Lipid-based nanoparticles as drug delivery carriers for cancer therapy.

Cancer is a severe disease that results in death in all countries of the world. A nano-based drug delivery approach is the best alternative, directly targeting cancer tumor cells with improved drug cellular uptake. Different types of nanoparticle-based drug carriers are advanced for the treatment of cancer, and to increase the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of cancer therapy, many substances have been looked into as drug carriers. Lipid-based nanoparticles (LBNPs) have significantly attracted interest recently. These natural biomolecules that alternate to other polymers are frequently recycled in medicine due to their amphipathic properties. Lipid nanoparticles typically provide a variety of benefits, including biocompatibility and biodegradability. This review covers different classes of LBNPs, including their characterization and different synthesis technologies. This review discusses the most significant advancements in lipid nanoparticle technology and their use in medicine administration. Moreover, the review also emphasized the applications of lipid nanoparticles that are used in different cancer treatment types.

Effect of Lipid Corona on Phenylalanine-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles to Develop Stable and Corona-Free Systems.

Conventional gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) have many limitations, such as aggregation and subsequent precipitation in the medium of high ionic strength and protein molecules. Furthermore, when exposed to biological fluids, nanoparticles form a protein corona, which controls different biological processes such as the circulation lifetime, drug release profile, biodistribution, and in vivo cellular distribution. These limitations reduce the functionality of Au NPs in targeted delivery, bioimaging, gene delivery, drug delivery, and other biomedical applications. To circumvent these problems, there are numerous attempts to design corona-free and stable nanoparticles. Here, we report for the first time that lipid corona (coating of lipid) formation on phenylalanine-functionalized Au NPs (AuPhe NPs) imparts excellent stability against the high ionic strength of bivalent metal ions, amino acids, and proteins of different charges as compared to bare nanoparticles. Moreover, this work is focused on the ability of lipid corona formation on AuPhe NPs to prevent protein adsorption in the presence of cell culture medium (CCM), oppositely charged protein (e.g., histone 3), and human serum albumin (HSA). The results demonstrate that the lipid corona successfully protects the AuPhe NPs from protein adsorption, leading to the development of corona-free character. This unique achievement has profound implications for enhancing the biomedical utility and safety of these nanoparticles.

Comparison of muscle energy technique and facet joint mobilisation in the patient with chronic neck pain: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of muscle energy techniques, facet joint mobilisation and conventional physical therapy on pain, disability, cervical lordosis and range of motion in patients with chronic neck pain. METHODS: The parallel-design randomised controlled trial was conducted at the Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Department of the Heavy Industries Taxila Hospital, Taxila Cantt, Pakistan, from December 2020 to May 2021, and comprised patients of either gender aged 35-50 years who had chronic neck pain, recurrent neck pain, and cervical spine curve. The participants were randomised into muscle energy techniques group A, facet joint mobilisation group B and conventional physical therapy group C. The outcome measures were cervical lordosis, pain intensity, neck disability index and cervical range of motions. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. RESULTS: Of the 115 patients initially assessed, 105(91.3%) were included; 67(63.8%) females and 38(36.2%) males. There were 35(33.3%) subjects in group A with mean age 40.09± 4.29 years, 35(33.3%) in group B with mean age 40.14±4.57 years and 35(33.3%) in group C with men age 39.26±5.19 years. There were no significant differences among the groups at baseline in terms of mean age, weight, height, body mass index, neck disability index, cervical lordosis and range of motion (p>0.05). Of the total, 6(5.7%) were lost to follow-up and the study was completed by 99(94.3%) subjects. Outcome variables in group A were superior to those in groups B and C with respect to flexion, rotation and side-bending (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between groups A and B related to numeric pain rating scale and neck disability index (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Muscle energy techniques and facet joint mobilisation showed significant improvement in neck pain, disability and cervical range of motions compared to conventional physical therapy. Muscle energy techniques and facet joint mobilisation produced similar outcomes with respect to pain intensity and functional disability. Clinical Trial Number: The study was prospectively registered with clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05040477).