Chitosan Nanoparticles Loaded with Quercetin and Valproic Acid: A Novel Approach for Enhancing Antioxidant Activity against Oxidative Stress in the SH-SY5Y Human Neuroblastoma Cell Line.

BACKGROUND: Multiple drug-delivery systems obtained by loading nanoparticles (NPs) with different drugs that have different physicochemical properties present a promising strategy to achieve synergistic effects between drugs or overcome undesired effects. This study aims to develop a new NP by loading quercetin (Que) and valproic acid (VPA) into chitosan. In this context, our study investigated the antioxidant activities of chitosan NPs loaded with single and dual drugs containing Que against oxidative stress. METHOD: The synthesis of chitosan NPs loaded with a single (Que or VPA) and dual drug (Que and VPA), the characterization of the NPs, the conducting of in vitro antioxidant activity studies, and the analysis of the cytotoxicity and antioxidant activity of the NPs in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell lines were performed. RESULT: The NP applications that protected cell viability to the greatest extent against H2O2-induced cell damage were, in order, 96 µg/mL of Que-loaded chitosan NP (77.30%, 48 h), 2 µg/mL of VPA-loaded chitosan NP (70.06%, 24 h), 96 µg/mL of blank chitosan NP (68.31%, 48 h), and 2 µg/mL of Que- and VPA-loaded chitosan NP (66.03%, 24 h). CONCLUSION: Our study establishes a successful paradigm for developing drug-loaded NPs with a uniform and homogeneous distribution of drugs into NPs. Chitosan NPs loaded with both single and dual drugs possessing antioxidant activity were successfully developed. The capability of chitosan NPs developed at the nanometer scale to sustain cell viability in SH-SY5Y cell lines implies the potential of intranasal administration of chitosan NPs for future studies, offering protective effects in central nervous system diseases.

Heavy Metal and Mineral Composition of Soil, Atmospheric Deposition, and Mosses with Regard to Integrated Pollution Assessment Approach.

The fact that there are no real borders between the biosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere means that environmental pollution monitoring studies should not only include one of the environmental spheres. Thus, integrated environmental pollution assessment studies conducted in the biosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere promote the "whole system" approach. In this study, the aim was to determine the pollution in the atmosphere, soil, and plants by taking advantage of the high pollution accumulation characteristics of the mosses. Prevailing wind has the potential to distribute pollutants emitted into the air throughout its path. With this regard, soil, mosses, and atmospheric deposition samples were collected in Çanakkale, Turkey, in two seasons. Concentrations of selected elements were measured by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry. The enrichment factor of the selected elements in the soil, moss, and deposition samples was calculated. The highest enrichments were found for Lead in atmospheric deposition, Arsenic in soil, and Mercury in moss samples. Cobalt and chromium accumulated more in mosses than in soil. Elevated arsenic levels found in the samples can pose a great risk for public health and agriculture. The study result showed that the elemental composition of the samples was influenced by the enhanced air plume dispersion of anthropogenic pollution sources along the Northeast-Southwest directions due to wind characteristics in the province. As expected, strong correlations were found among the moss, soil, and atmospheric deposition samples indicating the vital interactions between the environmental components.

Investigation of Competitive and Noncompetitive Adsorption of Some Heavy Metals Ions on Leucodon sciuroides (Hedw.) Schwägr.

Heavy metals are an important pollutant group. Adsorption is one of the methods used to remove heavy metals from the environment. Mosses were preferred as bio-indicators because they have the capacity to accumulate many elements by their high surface-to-volume ratio. Leucodon sciuroides (Hedw.) Schwägr. (LS) are mosses that play an important part of the ecosystem and are collected from the Ida Mountain (Kazdag) region of Çanakkale (Turkey). For the purpose of determining the adsorption capacity of heavy metal ion (Pb2+, Cd2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+) analysis conditions, pH, contact time, and adsorbent amounts were determined and the maximum adsorption capacity was calculated with the help of the relevant isotherms. Heavy metal concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. It was determined that the optimum adsorption for mosses was 30 min at pH = 6.0 (the pH at which maximum adsorption occurs). The adsorption event shows that some divalent cations fit the Freundlich isotherm and some fit the Langmuir isotherm model. A pseudo-second-order reaction best fits the kinetic data for metal ions. Among the six metal ions studied, the highest adsorption was observed in Pb2+ and Cu2+ cations. According to the competitive adsorption results, the moss has a great advantage in determining the Pb2+ and Cu2+ cations industrially as well as other metals and in removing other metal impurities from the environment. Also, LS is exploited as a biosorbent to remove metal ions from aqueous solutions and can be used as a biomarker.

Chemical composition, antimicrobial, antioxidant and anthocyanin activities of mosses (Cinclidotus fontinaloides (Hedw.) P.Beauv. and Palustriella commutata (Hedw.) Ochyra) gathered from Turkey.

Cinclidotus fontinaloides (Hedw.) P. Beauv. and Palustriella commutata (Hedw.) Ochyra were used in this study. The chemical composition of mosses in the ethanol and water extract was determined using GC-MS and FT-IR. Antioxidant activities of moss extracts were tested by total phenol and ABTS methods. Trolox equivalent value (TEAC) of mosses was calculated as 26 ± 0.32 and 10 ± 0.22 mg/g. The amounts of the flavonoid compounds were calculated as mg gallic acid. Gallic acid equivalent value of mosses was calculated as 587 ± 0.55 and 496 ± 0.22 mg/g. The extracts antimicrobial activity was tested against Escherichia coli (ATCC 8739), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 10145) and Candida albicans (ATCC 10231). Significant antibacterial effect was observed for C. fontinaloides and P. commutata in ethanol extract. Total anthocyanin activities of C. fontinaloides and P. commutata were determined as 50 ± 0.17 and 144 ± 0.33 mg/L.

Seasonal variation of some heavy metal pollution with environmental and microbiological parameters in sub-basin of Kocabas Stream (Biga, Canakkale, Turkey) by ICP-AES.

Waste water pollution in industrial areas is one of the most important environmental problems. Heavy metal pollution, especially chromium species in waste water sources from tannery affects our lives. Kocabas Stream is located in south-west Marmara region and Biga town is positioned in the sub basin on the stream. This water source functions as the water for irrigation in agriculture, drinking water for animals and for human use. Thus, this study is of great importance. Waste water pollution can affect all ecosystems and human health by directly or indirectly as in food chain. The concentration of heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn and Cr) were pre-analysed by ICP-AES method in water samples taken from sub-basin of Kocabas stream. In the results of these analyses, concentrations of the metals except chromium were founded at the limit value. But the total concentration of the Cr was found at high levels of between 0.0082 +/- 0.0001 and 5.7231 +/- 0.0921 mg l(-1) over the limit value (0.05 mg l(-1); WHO, EPA, TSE 266 and inland water quality classification) at sampling points very close to tannery factories. Also physicochemical and microbiological parameters of Kocabas Stream were determined. The effects of the experimental results on environment were investigated.

Determination of heavy metal pollution with environmental physicochemical parameters in waste water of Kocabas Stream (Biga, Canakkale, Turkey) by ICP-AES.

Waste water pollution of industrial areas can answer for the serious consequences of one of the most important environmental threats to the future. In this study, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry method (ICP-AES) is proposed to determine heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cd, Cr, Zn, Al, Fe, Ni, Co, Mn) and major elements (Ca, Mg) in waste water of Kocabas Stream. The concentration of metals in the waste water samples taken from 9 different stations (St.) in Biga-Kocabas Stream in November 2004 (autumn period) were determined after simple pretreatment of samples by the proposed ICP-AES method. An analysis of a given sample is completed in about 15 min for ICP-AES the method. The results of heavy metals concentrations in waste water were found between 0.00001-77.69610 mg l(-1) by the ICP-AES technique. The concentrations of Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Cr, Al, Fe, Mn, Ni, Co, Mg and Ca 0.00001 (St.3,6,7) - 0.0087 mg l(-1) (St.9), 0.00001 (St.4-7) - 0.0020 mg l(-1) (St.8), 0.00001 (St.1,3-7,9) - 0.0041 mg l(-1) (St.2), 0.0620 (St.2) - 0.2080 mg l(-1) (St.3), 0.0082 (St.6) - 0.2290 mg l(-1) (St.8), 0.3580 (St.2) - 1.7400 mg l(-1) (St.3), 0.2240 (St.1) - 0.6790 mg l(-1) (St.3), 0.0080 (St.1) - 1.5840 mg l(-1) (St.3), 0.0170 (St.3) - 0.0640 mg l(-1) (St.2), 0.0010 (St.1,4,5,8) - 0.0080 mg l(-1) (St.3), 5.0640 (St.9) - 5.2140 mg l(-1) (St.1) and 43.3600 (St.2) - 77.6961 mg l(-1) (St.9), respectively. Also we measured environmental physicochemical parameters such as temperature, salinity, specific conductivity, total dissolved solid (TDS), pH, oxidation and reduction potential (ORP), and dissolved oxygen (DO) in the waste water at sampling stations.

Antimicrobial activity of some mosses from Turkey.

The antimicrobial activity of the methanol extracts of eight mosses species were evaluated at 30 mg/ml concentration against the tested microorganisms.