Carbon nanospheres conjugated bisphosphonates: synthesis, characterization and in vitro antimalarial activity

Host inflammatory response and clinical parameters around implants in a rat model using systemic alendronate and zoledronate acid drug administrations

Implant outcomes in comparison to a natural tooth in a rat model using systemic alendronate and zoledronate acid drug administrations were assessed. Fifty-four Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly allocated into two experimental groups (drug application of zoledronic acid; 0.04 mg/kg intravenously once a week and alendronic acid; 0.2 mg/kg subcutaneously five times a week) and one control group with 18 animals in each group. Drug delivery was conducted for a period of 4 months. After 4 weeks either a zirconia or a titanium implant was immediately inserted in the socket of the first molar of the upper jaw. In vivo investigations included host inflammatory parameters and the implant survival and success rates for up to 3 months. Material incompatibilities against titanium and zirconia nanoparticles were evaluated in vitro after stimulation of rat spleen cells. In vivo, IL-6 release around titanium implants demonstrated significantly higher values in the control group (p = 0.02) when compared to the zoledronic acid group. Around the natural tooth without drug administration, the control group showed higher IL-6 values compared with the alendronic acid group (p = 0.01). In vitro, only lipopolysaccharide and not the implant’s nanoparticles stimulated significant IL-6 and TNFα production. In terms of the primary aim of in vivo and in vitro IL-6 and TNFα measurements, no implant material was superior to the other. No significant in vitro stimulation of rat spleen cells was detected with respect to titanium oxide and zirconium oxide nanoparticles.

Nanobiotechnological modules as molecular target tracker for the treatment and prevention of malaria: options and opportunity

Malaria is one of the major infectious diseases that remains a constant challenge to human being mainly due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of parasite and also the availability of drugs, which are non-specific for their pharmacodynamic activity and known to be associated with multiple side effects. The disease has acquired endemic proportions in tropical countries where the hygienic conditions are not satisfactory while the environmental conditions favor the proliferation of parasite and its transmission, particularly through the female anopheles. It is obvious that to square up the problems, there is a need for designing and development of more effective drugs, which can combat the drug-resistant strains of the parasite. Molecular biology of the parasite and its homing into host cellular tropics provide multiple drug targets that could judiciously be considered for engineering and designing of new generation antimalarial drugs and also drug delivery systems. Though the recent reports document that against malaria parasite the vaccine could be developed, nevertheless, due to smart mutational change overs by the parasite, it is able to bypass the immune surveillance. The developed vaccine therefore failed to assure absolute protection against the malarial infection. In the conventional mode of treatment antimalarial drugs, the dose and dosage regimen that is followed at large crops up the contraindicative manifestations, and hence compromising the effective treatment. The emerging trends and new updates in contemporary biological sciences, material sciences, and drug delivery domain have enabled us with the availability of a multitude of mode and modules which could plunge upon the nanotechnology in particular to treat this challenging infection. The nanotechnology-based option may be tuned or customized as per the requirements to mark and target i.e. the infected RBCs, for targeted drug delivery.

Ibandronate-Loaded Carbon Nanohorns Fabricated Using Calcium Phosphates as Mediators and Their Effects on Macrophages and Osteoclasts

Carbon nanohorns (CNHs), a type of nanocarbon, have been studied for the application of drug delivery systems (DDSs) because they are easily functionalized, support bone regeneration, can be used to perform photohyperthermia, have low toxicity, and are easily phagocytosed by macrophages. To take advantage of these features of CNHs, we developed a DDS for the local treatment of bone metastasis by loading the antibone resorption drug ibandronate (IBN) onto CNHs. The poor adsorption of IBN onto CNHs due to the weak hydrophilic-hydrophobic interaction was overcome by using calcium phosphates (CaPs) as mediators. In the fabrication process, we used oxidized CNH (OxCNH), which is less hydrophobic, onto which IBN was coprecipitated with CaP from a labile supersaturated CaP solution. OxCNH-CaP-IBN composite nanoparticles exerted stronger cell-suppressive effects than OxCNH and IBN in both murine macrophages (RAW264.7 cells) and osteoclasts (differentiated from RAW264.7 cells). OxCNH-CaP-IBN composite nanoparticles were efficiently phagocytosed by macrophage cells, where they specifically accumulated in lysosomes. The stronger cell-suppressive effects were likely due to intracellular delivery of IBN, i.e., the release of IBN from OxCNH-CaP-IBN composite nanoparticles via dissociation of CaP in the acidic environment of lysosomes. Our findings suggest that OxCNH-CaP-IBN composite nanoparticles are potentially useful for the local treatment of metastatic bone destruction.