Gold nanoparticles approach to detect chondroitin sulphate and hyaluronic acid urothelial coating

Esophagoprotective therapy in patients with erosive esophagitis

Aim. To evaluate the advantages of using combined therapy of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) and esophagoprotector in comparison with basic therapy of PPIs for 4 weeks based on the results of changes in the endoscopic picture.To compare the effectiveness of 4-week PPI therapy and 4-week combination therapy with PPI and esophagoprotector Alfasoxx (sodium hyaluronate, chondroitin sulfate, poloxomer 407) in patients with erosive esophagitis (EE) of any degree according to the Los Angeles Endoscopic Classification. Materials and methods. 81 patients with EE AC according to the Los Angeles endoscopic classification (1994) was enrolled in the study on the basis of the clinic of Peter the Great, Mechnikov North-Western State Medical University. By computer randomization, patients were divided into the control group 40 patients (pantoprazole 40 mg 1 time per day) and the intervention group 41 patients (pantoprazole 40 mg 1 time per day + Alfasoxx 1 sachet qid). The therapy was carried out for 4 weeks. In all patients before and after therapy, the frequency and severity of the main symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) were assessed, esophagogastroduodenoscopy was performed. Results. The advantage of combination therapy over standard PPI monotherapy in patients with EE was revealed. According to the results of the control endoscopy, healing of erosions of the esophageal mucosa was observed in 39 out of 41 (95.1%) patients in the intervention group and 32 out of 39 (82.1%) in the control group. The proportion of patients who showed an improvement in the endoscopic picture before and after treatment for 4 weeks by at least 1 level according to the Los Angeles classification was significantly higher in the comparison group 41 patients (100%), while in the control group 33 patients (85%); p0.009. After treatment, the combination therapy group had a lower incidence (p0.01) and severity of heartburn (p0.01). The same results are demonstrated by combination therapy regarding the symptom belching of air: in the study group after treatment, this symptom occurred less frequently (p=0.014), its severity was significantly less than in the control group (p0.01). There was a statistically significant decrease in the need for on-demand antacid therapy in the study group. Conclusion. In this study involving 81 patients with erosive GERD, the benefits of combination therapy were demonstrated. The addition of Alfasoxx medical device to PPI therapy increases the clinical and endoscopic efficacy of therapy. This positive effect is associated with the esophagoprotective properties of the drug, based on unique pharmacodynamic characteristics. Combination therapy for GERD is preferred in patients with EE. Studies have shown the expediency of using Alfasoxx in case of insufficient effectiveness of classical acid-suppressive therapy for GERD.

Hyaluronate-Thiol Passivation Enhances Gold Nanoparticle Peritumoral Distribution When Administered Intratumorally in Lung Cancer

Biofouling is the unwanted adsorption of cells, proteins, or intracellular and extracellular biomolecules that can spontaneously occur on the surface of metal nanocomplexes. It represents a major issue in bioinorganic chemistry because it leads to the creation of a protein corona, which can destabilize a colloidal solution and result in undesired macrophage-driven clearance, consequently causing failed delivery of a targeted drug cargo. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a bioactive, natural mucopolysaccharide with excellent antifouling properties, arising from its hydrophilic and polyanionic characteristics in physiological environments which prevent opsonization. In this study, hyaluronate-thiol (HA-SH) (MW 10 kDa) was used to surface-passivate gold nanoparticles (GNPs) synthesized using a citrate reduction method. HA functionalized GNP complexes (HA-GNPs) were characterized using absorption spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, zeta potential, and dynamic light scattering. GNP cellular uptake and potential dose-dependent cytotoxic effects due to treatment were evaluated in vitro in HeLa cells using inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and trypan blue and MTT assays. Further, we quantified the in vivo biodistribution of intratumorally injected HA functionalized GNPs in Lewis Lung carcinoma (LLC) solid tumors grown on the flank of C57BL/6 mice and compared localization and retention with nascent particles. Our results reveal that HA-GNPs show overall greater peritumoral distribution (** p < 0.005, 3 days post-intratumoral injection) than citrate-GNPs with reduced biodistribution in off-target organs. This property represents an advantageous step forward in localized delivery of metal nano-complexes to the infiltrative region of a tumor, which may improve the application of nanomedicine in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Chondroitin sulfate derived theranostic and therapeutic nanocarriers for tumor-targeted drug delivery

The standard chemotherapy is facing the challenges of lack of cancer selectivity and development of drug resistance. Currently, with the application of nanotechnology, the rationally designed nanocarriers of chondroitin sulfate (CS) have been fabricated and their unique features of low toxicity, biocompatibility, and active and passive targeting made them drug delivery vehicles of the choice for cancer therapy. The hydrophilic and anionic CS could be incorporated as a building block into- or decorated on the surface of nanoformulations. Micellar nanoparticles (NPs) self-assembled from amphiphilic CS-drug conjugates and CS-polymer conjugates, polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) and nanogels of CS have been widely implicated in cancer directed therapy. The surface modulation of organic, inorganic, lipid and metallic NPs with CS promotes the receptor-mediated internalization of NPs to the tumor cells. The potential contribution of CS and CS-proteoglycans (CSPGs) in the pathogenesis of various cancer types, and CS nanocarriers in immunotherapy, radiotherapy, sonodynamic therapy (SDT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer are summarized in this review paper.

Docetaxel-Loaded Hyaluronic Acid-Cathepsin B-Cleavable-Peptide-Gold Nanoparticles for the Treatment of Cancer

Gold nanoparticles are commonly used for medical applications such as drug delivery and as therapeutic and diagnostic materials because of their unique properties. In this study, we prepared docetaxel (DTX)-loaded hyaluronic acid-cleavable-peptide-gold nanoparticles for the treatment of cancer by selectively delivering DTX into the tumor and, thus, enhancing the therapeutic effect of DTX; further, we determined synergistic effects of the nanoparticles using laser treatment. The DTX-loaded hyaluronic acid-cleavable-peptide-gold nanoparticles prepared in this study had an average size of 75 nm and negative surface charge. The nanoparticles revealed greater cytotoxicity and higher tumor suppression efficacy in tumor models than free DTX under near-infrared laser irradiation. Therefore, the nanoparticle formulation prepared in this study could be utilized for targeted drug delivery and in combination with other cancer therapies.