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Frontiers in Plant Science 2020Quantification of anatomical and compositional features underpins both fundamental and applied studies of plant structure and function. Relatively few non-invasive...
Quantification of anatomical and compositional features underpins both fundamental and applied studies of plant structure and function. Relatively few non-invasive techniques are available for aquatic plants. Traditional methods such as sectioning are low-throughput and provide 2-dimensional information. X-ray Computed Microtomography (μCT) offers a non-destructive method of three dimensional (3D) imaging , but has not been widely used for aquatic species, due to the difficulties in sample preparation and handling. We present a novel sample handling protocol for aquatic plant material developed for μCT imaging, using duckweed plants and turions as exemplars, and compare the method against existing approaches. This technique allows for previously unseen 3D volume analysis of gaseous filled spaces, cell material, and sub-cellular features. The described embedding method, utilizing petrolatum gel for sample mounting, was shown to preserve sample quality during scanning, and to display sufficiently different X-ray attenuation to the plant material to be easily differentiated by image analysis pipelines. We present this technique as an improved method for anatomical structural analysis that provides novel cellular and developmental information.
PubMed: 33488660
DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.617830 -
Dermatology (Basel, Switzerland) 2023Drug patch test to identify cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADRs) has been widely reported. Appropriate vehicles can improve the ability of drug delivery and...
BACKGROUND
Drug patch test to identify cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADRs) has been widely reported. Appropriate vehicles can improve the ability of drug delivery and significantly increase positive reaction of drug patch tests.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of drug patch tests using 0.9% saline vehicle in comparison with other traditional vehicles in CADRs.
METHOD
All patients were patch tested with suspected drugs using 10-30% concentration of the commercialized form of drugs diluted in 0.9% saline, petrolatum, and water.
RESULT
Of 100 patients with CADRs, 54 of those had at least one positive drug patch test. In terms of vehicles used, 43 patients had positive drug patch test with saline as compared to 35 with water (p = 0.485) and 25 with petrolatum (p = 0.007). Among CADRs subgroup, saline rendered significantly higher positive rate when compared with petrolatum in drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptom (DRESS) (70% vs. 20%, p = 0.025), maculopapular rash (MP) (52.4% vs. 31%, p = 0.046), and lichenoid drug eruption (46.7% vs. 0.0%, p = 0.002). 12/54 (22.2%) of CADRs patients had positive reaction with saline alone. Among these patients, 4/12 (33.3%) were lichenoid drug reaction, 3/12 (25%) were DRESS, and 2/12 (16.7%) were MP rash. Allopurinol was the drug giving positive patch test only with saline.
CONCLUSION
Appropriate vehicles are essential to obtain the positive drug patch test. Using saline as a vehicle can increase the positive reaction of drug patch test, particularly in lichenoid drug eruption. We recommend the use of saline as another traditional vehicle in drug patch test.
Topics: Humans; Patch Tests; Saline Solution; Drug Eruptions; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Exanthema; Lichen Planus
PubMed: 36599331
DOI: 10.1159/000528919 -
Journal of Oleo Science 2023Organogels are attractive formulations in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals. They exhibit characteristic frictional and mechanical responses during the collapse of a...
Organogels are attractive formulations in cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals. They exhibit characteristic frictional and mechanical responses during the collapse of a mesostructure. In this study, the friction dynamics of organogels composed of five different waxes (paraffin wax, microcrystalline wax, ceresin, candelilla wax, and carnauba wax) and liquid paraffin were evaluated using a sinusoidal motion friction evaluation system. All organogels exhibited a velocity dependence of friction coefficient that increased with the acceleration of the contact probe. Depending on the ease of the crystal formation of the waxes in liquid paraffin, hydrocarbon-based waxes formed soft organogels with a low-friction coefficient, whereas ester-based, highly polar waxes formed organogels that were hard and had a high-friction coefficient.
Topics: Plant Oils; Friction; Mineral Oil; Skin, Artificial; Waxes
PubMed: 36990750
DOI: 10.5650/jos.ess22427 -
Veterinary Parasitology Apr 2022Ferritins are iron-binding proteins that play critical functions in iron metabolism. Tick ferritins are essential in blood feeding, reproduction, iron transport, and...
Ferritins are iron-binding proteins that play critical functions in iron metabolism. Tick ferritins are essential in blood feeding, reproduction, iron transport, and protection of ticks from the iron-mediated oxidative stress during blood feeding and digestion. In ixodids, ferritin 2 (Fer2) is responsible for iron transport into peripheral tissues, it is critically involved in tick reproduction and has been identified as a good candidate antigen to be included in anti-tick vaccines. In argasids, information on the molecular and functional characteristics of ferritins is almost nonexistent. Given the potential of ixodid Fer2 as a vaccine target, the aim of the current study was to characterise the Fer2 orthologues in Ornithodoros erraticus (OEFer2) and O. moubata (OMFer2), including functional analyses by RNAi gene knockdown and the assessment of the protective efficacy of recombinant Fer2 protein in an animal vaccination trials. Characterisation and analysis of the OMFer2 and OEFer2 amino acid sequences showed high similarity to each other, and high similarity to the Fer2 sequences of ixodid species as well, confirming that Fer2 is highly conserved between both tick families and suggesting a similar function in the physiology of both argasid and ixodid ticks. Fer2 gene knockdown in O. moubata reduced egg hatchability rate and the subsequent number of emerging nymphs-1 up to 71%. Conversely, Fer2 gene knockdown in O. erraticus did not affect the treated ticks even though the Fer2 mRNA expression level was reduced by 90%. The recombinant form of O. moubata Fer2 (tOMFer2) was highly immunogenic and induced strong humoral responses when administered to rabbits formulated with Montanide adjuvant. The protective effect of the anti-tOMFer2 response was limited. While in O. erraticus, we did not observe any protective effect, in O. moubata it induced a significant reduction in oviposition without affecting the other parameters analysed. Accordingly, Fer2 seems to be involved in O. moubata embryogenesis. This study provides the first data on the molecular and functional characterisation of Fer2 in soft tick species and paves the way for further studies aimed at unveiling the functional aspects of Fer2 in soft ticks and confirming its potential as a vaccine candidate antigen.
Topics: Animals; Antigens; Arthropod Proteins; Female; Ferritins; Humans; Iron; Mineral Oil; Ornithodoros; Rabbits; Recombinant Proteins; Vaccines
PubMed: 35259632
DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2022.109684 -
Molecular Pharmaceutics Oct 2023Pharmaceutical cocrystals ( ; Food and Drug Administration, 2018) are crystalline solids produced through supramolecular chemistry to modulate the physicochemical...
Pharmaceutical cocrystals ( ; Food and Drug Administration, 2018) are crystalline solids produced through supramolecular chemistry to modulate the physicochemical properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Despite their extensive development in interdisciplinary sciences, this is a pioneering study on the efficacy of pharmaceutical cocrystals in wound healing and scar reducing. Curcumin-pyrogallol cocrystal (CUR-PYR) was accordingly cherry-picked since its superior physicochemical properties adequately compensate for limitative drawbacks of curcumin (CUR). CUR-PYR has been synthesized by a liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) method and characterized via FT-IR, DSC, and PXRD analyses. antibacterial study indicated that CUR-PYR cocrystal, CUR+PYR physical mixture (PM), and PYR are more effective against both Gram-negative ( and ) and Gram-positive ( and ) bacteria in comparison with CUR. results also demonstrated that the viability of HDF and NIH-3T3 cells treated with CUR-PYR were improved more than those received CUR which is attributed to the effect of PYR in the form of cocrystal. The wound healing process has been monitored through a 15 day experiment on 75 male rats stratified into six groups: five groups treated by CUR-PYR+Vaseline (CUR-PYR.ung), CUR+PYR+Vaseline (CUR+PYR.ung), CUR+Vaseline (CUR.ung), PYR+Vaseline (PYR.ung), and Vaseline (VAS) ointments and a negative control group of 0.9% sodium chloride solution (NS). It was revealed that the wounds under CUR-PYR.ung treatment closed by day 12 postsurgery, while the wounds in other groups failed to reach the complete closure end point until the end of the experiment. Surprisingly, a diminutive scar (3.89 ± 0.97% of initial wound size) was observed in the CUR-PYR.ung treated wounds by day 15 after injury, followed by corresponding values for PYR.ung (12.08 ± 2.75%), CUR+PYR.ung (13.89 ± 5.02%), CUR.ung (16.24 ± 6.39%), VAS (18.97 ± 6.89%), and NS (20.33 ± 5.77%). Besides, investigating histopathological parameters including inflammation, granulation tissue, re-epithelialization, and collagen deposition signified outstandingly higher ability of CUR-PYR cocrystal in wound healing than either of its two constituents separately or their simple PM. It was concluded that desired solubility of the prepared cocrystal was essentially responsible for accelerating wound closure and promoting tissue regeneration which yielded minimal scarring. This prototype research suggests a promising application of pharmaceutical cocrystals for the purpose of wound healing.
Topics: Animals; Male; Mice; Rats; Cicatrix; Curcumin; Pharmaceutical Preparations; Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; Wound Healing; Crystallization; Pyrogallol; Antioxidants; Petrolatum
PubMed: 37624646
DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.3c00398 -
Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) Apr 2023Skin repair encompasses epidermal barrier repair and wound healing which involves multiple cellular and molecular stages. Therefore, many skin repair strategies have...
Skin repair encompasses epidermal barrier repair and wound healing which involves multiple cellular and molecular stages. Therefore, many skin repair strategies have been proposed. In order to characterize the usage frequency of skin repair ingredients in cosmetics, medicines, and medical devices, commercialized in Portuguese pharmacies and parapharmacies, a comprehensive analysis of the products' composition was performed. A total of 120 cosmetic products, collected from national pharmacies online platforms, 21 topical medicines, and 46 medical devices, collected from INFARMED database, were included in the study, revealing the top 10 most used skin repair ingredients in these categories. A critical review regarding the effectiveness of the top ingredients was performed and an in-depth analysis focused on the top three skin repair ingredients pursued. Results demonstrated that top three most used cosmetic ingredients were metal salts and oxides (78.3%), vitamin E and its derivatives (54.2%), and (L.) Urb. extract and actives (35.8%). Regarding medicines, metal salts and oxides were also the most used (47.4%) followed by vitamin B5 and derivatives (23.8%), and vitamin A and derivatives (26.3%). Silicones and derivatives were the most common skin repair ingredients in medical devices (33%), followed by petrolatum and derivatives (22%) and alginate (15%). This work provides an overview of the most used skin repair ingredients, highlighting their different mechanisms of action, aiming to provide an up-to-date tool to support health professionals' decisions.
PubMed: 37111330
DOI: 10.3390/ph16040573 -
International Journal of Pharmaceutics Jun 2020Excipients from different sources may lead to significant differences in the performance of drug products, posing challenges in product quality control. A previous... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
Excipients from different sources may lead to significant differences in the performance of drug products, posing challenges in product quality control. A previous report showed that the drug release rates from ophthalmic ointments were affected by source variation of white petrolatum. To understand the physicochemical properties including the microstructure of white petrolatum and the impact of this on the performance of finished products, the following were investigated: rheological properties, thermal analysis (differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)), as well as structural characteristics (polarized light microscopy (PLM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS)). The rheological parameters may be indicative of the drug release rate of the finished ophthalmic ointments when using a process involving hot-melting with immediate cooling. The white petrolatum from the four different sources also showed different thermal behavior. According to SAXS and WAXS, all of the petrolatum showed semi-crystalline behavior with different extents of crystallinity (from 9.5% to 16.9%). The crystalline domains of the petrolatum are ordered in an orthorhombic structure forming lamellar sheets with a periodicity from 9.1 nm to 9.9 nm. An in-depth understanding of the semi-crystalline structure was obtained and it provided valuable information for formulation optimization and characterization of petrolatum-based products.
Topics: Administration, Ophthalmic; Crystallization; Drug Compounding; Drug Liberation; Excipients; Kinetics; Loteprednol Etabonate; Molecular Structure; Ointments; Petrolatum; Technology, Pharmaceutical
PubMed: 32360506
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2020.119381 -
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology Oct 2022The emollients are important ingredients used in skincare formulations that can act as moisturizing agents through their occlusive potential, preventing skin water loss....
BACKGROUND
The emollients are important ingredients used in skincare formulations that can act as moisturizing agents through their occlusive potential, preventing skin water loss. Consumer interest in natural and sustainable products has grown considerably in the last few years, requiring efforts from the cosmetic industry to design products with raw materials of natural, organic, and sustainable origin. Thus, it is essential to improve the knowledge about the behavior of cosmetic raw materials that can be used as sustainable alternatives to synthetic ingredients.
AIM
This work aimed to evaluate the occlusive performance of different vegetable oils used as emollients in skincare cosmetics, through comparative analysis with petrolatum, a synthetic emollient with a high occlusive skin potential.
METHOD
The study included 80 healthy female adult volunteers. TEWL measurements were performed before and after 15 min, 2 and 6 h of emollients application on the forearms of the research participants. All research participants provided written informed consent.
RESULTS
The results obtained showed that the vegetable oils were effective in providing an occlusive effect on the skin. When compared to the petrolatum, the vegetable oils did not provide a high immediate skin occlusion effect. However, most of them showed a skin occlusion performance comparable to petrolatum throughout the 6 h time course.
CONCLUSION
Vegetable oils can be used as a sustainable alternative to synthetic emollients, and they are promising in replacing petrolatum in skincare formulations with respect to the occlusion effect of the skin. The vegetable oils did not provide a high immediate skin occlusion effect (15 min post-application) as the petrolatum, which is known to have increased occlusion properties. However, most of them showed a skin occlusion performance comparable to petrolatum throughout the 6-hour time course.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Petrolatum; Emollients; Skin; Skin Care; Cosmetics; Plant Oils
PubMed: 35038372
DOI: 10.1111/jocd.14782 -
Journal of Endodontics Jul 2022Myospherulosis in the jaw is a rare, foreign body reaction that typically follows tooth extraction and the use of petrolatum-based medicaments. It appears as a...
Myospherulosis in the jaw is a rare, foreign body reaction that typically follows tooth extraction and the use of petrolatum-based medicaments. It appears as a radiolucency and can be mistaken for endodontic pathosis or other lesions without thorough clinical and radiographic evaluation as well as biopsy submission. Treatment is surgical removal and the recurrence is rare. This case report presents a unique finding of a posterior mandible multilocular radiolucency appearing as an apical lesion on 2-dimensional panoramic imaging until visualized with 3-dimensional imaging. Clinical testing and patient referral led to a biopsy and diagnosis of myospherulosis. This is the first case report of myospherulosis presented in the endodontic literature.
Topics: Foreign-Body Reaction; Humans; Mandible; Tooth Extraction
PubMed: 35421406
DOI: 10.1016/j.joen.2022.04.006 -
Contact Dermatitis Jul 2023In 2008, numerous cases of allergic contact dermatitis caused by leather chairs (sofa dermatitis) were reported, with dimethylfumarate being the culprit allergen....
BACKGROUND
In 2008, numerous cases of allergic contact dermatitis caused by leather chairs (sofa dermatitis) were reported, with dimethylfumarate being the culprit allergen. However, octylisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone and cobalt have also been associated with cases of sofa dermatitis. An antifungal agent, 2-(thiocyanomethylthio)benzothiazole (TCMTB), has also previously been described as a contact allergen in leather.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Seven patients were referred to the Department of Dermatology of the Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium with suspicion of allergic contact dermatitis caused by leather sofas. They were patch tested with the European Baseline Series, additional series (according to the patients' history and clinical aspect of the eruption), dimethylfumarate (4/7 patients) and with TCMTB.
RESULTS
All seven patients presented a positive reaction to TCMTB and only one presented a concomitant positive reaction to dimethylfumarate. All patients showed clinical improvement after avoiding contact with their leather sofa.
CONCLUSION
2-(Thiocyanomethylthio)benzothiazole (TCMTB) is probably an underestimated allergen present in leather chairs (responsible for the so-called 'sofa dermatitis'), and more generally in leather objects. It is, therefore, important to test with TCMTB 0.1% petrolatum in case of contact dermatitis related with leather products.
Topics: Humans; Dermatitis, Allergic Contact; Dimethyl Fumarate; Patch Tests; Allergens
PubMed: 37037196
DOI: 10.1111/cod.14320