Biological Hyperthermia-Inducing Nanoparticles for Specific Remodeling of the Extracellular Matrix Microenvironment Enhance Pro-Apoptotic Therapy in Fibrosis.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a major driver of fibrotic diseases and forms a dense fibrous barrier that impedes nanodrug delivery. Because hyperthermia causes destruction of ECM components, we developed a nanoparticle preparation to induce fibrosis-specific biological hyperthermia (designated as GPQ-EL-DNP) to improve pro-apoptotic therapy against fibrotic diseases based on remodeling of the ECM microenvironment. GPQ-EL-DNP is a matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9-responsive peptide, (GPQ)-modified hybrid nanoparticle containing fibroblast-derived exosomes and liposomes (GPQ-EL) and is loaded with a mitochondrial uncoupling agent, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). GPQ-EL-DNP can specifically accumulate and release DNP in the fibrotic focus, inducing collagen denaturation through biological hyperthermia. The preparation was able to remodel the ECM microenvironment, decrease stiffness, and suppress fibroblast activation, which further enhanced GPQ-EL-DNP delivery to fibroblasts and sensitized fibroblasts to simvastatin-induced apoptosis. Therefore, simvastatin-loaded GPQ-EL-DNP achieved an improved therapeutic effect on multiple types of murine fibrosis. Importantly, GPQ-EL-DNP did not induce systemic toxicity to the host. Therefore, the nanoparticle GPQ-EL-DNP for fibrosis-specific hyperthermia can be used as a potential strategy to enhance pro-apoptotic therapy in fibrotic diseases.

Facile synthesis of low-cost MnPO4 with hollow grape-like clusters for rapid removal uranium from wastewater.

In order to deal with the environmental resource problems caused by nuclear pollution and uranium mine wastewater, it is particularly important to develop uranium removal adsorbent materials with low cost, high efficiency and controllable rapid preparation. In this work, the hollow grape-like manganese phosphate clusters (h-MnPO4) were synthesized in 4 h by in-situ etching without template at room temperature, which can quickly and effectively remove uranium ions from wastewater. Due to the reasonable hollow structure, more effective adsorption sites are exposed. The obtained sample h-MnPO4-200 reaches adsorption equilibrium in 1 h and can remove 97.20% uranyl ions (initial concentration is 100 mg L-1). Under the condition of 25 â„ƒ and pH= 4, the maximum adsorption capacity of h-MnPO4-200 for uranium was 751.88 mg g-1. The FT-IR, XPS and XRD analysis showed that -OH and PO43- groups played a key role in the adsorption process. Thanks to the synergistic adsorption mechanism of surface complexation and dissolution-precipitation, h-MnPO4-200 maintained a high removal rate in the presence of competitive anions and cations. In a word, h-MnPO4-200 can be rapidly synthesized through a facile and low-cost method and has a great application prospect in the practical emergency treatment of uranium-containing wastewater.

Effects of Kuntai capsule on breast pain and vaginal bleeding in postmenopausal women.

Aim of the present work was to investigate the clinical efficacy of Kuntai capsule in the treatment of postmenopausal women with endometriosis, Breast pain and Vaginal Bleeding. 120 elderly female outpatients over 50 years old with Breast pain were randomly divided into control group (60 cases) and observation group (60 cases). All patients were given diclofenac sodium enteric-coated tablets 25mg, 3 times a day. The observation group was given additional Kuntai capsules at a dose of 4 capsules per time, 3 times a day. Serum estradiol (E2), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH) were detected in all patients before and at 12 weeks after treatment. Modified Kupperman score (K score) for evaluating menopausal symptoms. The post therapeutic serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and estradiol (E2) level and endometrial thickness decreased significantly (p<0.05). After treatment, KMI scores of kunati group was significantly decreased compared with baseline (<0.01) and there was no significant difference between groups (p>0.05). After treatment, hot flush and insomnia scores were both improved significantly. After therapy, serum E2 level obviously higher than the control groups, while FSH and LH levels were obviously lower (p<0.05). The incidence of vaginal bleeding, breast distending pain in group was obviously higher in control group than Kuntai group. Thus, Kuntai capsule improved the ovarian function of patients, raised the level of estrogen in vivo and alleviates the clinical manifestations of Breast pain.

From layered double hydroxide to spinel nanostructures: facile synthesis and characterization of nanoplatelets and nanorods.

Mg-Al spinel (MgAl2O4) nanorods and nanoplatelets transformed from Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (Mg-Al-LDHs) were synthesized via a combined hydrothermal method and calcination route using Al(NO3).9H2O and Mg(NO3)2.6H2O as raw materials. The nanorods and nanoplatelets were characterized by means of physical techniques, including powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microcopy (HRTEM), selected-area electron diffraction (SAED), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), thermogravimetric (TG), and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms. XRD patterns reveal that the Mg-Al-LDHs nanostructures were obtained under a hydrothermal reaction temperature of 200 degrees C and Mg-Al spinel nanostructures were fabricated via calcination of the Mg-Al-LDHs nanostructures at 750 degrees C. It can be seen from TEM that the sizes of the Mg-Al-LDHs nanoplatelets were about 20-40 nm and the diameters of the MgAl2O4 nanorods were ca. 6 nm. The HRTEM images indicate that the crystal lattice spaces of the MgAl2O4 nanorods and nanoplatelets are 0.282 and 0.287 nm, respectively.