Fabrication of α-Fe2O3 Nanostructures: Synthesis, Characterization, and Their Promising Application in the Treatment of Carcinoma A549 Lung Cancer Cells

Advancements in Nano-Mandoor Bhasma: Unravelling the Particle Size-Ascorbic Acid Synergy for Enhanced Iron Bioavailability for Anemia Treatment

Mandoor Bhasma (MB) medicine, based on classical Indian Ayurveda, was size- and surface-modified to improve its therapeutic efficiency for treating iron-deficient anemia. Physical grinding reduced the size of MB to the nanoparticle (nano-MB) range without changing its chemical composition, as measured by particle size distribution. The surface of nano-MB was modified with ascorbic acid (nano-AA-MB) and confirmed using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. Enhanced iron dissolution from the surface-modified nano-AA-MB under neutral-to-alkaline pH conditions, and in the intestinal region of the simulated gastrointestinal tract (GIT) digestion model was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. GIT digestae of MB microparticles and nano-AA-MB were found to be biocompatible in human colon epithelial (Caco-2) cells, with the latter showing threefold higher iron uptake. Subsequently, a dose-dependent increase in cellular ferritin protein was observed in the nano-AA-MB digestae-treated Caco-2 cells, indicating the enhanced bioavailability and storage of dissolved iron. Overall, the study showed that reducing the size of centuries-old traditional Mandoor Bhasma medicine to nanoscale, and its surface-modification with ascorbic acid would help in enhancing its therapeutic abilities for treating iron-deficient anemia.

Emerging Nanotechnology-based Therapeutics: A New Insight into Promising Drug Delivery System for Lung Cancer Therapy

BACKGROUND

Lung cancer is a foremost global health issue due to its poor diagnosis. The advancement of novel drug delivery systems and medical devices will aid its therapy.

OBJECTIVE

In this review, the authors thoroughly introduce the ideas and methods for improving nanomedicine- based approaches for lung cancer therapy. This article provides mechanistic insight into various novel drug delivery systems (DDSs) including nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, liposomes, dendrimers, niosomes, and nanoemulsions for lung cancer therapy with recent research work. This review provides insights into various patents published for lung cancer therapy based on nanomedicine. This review also highlights the current status of approved and clinically tested nanoformulations for their treatment.

METHODOLOGY

For finding scholarly related data for the literature search, many search engines were employed including PubMed, Science Direct, Google, Scihub, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Web of Sciences, and several others. Various keywords and phrases were used for the search such as "nanoparticles", "solid lipid nanoparticles", "liposomes", "dendrimers", "niosomes", "nanoemulsions", "lung cancer", "nanomedicine", "nanomaterial", "nanotechnology", "in vivo" and "in vitro". The most innovative and cutting-edge nanotechnology-based approaches that are employed in pre-clinical and clinical studies to address problems associated with lung cancer therapies are also mentioned in future prospects. A variety of problems encountered with current lung cancer therapy techniques that frequently led to inadequate therapeutic success are also discussed in the end.

CONCLUSION

The development of nanoformulations at the pilot scale still faces some difficulties, but their prospects for treating lung cancer appear to be promising in the future. Future developments and trends are anticipated as the evaluation comes to a close.

Synthesis and characterization of chitosan/carbon quantum dots/Fe2O3 nanocomposite comprising curcumin for targeted drug delivery in breast cancer therapy

Curcumin, a natural compound with promising anti-cancerous features, suffers from a number of shortcomings such as low chemical stability, bioavailability, and solubility, which impedes its application as an alternative for conventional cancer therapy. In this study, curcumin comprising Fe2O3/Chitosan/CQDs was fabricated through double emulsion method (W/O/W) for the first time to exploit its anticancer features while alleviating its limitation, making this nanocomposite promising in targeted drug delivery. Chitosan, a hydrophilic biopolymer, has incorporated to constitute an adhesive pH-sensitive matrix that can trap the hydrophobic drug resulting in controlled drug release in cancerous environment. Carbon quantum dots render luminescence and water solubility properties, which is favorable for tracing drug release and bio imaging along with enhancement of biocompatibility. Fe2O3 can improve chemical stability and bioavailability in addition to anti-cancerous property. XRD and FTIR analysis confirmed the physical interaction between the drug and fabricated nano composite in addition to chemical bonding between the prepared nano composite. Matrix and spherical structure of the formed drug is corroborated by FESEM analysis. DLS analysis' results determine the mean size of the nano composite at about 227.2 nm and zeta potential result is indicative of perfect stability of the fabricated drug. Various kinetic models for drug release were fitted to experimental data in order to investigate the drug release in which Korsmeyer-Peppas' model was the predominant release system in cancerous environment. In vitro studies through flow cytometry and MTT assay exerted noticeable cytotoxicity effect on MCF-7 cell lines. It can be deduced from these results that curcumin encapsulated with CS/CQDs/Fe2O3 nanocomposites is an excellent alternative for targeted drug delivery.

Protective role of iron oxide nanocomposites on disease index, and biochemical resistance indicators against Fusarium oxysporum induced-cucumber wilt disease: In vitro, and in vivo studies

Recently nanocomposites have become a super-growth inducers as well as vital antifungal agents, which enhance plant growth and suppress plant diseases. A new strategy regarding the fabrication of humic acid (H) and boron (B) conjugated Fe₂O₃ nanocomposites was performed. Fe₂O₃ NP-B and Fe₂O₃ NP-H were synthesized in the presence of gamma-rays (as a direct reducing agent). Gamma-rays provoked reduction of metal ions due to the liberated reducing electrons, (e^-_aq), in aqueous solutions which can be considered as direct reduction. Antifungal potential against Fusarium oxysporum, the causative agent of wilt disease in cucumber was determined. Disease index percent, metabolic resistance indicators in cucumber plant as response to promotion of systemic resistance (SR) were recorded. Results illustrated that both Fe₂O₃ NPs-B and Fe₂O₃ NPs-H had antifungal activity against F. oxysporum in vitro as well as in vivo. Results revealed that minimum inhibitory concentrations of Fe₂O₃ NPs-B and Fe₂O₃ NPs-H were 0.25 and 0.125 mM, respectively. Application of Fe₂O₃ NPs-B (0.25 mM) and Fe₂O₃ NPs-H (0.125 mM) appeared highly reduced the cucumber wilt disease symptoms incidence caused by F. oxysporum, and recorded disease severity by 83.33%. Fe₂O₃ NPs-B was the best treatment reducing disease indexes by 20.83% and gave highly protection against wilt disease by 75.0% and came next Fe₂O₃ NPs-H which reduced disease indexes by 25% and gave 69.99% protection against disease. Fe₂O₃ NPs-B and Fe₂O₃ NPs-H treatments improved morphological traits, photosynthetic pigments, osmolytes, total phenol and antioxidant enzymes activities in both infected and non-infected plants. The beneficial effects of the Fe₂O₃ NPs-B and Fe₂O₃ NPs-H were extended to increase not only the total phenol, and total soluble protein content but also the activities of peroxidase (POD), and polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes of the healthy and infected cucumber plants in comparison with control.

In Situ Biosynthesis of Reduced Alpha Hematite (α-Fe2O3) Nanoparticles by Stevia Rebaudiana L. Leaf Extract: Insights into Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Anticancer Properties

In the present study, we utilized Stevia rebaudiana L. (SRLe) extract to in situ biosynthesize nanoscale alpha hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) nanoparticles (NPs) with potent antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anticancer properties. SRLe-α-Fe₂O₃ was characterized using physiochemical analyses, including UV/Vis, FTIR, XRD, DLS, EDX, SEM, and TEM studies. Among tested solvents, CHCl₃/MeOH (2:1 v/v) SRL extract (least polar solvent) contained the highest EY, TPC, and antioxidant capacity of ~3.5%, ~75 mg GAE/g extract, and IC₅₀ = 9.87 ± 0.7 mg/mL, respectively. FTIR confirmed the engagement of coating operation to the colloidal α-Fe₂O₃ NPs. TEM, SEM, and DLS revealed that SRLe-α-Fe₂O₃ has a spherical shape, uniform size distribution with aggregation for an average size of ~18.34 nm, and ζ = −19.4 mV, forming a repulsive barrier that helped to improve stability. The synthesized nanoparticles displayed considerable antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus bacterial growth, and exhibited superior activity against the A549 lung cancer cell lines. These findings indicate that the increased availability of bioactive substances with antioxidant properties of SRLe makes it a potentially interesting material for the preparation of biologically active compounds and green synthesis of nanoparticles.