Microfluidic nanoparticle synthesis for oral solid dosage forms: A step toward clinical transition processes

Nanomedicine provides various opportunities for addressing medical challenges associated with drug bioavailability, stability, and efficacy. In particular, oral nanoparticles (NPs) represent an alternative strategy to enhance the solubility and stability of active ingredients through the gastrointestinal tract. The nanocarriers could be used for both local and systemic targeting, enabling controlled release of encapsulated drugs. This approach allows more efficient therapies. In this work, we aim to develop reliable oral solid dosage forms incorporating NPs produced by either one pot synthesis or continuous production, following protocols that yield highly consistent outcomes, promoting their technology transfer and clinical use. Microfluidics technology was selected to allow an automated and highly productive synthetic approach suitable for the highly throughput production. In particular, innovative systems, which combine advantage of NPs and solid dosage formulation, were designed, developed, and characterized demonstrating the possibility to obtaining oral administration. The resulting NPs were thus carried on oral dosage forms, i.e., pellets and minitablets. NPs resulted stable after dosage forms manufacturing, leading to confidence also on protection of encapsulated drugs. Indomethacin was used as a tracer to test biopharmaceutical behaviour. Anti-inflammatories or cytotoxic chemotherapeutics could be vehiculated leading to a breakthrough in the treatment of severe diseases allowing the oral administration of these drugs. We believe that the advancement achieved with the results of our work paves the way for the progression of nanoproducts into clinical transition processes.

Calcitonin: Its hormonal action on the gill

When isolated salmon gills were perfused under simulated in vivo conditions, norepinephrine increased and calcitonin decreased the rate of flow of perfusate and the influx of calcium and phosphate through the gill. Only the increased water flow was mediated by beta-adrenergic receptors. Differences in sensitivity to both hormones were observed with gills from prespawning and postspawning salmon; gills from freshwater-adapted fish were less sensitive to norepinephrine and more sensitive to calcitonin, suggesting a decreased production of this hormone in the late stage of the life cycle. The antagonistic effects of calcitonin and norepinephrine on the gill strongly implicate their regulatory role for calcium homeostasis in vivo; the major process being regulated is the influx of calcium into the gill. In fish, calcitonin performs an important role in regulating gill function.

Activation of the JAK/STAT pathway leads to proliferation of ST14A central nervous system progenitor cells

We were interested in whether central nervous system progenitor cells possess the signal transduction machinery necessary to mediate cytokine functions and whether this machinery can become activated upon stable expression of a particular cytokine receptor. For this purpose we utilized a previously obtained conditionally immortalized striatum-derived nestin-positive cell line (ST14A). We found that ST14A cells express Jak2, but not Jak1 or Tyk2. An identical pattern of expression was found in embryonic striatal tissue. To evaluate the susceptibility of these cytokine specific cytoplasmic transducers to activation, ST14A cells were stably transfected with the alpha and beta (AIC2A) chains of the murine interleukin-3 receptor. Four independent lines expressing both the alpha and beta receptor subunits were obtained. We found that cells from each of these lines were induced to proliferate upon exposure to interleukin-3. Dose response curve, antibody blocking experiments and binding studies revealed that the response was mediated by the reconstituted high affinity interleukin-3 receptor. Immunoprecipitation studies on these cells showed that Jak2 and Stat5 were being phosphorylated after stimulation of the reconstituted receptor. These results indicate that members of the JAK/STAT family of proteins are expressed in central nervous system progenitor cells and are susceptible to activation through stimulation of an exogenously expressed cytokine receptor, ultimately leading to cell proliferation.

A comparison of highly unsaturated fatty acid levels in wild and farmed eels (Anguilla anguilla)

1. Absolute and relative amounts of eicosapentaneoic acid (EPA) and docohexaenoic acid (DHA) in muscle of eels from four different fish farms were compared with samples from wild eels from two different areas of northern Italy. 2. Farmed eels were richer in DHA and EPA than wild animals. 3. The addition of cod liver oil to the diet of farmed eels led to a significant accumulation of EPA and DHA, but no change in total lipid content. 4. The calculation of two indices related to highly unsaturated fatty acid (HUFA) content (FLQ = fish lipid quality; AI = aterogenic index), indicated the higher nutritional value of farmed vs wild fish. 5. We conclude that farmed eels are an adequate source of fish products for human nutrition and propose use of the above-mentioned indices as an effective means for assessing fish nutritional quality for populations at high risk of chronic degenerative disease.

Calcitonin, a major gill hormone

Isolated salmon gills, under simulated in vivo conditions, transported calcium ion into the ambient seawater when perfused with Ringer's solution containing salmon calcitonin. Similar enhancement of phosphate efflux was observed. Calcitonin caused simultaneous decreases in perfusate flow rates. The effects act synergistically to diminish net plasma calcium concentrations.