Fabrication and mechanical modelling of dissolvable PVA/PVP composite microneedles with biocompatibility for efficient transdermal delivery of ibuprofen.

Microneedles offer minimally invasive, user-friendly, and subcutaneously accessible transdermal drug delivery and have been widely investigated as an effective transdermal delivery system. Ibuprofen is a common anti-inflammatory drug to treat chronic inflammation. It is crucial to develop microneedle patches capable of efficiently delivering ibuprofen through the skin for the effective treatment of arthritis patients requiring repeated medication. In this study, the mechanical properties of a new type of polymer microneedle were studied by finite element analysis, and the experimental results showed that the microneedle could effectively deliver drugs through the skin. In addition, a high ibuprofen-loaded microneedle patch was successfully prepared by micromolding and subjected to evaluation of its infrared spectrum morphology and dissolve degree. The morphology of microneedles was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and the mechanical properties were assessed using a built linear stretching system. In the in-vitro diffusion cell drug release test, the microneedle released 85.2 ± 1.52% (210 ± 3.7 µg) ibuprofen in the modified Franz diffusion within 4 h, exhibiting a higher drug release compared to other drug delivery methods. This study provides a portable, safe and efficient treatment approach for arthritis patients requiring daily repeated medication.

Enhanced microalgal growth and lipid accumulation by addition of different nanoparticles under xenon lamp illumination.

In this study, the growth and lipid accumulation of Scenedesmus sp. using different nanoparticles and light sources were investigated. Xenon lamp can produce a broad illumination spectrum, and exhibited better performance than light-emitting diode. SiC and g-C3N4 nanoparticles improved the biomass and lipid accumulation, whereas TiO2 and TiC nanoparticles had inhibitory influence on microalgae. Lipid production can be improved by oxidative stress produced by combination of nanoparticles and xenon lamp irradiation. At the optimal SiC nanoparticles concentration of 150 mg L-1 and photoperiod of 6:18 h, the maximum biomass concentration and total lipid content reached 3.18 g L-1 and 40.26%, respectively. The addition of SiC nanoparticles could promote the substrate utilization rate and induce stress condition, thereby enhancing the activity of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and lipid biosynthesis. This research shows that SiC nanoparticles addition combined with xenon lamp illumination is a promising strategy to promote microalgal growth and lipid accumulation.

Comprehensive assessment of the association between XPC rs2228000 and cancer susceptibility based on 26835 cancer cases and 37069 controls.

Objectives In the present study, we examined available articles from online databases to comprehensively investigate the effect of the XPC (xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group C) rs2228000 polymorphism on the risk of different types of clinical cancer. Methods We conducted a group of overall and subgroup pooling analyses after retrieving the data from four databases (updated till September 2019). The P-value of association, OR (odds ratios), and 95% CI (confidence interval) were calculated. Results We selected a total of 71 eligible studies with 26835 cancer cases and 37069 controls from the 1186 retrieved articles. There is an enhanced susceptibility for bladder cancer cases under T vs. C [P=0.004; OR (95% CI) = 1.25 (1.07, 1.45)], TT vs. CC [P=0.001; 1.68 (1.25, 2.26)], CT+TT vs. CC [P=0.016; 1.26 (1.04, 1.53)], and TT vs. CC+ CT [P=0.001; 1.49 (1.18, 1.90)] compared with negative controls. Additionally, there is an increased risk of breast cancer under T vs. C, TT vs. CC and TT vs. CC+ CT (P<0.05, OR > 1). Nevertheless, there is a decreased risk of gastric cancer cases in China under T vs. C [P=0.020; 0.92 (0.85, 0.99)], CT vs. CC [P=0.001, 0.83 (0.73, 0.93)], and CT+TT vs. CC [P=0.003, 0.84 (0.76, 0.94)]. Conclusions The TT genotype of XPC rs2228000 may be linked to an increased risk of bladder and breast cancer, whereas the CT genotype is likely to be associated with reduced susceptibility to gastric cancer in the Chinese population.

Simultaneous nutrition removal and high-efficiency biomass and lipid accumulation by microalgae using anaerobic digested effluent from cattle manure combined with municipal wastewater.

BACKGROUND: Microalgae as a viable biodiesel feedstock show great potential to approach the challenges of energy shortage and environment pollution, but their economic feasibility was seriously hampered by high production cost. Thus, it is in urgent need to reduce the cost of cultivation and improve the biomass and lipid production of microalgae. In this work, anaerobic digestion effluent from cattle manure combined with municipal wastewater was used as a cost-effective medium for cultivating microalgae and expected to obtain high biomass. The pretreatment of anaerobic digested effluent containing dilution rate, sterilization and nutrient optimization was investigated. Then, initial pH and light intensity for algal growth, lipid production and wastewater purification were optimized in this study. RESULTS: Scenedesmus sp. could grow rapidly in 10% anaerobic digestion effluent from cattle manure combined with secondary sedimentation tank effluent without sterilization. Optimum nutrient additives for higher biomass were as follows: glucose 10 g/L, NaNO3 0.3 g/L, K2HPO4·3H2O 0.01 g/L, MgSO4·7H2O 0.075 g/L and trace element A5 solution 1 mL/L. Biomass of 4.65 g/L and lipid productivity of 81.90 mg/L/day were achieved during 7-day cultivation accompanying over 90% of COD, NO3 --N, NH4 +-N, and 79-88% of PO4 3--P removal with optimized initial pH of 7.0 and light intensity of 5000 l×. The FAME profile in ADEC growth medium consisted in saturated (39.48%) and monounsaturated (60.52%) fatty acids with the 16- to 18-chain-length fatty acids constituting over 98% of total FAME. CONCLUSIONS: This study proves the potential of anaerobic digested effluent combined with municipal wastewater for microalgae culture, and provides an effective avenue for simultaneous microalgal lipid production and treatment of two kinds of wastewater.

Evaluation of hormone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 and Ki-67 with core needle biopsy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy effects in breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the reliability of core needle biopsy (CNB) in evaluating the status of hormone receptor (HR), human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2, and Ki-67 status, and the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on the expression of these immunohistochemical markers. METHODS: Among 177 patients with breast adenocarcinoma, 95 patients underwent NAC and the remaining 82 patients made up the control group. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to evaluate the expression status of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER-2, and Ki-67 in the specimens obtained by surgical excision or CNB. RESULTS: In the control group, the expression of ER, PR, HER-2, and Ki-67 was highly consistent between samples from surgical excision or CNB (all r > 0.8, P < 0.05). In the NAC group, the proportions of samples with changes in ER, PR, HER-2, and Ki-67 expression were 12.7%, 24.1%, 5.1%, and 38.0%, respectively; the figures in the control group were 2.4%, 4.9%, 2.4%, and 7.3%, respectively, which significantly differed in ER, PR, and Ki-67 (P < 0.05), but not HER-2 (P > 0.05). In the NAC group, pre- and post-treatment ER(+) rates did not significantly differ (P > 0.05), although PR(+) and high Ki-67 expression rates did significantly differ (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Neither CNB nor surgical excision samples gave highly consistent results in HR, HER-2, and Ki-67 status. NAC can alter HR and Ki-67 status in breast adenocarcinoma patients. NAC decreased PR(+) rate and Ki-67 expression. The mean ER(+) rate exhibited a decreasing, but insignificant trend after NAC treatment. NAC had no significant effect on HER-2 expression.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy does not apply to all axillary lymph node-positive breast cancer patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) after neoadjuant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer patients with confirmed axillary nodal metastases. METHODS: We enrolled 51 patients with breast cancer who received NAC. All patients were proven to have axillary nodal metastases by histopathology biopsy prior to NAC. They all underwent SLNB before breast surgery, and complete axillary lymph node dissection immediately followed. RESULTS: The identification rate for SLNB was 87.5% (84/96); the false negative rate was 24.5% (12/49). The clinicopathological factors were not significantly correlated with the identification and false negative rate of the SLNB. Lymphatic mapping, blue dye or radionuclide methods tended to decrease the identification rate of SLNB (P = 0.073). Clinical nodal status before NAC has a trend to increase the false-negative rates of the SLNB (P = 0.059). For patients with N1 clinical axillary lymph nodal status, the identification rate was 93.9%, and the false negative rate was 5.9%, compared with N2-3 patients with 73.9% and 38.9%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: SLNB is feasible for the patients whose axillary lymph nodal status before NAC is N1. However, for N2-3 patients, SLNB cannot be used as an infallible indicator of non-SLN status.