Biologically active sodium pentaborate pentahydrate and Hypericum perforatum oil loaded poly vinyl alcohol: Chitosan membranes.

In this study, sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (NaB) and Hypericum perforatum (HP) oil were incorporated into Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and Chitosan (CH) polymer blend to obtain membranes by solution casting method. In order to see the synergistic effects of NaB and HP oil on the biological and physical properties of the membranes NaB and HP oil were incorporated into membrane matrix in different ratios. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results showed that no significant bond formation between the bioactive components and the PVA: CH matrix. According to mechanical test results, Young's Modulus and elongation at break decreased from 426 MPa to 346 MPa and 52.23 % to 15.11 % for neat PVA: CH membranes and NaB and HP oil incorporated PVA:CH (PVA:CH@35NaB:HP) membranes, respectively. Antimicrobial activity tests have shown the membranes to be over 99 % effective against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans, underlining their potential for infection control. Cytocompatibility assay performed with Human Dermal Fibroblast (HDFa) cells highlight the biocompatibility of the membranes, revealing 74.84 % cell viability after 72 h. The properties of NaB and HP oil doped PVA:CH based membranes obtained from these experiments reveal the promise of a versatile membrane for applications in wound healing, tissue engineering and other biomedical fields.

Polysaccharides from shell waste of shellfish and their applications in the cosmeceutical industry: A review.

Shell waste from shellfish processing contains valuable natural polysaccharides, including sulfated polysaccharides, acidic polysaccharides, glycosaminoglycans, chitin and their derivatives. These shellfish waste-derived polysaccharides have numerous functional and biological properties that can be applied in various industries, including the cosmeceutical industry. In keeping with global sustainability and green industry trends, the cosmeceuticals industry is transitioning from petrochemical-based ingredients to natural substitutes. In this context, shell waste-derived polysaccharides and their derivatives can play a major role as natural substitutes for petroleum-based components in various cosmeceutical skincare, hair care, oral care and body care products. This review focuses on the presence of polysaccharides and their derivatives in shell waste and discusses their various cosmeceutical applications in skin care, hair care, sun care, oral care and body care products. This indicates that shell waste utilization will help create a circular economy in which extracted polysaccharides are used to produce green cosmeceutical products.

Melissa officinalisessential oil loaded polycaprolactone membranes: evaluation of antimicrobial activities and cytocompatibility for tissue engineering applications.

Antimicrobial biomaterials play important role in tissue engineering applications to protect damaged tissue from infections. The aim of this study is producing antimicrobial polycaprolactone (PCL) membranes by using a plant based antimicrobial agent. Therefore,Melissa officinalisessential oil (MEO) was investigated against ten types of microorganisms and remarkable antimicrobial activity was demonstrated. PCL:MEO membranes were prepared by solvent casting method by mixing MEO into PCL in various ratios (PCL:0M, PCL:0.25M, PCL:0.5M, and PCL:1M w/w). Water contact angle measurements showed that hydrophilicity of the membranes increased with increasing concentrations of MEO from 103.44° to 83.36° for PCL:0M and PCL:1M, respectively. It was determined that there was an inverse relationship between the MEO concentration and the mechanical properties. Notable antioxidant activity of PCL/MEO membranes was exhibited by the inhibition percent of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) which was increased from 24.74% to 44.79% for PCL:0M and PCL:1M, respectively. The antimicrobial activity of MEO was also highly maintained in PCL membranes. For PCL/MEO membranes, at least 99.9% of microorganisms were inhibited. Cytocompatibility of the membranes were investigated by resazurin assay, scanning electron microscopy analysis and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining. PCL:0.25M and PCL:0.5M membranes supported the viability of L929 cells more than 87% when compared to PCL:0M membranes on day 6. However, the viability of L929 cells on PCL:1M membranes was about 43% indicating significant decrease on cellular activity. In conclusion, PCL:0.25M and PCL:0.5M membranes with their high antimicrobial activity, acceptable mechanical properties and cytocompatible properties, they can be considered as an alternative biomaterial for tissue engineering applications.

Optimized Peppermint Essential Oil Microcapsules Loaded into Gelatin-Based Cryogels with Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity.

In this study, chitosan (Chi) was used to microencapsulate peppermint essential oil (PEO). A novel gelatin-based cryogel loaded with PEO microcapsules was further developed and characterized for potential applications. Four different cryogel systems were designed, and the morphological, molecular, physical and antibacterial properties were investigated. Additionally, the antimicrobial properties of PEO, alone and microcapsulated, incorporated into the cryogel network were evaluated. The observed gel structure of cryogels exhibited a highly porous morphology in the microcapsules. The highest values of the equilibrium swelling ratio were acquired for the GelCryo-ChiCap and GelCryo-PEO@ChiCap samples. The contact angle GelCryo-PEO@ChiCap sample was lower than the control (GelCryo) due to the water repelling of the essential oil. It has been found that the incorporation of encapsulated PEO into the cryogels would be more advantageous compared to its direct addition. Moreover, GelCryo-PEO@ChiCap cryogels showed the strongest antibacterial activities, especially against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacteria) and Escherichia coli (Gram-negative bacteria). The system that was developed showed promising results, indicating an improved antibacterial efficacy and enhanced structural properties due to the presence of microcapsules. These findings suggest that the system may be an appropriate candidate for various applications, including, but not limited to, drug release, tissue engineering, and food packaging. Finally, this system demonstrates a strategy to stabilize the releasing of the volatile compounds for creating successful results.

Development of Boron-Containing PVA-Based Cryogels with Controllable Boron Releasing Rate and Altered Influence on Osteoblasts.

Cryogel formation is an effective approach to produce porous scaffolds for tissue engineering. In this study, cryogelation was performed to produce boron-containing scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. A combination of the synthetic polymer, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and the natural polymers, chitosan and starch, was used to formulate the cryogels. Boron was used with a dual purpose: as an additive to alter gelation properties, and to exploit its bioactive effect since boron has been found to be involved in several metabolic pathways, including the promotion of bone growth. This project designs a fabrication protocol enabling the competition of both physical and chemical cross-linking reactions in the cryogels using different molecular weight PVA and borax content (boron source). Using a high ratio of high-molecular-weight PVA resulted in the cryogels exhibiting greater mechanical properties, a lower degradation rate (0.6-1.7% vs. 18-20%) and a higher borax content release (4.98 vs. 1.85, 1.08 nanomole) in contrast to their counterparts with low-molecular-weight PVA. The bioactive impacts of the released borax on cellular behaviour were investigated using MG63 cells seeded into the cryogel scaffolds. It was revealed that the borax-containing scaffolds and their extracts induced MG63 cell migration and the formation of nodule-like aggregates, whilst cryogel scaffolds without borax did not. Moreover, the degradation products of the scaffolds were analysed through the quantification of boron release by the curcumin assay. The impact on cellular response in a scratch assay confirmed that borax released by the scaffold into media (~0.4 mg/mL) induced bone cell migration, proliferation and aggregation. This study demonstrated that boron-containing three-dimensional PVA/starch-chitosan scaffolds can potentially be used within bone tissue engineering applications.

Development of antimicrobial nanocomposite scaffolds via loading CZTSe quantum dots for wound dressing applications.

The antimicrobial properties of scaffolds designed for use in wound healing are accepted as an important factor in the healing process to accelerate the wound healing process without causing inflammation. For this purpose, chitosan-polyvinyl alcohol composite membranes loaded with Cu2ZnSnSe4quantum dots (CZTSe QDs) as an antibacterial and cytocompatible biomaterial to regulate the wound healing process were produced. CZTSe QDs particles were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Polymer-based nanocomposites with different concentrations of the synthesized nanoparticles were produced by the solvent casting method. After detailed physicochemical and morphological characterizations of CZTSe QDs and composite membranes, antibacterial activities and cell viability were extensively investigated against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial and yeast strains, and L929 mouse fibroblast cells lines, respectively. The results show that the preparation of composite scaffolds at a QDs concentration of 3.3% by weight has the best antimicrobial activity. Composite scaffold membranes, which can be obtained as a result of an easy production process, are thought to have great potential applications in tissue engineering as wound dressing material due to their high mechanical properties, wettability, strong antibacterial properties and non-toxicity.

Propolis loaded and genipin-crosslinked PVA/chitosan membranes; characterization properties and cytocompatibility/genotoxicity response for wound dressing applications.

Loading propolis by a simple process using genipin as a crosslinking agent and fabrication of a novel PVA/Chitosan-Propolis membrane scaffolds were reported for wound dressing applications. The research is focused on the effects of propolis on characterization properties of membrane such as chemical structure, surface morphology, degradation ratio, crystallinity, hydrophilicity, water uptake capacity, water vapour transmission rate and mechanical aspect. It was noticed that water uptake capacity and hydrophilicity properties of membrane considerably affected by the propolis. By addition of (0.50, % v/v) propolis, the contact angle of the PVA/Chitosan membrane was remarkably decreased from 86.29° ± 3 to 45 ± 2°. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazoyl-2-yl)-2,5-diphenylte-trazolium (MTT) bromide test and SEM were used to analyse the cytocompatibility of the membranes and morphology of cells on membrane. The propolis incorporated membrane showed cell proliferation rate 176 ± 13%, 775 ± 1%, and 853 ± 23%, at 24 h, 27 h and 120 h, respectively. SEM images also supported the cell behaviour on membrane. DNA fragmentation was also investigated with genotoxicity test. The studies on the interactions between membranes and MEF cells revealed that the incorporation of propolis into membrane promoted cell proliferation. These overall results presented that propolis incorporated membranes could have potentially appealing application as scaffolds for wound healing applications.

The Effect of Ascorbic Acid over the Etoposide- and Temozolomide-Mediated Cytotoxicity in Glioblastoma Cell Culture: A Molecular Study.

AIM: Glioblastoma (GBM) is one of the lethal central nervous system tumors. One of the widely used chemical agents for the treatment of glioblastoma is temozolomide. It is an orally administered, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) alkylating agent. DNA alkylation triggers the death of tumor cells. However, some tumor cells are able to repair this type of DNA damage and thus lower the therapeutic effect of temozolomide. Laboratory and clinical studies indicate that temozolomide"s anticancer effects might be strengthened when combined with other chemotherapeutic agents like etoposide or antioxidant agents like ascorbic acid. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic and oxidative stress effects of ascorbic acid (1000 ?M), temozolomide (100 ?M) and etoposide (25 ?M) agents alone and in dual and triple combinations in a glioblastoma U87 MG cell culture. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The cytotoxic and oxidative stress effects were investigated by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis methods. RESULTS: Cytotoxicity tests showed that etoposide, temozolomide, "etoposide+ascorbic acid", "temozolomide+ascorbic acid", "temozolomide+etoposide" and "temozolomide+etoposide+ascorbic acid" combinations have anti-proliferative effects. The maximum anti-proliferation response was observed in the "temozolomide+etoposide+ascorbic acid"-added group. Similarly LCMS/ MS analyses showed that minimum oxidative DNA damage occurred in the "temozolomide+etoposide+ascorbic acid"-added group. CONCLUSION: Ascorbic acid decreases the cytotoxic and genotoxic effect of etoposide and etoposide-temozolomide combination but it has no meaningful effect on temozolomide"s toxicity.

Effect of crosslinking methods on the structure and biocompatibility of polyvinyl alcohol/gelatin cryogels.

In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and gelatin based cryogels were prepared by crosslinking chemically or physically for tissue engineering applications. Different PVA/Gelatin ratios (100:0, 90:10, 70:30, 50:50) and crosslinking methods have been used to prepare cryogels; chemical and physical structure of the prepared matrices were analysed by FTIR and SEM; swelling and degradation profiles were followed. Chemical and physical crosslinking was obtained by using glutaraldehyde as crosslinker and by applying freeze thawing cycle, respectively. Gelatin concentration and crosslinking method had significant effect on the pore size, swelling ratio and degradation profiles of the cryogels. Biocompatibility of the cryogels were also investigated by MTT assay. SEM was used to investigate the cell morphology on the scaffolds. The MTT assay findings prove that physically crosslinked PVA/Gelatin scaffolds are more biocompatible and enhance more the adhesion and proliferation of mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (MEF) than chemically crosslinked PVA/Gelatin scaffolds. The overall results demonstrated that, the PVA/Gelatin cyrogels as a suitable biomaterial for tissue engineering applications and crosslinking methods affect the architecture and characteristic properties of the cryogels.