In Vitro Evaluation of Hyperthermia Magnetic Technique Indicating the Best Strategy for Internalization of Magnetic Nanoparticles Applied in Glioblastoma Tumor Cells

This in vitro study aims to evaluate the magnetic hyperthermia (MHT) technique and the best strategy for internalization of magnetic nanoparticles coated with aminosilane (SPIONAmine) in glioblastoma tumor cells. SPIONAmine of 50 and 100 nm were used for specific absorption rate (SAR) analysis, performing the MHT with intensities of 50, 150, and 300 Gauss and frequencies varying between 305 and 557 kHz. The internalization strategy was performed using 100, 200, and 300 µgFe/mL of SPIONAmine, with or without Poly-L-Lysine (PLL) and filter, and with or without static or dynamic magnet field. The cell viability was evaluated after determination of MHT best condition of SPIONAmine internalization. The maximum SAR values of SPIONAmine (50 nm) and SPIONAmine (100 nm) identified were 184.41 W/g and 337.83 W/g, respectively, using a frequency of 557 kHz and intensity of 300 Gauss (≈23.93 kA/m). The best internalization strategy was 100 µgFe/mL of SPIONAmine (100 nm) using PLL with filter and dynamic magnet field, submitted to MHT for 40 min at 44 °C. This condition displayed 70.0% decreased in cell viability by flow cytometry and 68.1% by BLI. We can conclude that our study is promising as an antitumor treatment, based on intra- and extracellular MHT effects. The optimization of the nanoparticles internalization process associated with their magnetic characteristics potentiates the extracellular acute and late intracellular effect of MHT achieving greater efficiency in the therapeutic process.

In Vitro Activity of Clarithromycin against Intracellular Helicobacter pylori

ABSTRACT The in vitro intracellular effect of clarithromycin, amoxicillin, metronidazole, lansoprazole, and rifabutin, tested at concentrations corresponding to one times the MIC, two times the MIC, and four times the MIC, was evaluated against an invasive Helicobacter pylori strain. At four times the MIC, clarithromycin showed an early bactericidal effect within 4 h of incubation and, in determining the complete killing within a 16 h-incubation period, lansoprazole and rifabutin showed comparable activity, yielding bactericidal activities within 4 and 8 h of incubation, respectively. Amoxicillin and metronidazole showed bacteriostatic activity only.

Copper treatment alters the permeability of tight junctions in cultured human intestinal Caco-2 cells

The effects of copper on tight-junction permeability were investigated in human intestinal Caco-2 cells, monitoring transepithelial electrical resistance and transepithelial passage of mannitol. Apical treatment of Caco-2 cells with 10–100 μM CuCl2(up to 3 h) produced a time- and concentration-dependent increase in tight-junction permeability, reversible after 24 h in complete medium in the absence of added copper. These effects were not observed in cells treated with copper complexed to l-histidine [Cu(His)2]. The copper-induced increase in tight-junction permeability was affected by the pH of the apical medium, as was the apical uptake of64CuCl2, both exhibiting a maximum at pH 6.0. Treatment with CuCl2produced a concentration-dependent reduction in the staining of F actin but not of the junctional proteins zonula occludens-1, occludin, and E-cadherin and produced ultrastructural alterations to microvilli and tight junctions that were not observed after treatment with up to 200 μM Cu(His)2for 3 h. Overall, these data point to an intracellular effect of copper on tight junctions, mediated by perturbations of the F actin cytoskeleton.

Differential regulation of intracellular glucose metabolism by glucose and insulin in human muscle

Insulin and glucose stimulate glucose uptake in human muscle by different mechanisms. Insulin has well-known effects on glucose transport, glycogen synthesis, and glucose oxidation, but the effects of hyperglycemia on the intracellular routing of glucose are less well characterized. We used euglycemic and hyperglycemic clamps with leg balance measurements to determine how hyperglycemia affects skeletal muscle glucose storage, glycolysis, and glucose oxidation in normal human subjects. Glycogen synthase (GS) and pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC) activities were determined using muscle biopsies. During basal insulin replacement, hyperglycemia (11.6 +/- 0.31 mM) increased leg muscle glucose uptake (0.522 +/- 0.129 vs. 0.261 +/- 0.071 mumol.min-1 x 100 ml leg tissue-1, P < 0.05), storage (0.159 +/- 0.082 vs. -0.061 +/- 0.055, P < 0.05), and oxidation (0.409 +/- 0.080 vs. 0.243 +/- 0.085, P < 0.05) compared with euglycemia (6.63 +/- 0.33 mM). The increase in basal glucose oxidation due to hyperglycemia was associated with increased muscle PDHC activity (0.499 +/- 0.087 vs. 0.276 +/- 0.049, P < 0.05). However, the increase in leg glucose storage was not accompanied by an increase in muscle GS activity. During hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia (11.9 +/- 0.49 mM) also caused an additional increase in leg glucose uptake over euglycemia (6.14 +/- 0.42 mM) alone (5.75 +/- 1.25 vs. 3.75 +/- 0.58 mumol.min-1 x 100 ml leg-1, P < 0.05). In this case the major intracellular effect of hyperglycemia was to increase glucose storage (5.03 +/- 1.16 vs. 2.39 +/- 0.37, P < 0.05). At hyperinsulinemia, hyperglycemia had no effect on muscle GS or PDHC activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)