The impact of the particle size of curcumin nanocarriers and the ethanol on beta_1-integrin overexpression in fibroblasts: A regenerative pharmaceutical approach in skin repair and anti-aging formulations.

BACKGROUND: Since women pay more attention to their skin's health, pharmaceutical companies invest heavily on skin care product development. Further, the success of drug nano-carriers in passing through the skin justifies the need to conduct studies at the nano-scale. ß1-integrin down regulation has been proposed as a sign of skin aging. METHODS: Six drug nano-carriers (50 and 75 nm) were prepared at three ethanol concentrations (0, 3,and 5%) and different temperatures. Then, the impact of Nanocarriers on fibroblasts were investigated. RESULTS: DLS showed that increasing ethanol concentration decreased the surface tension that caused a decrease in the particle size in non-temperature formulations while increasing the temperature to 60 °C to lower Gibbs free energy increased the particle size. Ethanol addition decreased ß1-integrin over-expression, whereas larger nano-carriers induced an over-expression of ß1-integrin, Bcl2/Bax ratio, and an increase in live cell number. ß1-integrin over-expression did not correlate with the rate of fibroblast proliferation and NFκB expression. An increase in fibroblast mortality in relation to smaller nano-carriers was not only due to the increase in Bax ratio, but was related to NFκB over-expression. CONCLUSION: The development of a regenerative pharmaceutical approach in skin repair was based on the effect of particle size and ethanol concentration of the drug nano-carriers on the expression of ß1-integrin in fibroblasts. A curcumin nanoformulation sized 77 nm and containing of 3% ethanol was more effective in increasing ß1-integrin gene over-expression, anti-apoptosis of fibroblast cells (Bcl2/Bax ratio), and in decreasing Bax and NFκB gene expression than that with a particle size of 50 nm. Such a formulation may be considered a valuable candidate in anti-aging and wound-healing formulations. Graphical abstract The effect of particle size on Bcl2/Bax ratio and NFκ-B gene expression through the cell surface receptor of ß1- integrin. Bigger nanocarriers induce over-expression of integrin ß1 gene and also lead to an increase in Bcl2/Bax ratio along with a decrease in NFκ-B, unlike the smaller nanocarriers.

The antibiotic susceptibility patterns of uropathogens among children with urinary tract infection in Shiraz.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in pediatrics. Delay in diagnosis and treatment can cause significant morbidity. The physicians knowledge regarding the symptoms, microorganisms that caused UTI, and effective antibiotics in a geographical area can help them to select the appropriate antibiotics. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of bacteria that cause UTI and their susceptibility to common antibiotics as well as the common symptoms and associated factors in children of Shiraz, Southern Iran.This cross sectional study was performed among 202 children with UTI, aged 2 months to 18 years old, between August and November 2014 in pediatric medical centers of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Urine samples were collected using urinary catheter or suprapubic in children < 2 years and mid-stream in children over 2 years, respectively. The type of micro-organisms causing UTI was determined and evaluation of antibiotic susceptibility for each organism was assayed by the Kirby Bauer method using antibiogram test. Patient's information was collected through checking the medical documents and interview with parents.Our results showed that the frequency of UTI was significantly higher in girls (70.3%) than in boys. The most commonly discovered pathogens were Escherichia coli (E coli) (51.5%), followed by Klebsiella spp. (16.8%), and Enterococcus spp. (9.9%). Overall susceptibility test showed the highest resistance to ampicillin (81.2%) and cotrimoxazole (79.2%), and the highest sensitivity to imipenem (90.1%) and Gentamicin (65.3%). Gram negative and positive bacteria showed the highest antibiotic resistance to amoxicillin (83.8%) and clindamycin (100%), respectively. In addition, production of extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) was 69.2% and 30.8% in E coli and Kelebsiella respectively.The efficacy of third generation of the cephalosporins was reduced because of the high rate of production of ESBL and drug resistance. These results inform the physician as to which antibiotics are appropriate to prescribe for the patient, as well as urine culture reports and following the patient's clinical response so that high antimicrobial resistance is not developed at the community level.