in aging male (ADAM) is characterized by hypogonadism with symptoms such as reduced sexual desire, muscle mass loss, among others. The treatment with testosterone gel and the results around weight and other indicators are the research objects. Objective: Analysis of association between ADAM and obesity in the outpatient population studied and to verify the outcomes of the testosterone gel treatment. Materials & Methods: From a group of 126 outpatients of University Hospital Mário Palmério, 40 were selected with total testosterone lower than 300ng/dL, upon the signature of written informed consent form and the realization of laboratory tests. After new testosterone dosage and urologic evaluation, 6 patients were treated for an average time of 6 months. Initially the dosage was 50 mg/day, with medical consultations and laboratory tests to verify the effects and to adjust the dosage. The variables analyzed were BMI, abdominal circumference, weight, muscle mass, body and visceral fat, in addition to testosterone serum dosages, lipid profile, amongst others, considering the test t among the beginning and end of treatment, defining the significance level by p<0,05. Results: Significant increase of total testosterone levels (p<0,001) and a tendency of improvement in the free testosterone levels (p=0,061) and no significant reduction of BMI (p=0,4308), abdominal circumference (p=0,1695), weight (p=0,999), body fat (p=0,194) and muscle mass (p=0,632), while visceral fat increased (p=0,5265). Vitamin D had no significant increase (p=0,2422). Conclusion: The total testosterone level was increased after the testosterone gel treatment with statistical significance, however there must be new research with more subjects with ADAM to prove the benefits of this treatment.

Efficacy of the Endolysin-Based Antibacterial Gel for Treatment of Anaerobic Infection Caused by Fusobacterium necrophorum

Abscess formation is a common complication of severe life-threatening infections caused by obligate anaerobes. Fusobacterium necrophorum is among the frequently detected anaerobic pathogens from clinical specimens associated with liver abscesses, skin and soft tissue infections, or oral abscesses. The antimicrobial therapy for this kind of infection needs to be optimized. Here, we examined the possibility of treating F. necrophorum-induced abscess wound infections with candidate therapeutics based on three endolysins with activity against a broad spectrum of aerobe Gram-negative pathogens. Antibacterial gel containing three Gram-negative bacteria-targeting endolysins, LysAm24, LysAp22, and LysECD7, was formulated for topical use. Abscess formation was induced in rabbits with F. necrophorum and caused systemic infection. The survival and lifespan of the animals, general parameters, and biochemical and hematological blood tests were analyzed to assess the effectiveness of the gel treatment for the wound infection. The administration of the investigated gel twice per day for 5 days resulted in less acute inflammation, with decreased leukocytes and segmented neutrophils in the blood, retardation of infection progression, and an almost two-fold increase in the lifespan of the animals compared to the placebo group. The results indicate that endolysin-based therapy is an effective approach to treat anaerobic bacterial infections. The use of endolysins as independent pharmaceuticals, or their combination with antibiotics, could significantly reduce the development of complications in infectious diseases caused by sensitive bacterial species.