Purpose: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is known to be an invasive and highly lethal hematological malignancy in adults and children. Resistance to the present treatments, including radiotherapy and chemotherapy with their side effects and telomere length shortening are the main cause of the mortality in AML patients. Telomeres sequence which are located at the end of eukaryotic chromosome play pivotal role in genomic stability. Recent studies have shown that apoptosis process is blocked in AML patient by the excessive telomerase activity in cancerous blasts. Therefore, the find of effective ways to prevent disease progression has been considered by the researchers. Natural killer (NK) cells as granular effector cells play a critical role in elimination of abnormal and tumor cells. Given that the cytotoxic function of NK cells is disrupted in the AML patients, we investigated the effect of telomerase inhibitors on NK cell differentiation.Methods: To evaluate telomerase inhibition on NK cell differentiation, the expression of CD105, CD56, CD57, and KIRs was evaluated in CD34+ derived NK cells after incubation of them with BIBR1532.Results: The results showed that the expression of CD105, CD56, CD57, and KIRs receptors reduces after telomerase inhibition. According to these findings, BIBR1532 affected the final differentiation of NK cells. Conclusion: The results revealed that telomerase inhibitor drugs suppress cancer cell progression in a NK cells-independent process.

Nowadays the importance of vitamins is clear for everyone. However, many patients are suffering from insufficient intake of vitamins. Incomplete intake of different vitamins from food sources due to their destruction during food processing or decrease in their bioavailability when mixing with other food materials, are factors resulting in vitamin deficiency in the body. Therefore, various lipid based nanocarriers such as nanoliposomes were developed to increase the bioavailability of bioactive compounds. Since the function of nanoliposomes containing vitamins on the body has a direct relationship with the quality of produced nanoliposomes, this review study was planned to investigate the several aspects of liposomal characteristics such as size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency on the quality of synthesized vitamin-loaded nanoliposomes.

One of the central signaling pathways with a regulatory effect on cell proliferation and survival is Akt/mTOR. In many human cancer types, for instance, lung cancer, the overexpression of Akt/mTOR has been reported. For this reason, either targeting cancer cells by synthetic or natural products affecting the Akt/mTOR pathway down-regulation is a useful strategy in cancer therapy. Direct inhibition of the signaling pathway or modulation of each related molecule could have significant feedback on the growth and proliferation of cancer cells. A variety of secondary metabolites has been identified to directly inhibit the AKT/mTOR signaling, which is important in the field of drug discovery. Naturally occurring nitrogenous and phenolic compounds can emerge as two pivotal classes of natural products possessing anticancer abilities. Herein, we have summarized the alkaloids and flavonoids for lung cancer treatment together with all the possible mechanisms of action relying on the Akt/mTOR pathway down-regulation. This review suggested that in search of new drugs, phytochemicals could be considered as promising scaffolds to be developed into efficient drugs for the treatment of cancer. In this review, the terms "Akt/mTOR", "Alkaloid", "flavonoid", and "lung cancer" were searched without any limitation in search criteria in Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google scholar engines.

Purpose: To investigate the in vitro anti-skin-aging properties of Cratoxylum formosum extract and encapsulate this plant extract in nanostructured lipid carriers (CFE-NLCs) for dermal application.Methods: The biological properties of the plant extract, including enhanced procollagen type I synthesis and anti-matrix metalloproteinase activity, were evaluated to assess its cosmetic benefits. An artificial neural network (ANN) coupled with K-fold cross-validation was applied to investigate the effects of the formulants and optimize the CFE-NLCs. The physicochemical properties, percutaneous absorption, and irritation potential of the CFE-NLCs were analyzed.Results: Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed that CFE contained 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid as the vital constituent. Appropriate skin-care properties were also demonstrated with respect to enhanced type I procollagen synthesis and the inhibition of MMP-1, MMP-3, and MMP-9 in primary human dermal fibroblasts. The optimal CFE-NLCs exhibited better skin absorption and biocompatibility and lower irritation potential than the free botanical extract solution.Conclusion: The findings obtained highlight CFE-NLCs as promising skin-care ingredients.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative organism of COVID-19. Since this disease is considered new and does not have an approved curative protocol, many researchers have tackled the possible options for COVID-19 prevention and therapeutic approaches. We address herein the phenomena of cytokine storm (the main cause of death) associating with the late stage of COVID19. Cytokine storm is undertaken in an attempt to provide information about its possible underlying causes, and to clarify some points that can be of value in guiding treatment practices for a clinical trial.

Microparticulate drug delivery system (MDDS) has attained much consideration in the modern era due to its effectiveness in overcoming traditional treatment problems. Microparticles (MPs) are spherical particles of a diameter ranging from 10 μm to 1000 μm. MPs can encapsulate both water-soluble and insoluble compounds. MDDS proved their efficacy in improving drugs bioavailability, stability, targeting, and controlling their release patterns. MPs also offer comfort, easy administration, and improvement in patient compliance by reducing drugs toxicity and dosage frequency. This review elucidates the fabrication techniques, drug release, and therapeutic application of MDDS. Further details concerning the therapeutic applications of antidiabetic drugs-loaded MPs were also reviewed, including controlling drugs release by gastroretention, improving drugs dissolution, reducing side effects, localizing drugs to the site of disease, improving insulin stability, natural products loaded with MPs, sustained drug release, mucosal delivery, and administration routes. Additionally, the current situation and future prospects in developing MPs loaded with antidiabetic drugs were discussed.

Recently, the world has been dealing with a destructive global pandemic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, since 2020; there were millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide. With sequencing generations of the virus, around 60% are expected to become infected during the pandemic. Unfortunately, no drug or vaccine has been approved because no real evidence from clinical trials in treatment was reached. According to current thinking, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) mortality is caused by a cytokine storm syndrome in patients with hyper-inflammatory conditions, resulting in acute respiratory distress and finally death. In this review, we discuss the various types of natural immune-modulatory agents and their role in the management of SARS-CoV-2, and cytokine storm syndrome. For example, Polyphenols as natural products can block the binding of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to host cell receptor ACE2, stop viral entry into the host cell and block viral RNA replication. Also, saikosaponins (A, B2, C, and D), triterpene glycosides, which are isolated from medicinal plants exert antiviral action against HCoV-22E9, and Houttuynia cordata water extract has antiviral effects on SARS-CoV. Moreover, eucalyptus oil has promising potential for COVID-19 prevention and treatment. There is an urgent need for research to improve the function of the human immune system all over the world. As a result, actions for better understanding and improving the human immune system are critical steps toward mitigating risks and negative outcomes. These approaches will be strongly recommended for future emerging viruses and pathogens.

Purpose: 5-Fluorouracil (5FU) and Fe3O4 nanoparticles were encapsulated in core-shell polycaprolactone (PCL)/chitosan (CS) nanofibers as a multi-mode anticancer system to study drug release sustainability. The structure of the core-shell drug delivery system was also optimized according to drug release behavior by artificial intelligence.Methods: The core-shell nanofibers were electrospun by a coaxial syringe. Artificial neural network (ANN) was used for function approximation to estimate release parameters. A genetic algorithm was then used for optimizing the structure. Chemical assay of the optimized sample was performed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) test was conducted to measure the real amount of loaded magnetic nanoparticles. HepG2 cell cytotoxicity was studied and the results for the optimized samples with and without Fe3O4 after 72 hours were reported.Results: Feeding ratio of sheath to core and the amount of CS, Fe3O4, and 5FU had a statistical effect on nanofibers diameters, which were 300-450 nm. The drug loading efficiency of these nanofibers was 65-86%. ANN estimated the release parameters with an error of 10%. The temperature increased about 5.6°C in the alternative magnetic field (AMF) of 216 kA.m-1~300 kHz and 4.8°C in the AMF of 154 kA.m-1~400 kHz after 20 minutes. HepG2 cell cytotoxicity for the optimized samples with and without Fe3O4 after 72 hours were 39.7% and 38.8%, respectively.Conclusion: Since this core-shell drug release system was more sustainable compared to the blend structure despite the low half-life of 5FU, it is suggested to utilize it as post-surgical implants for various cancer treatments such as liver or colorectal cancer in the future. This system is capable of providing chemotherapy and hyperthermia simultaneously.

Purpose: Free radicals such as hydroxyl and peroxide are contributing factors to neuronal destruction in cerebral ischemia. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is one of the potent known antioxidants. Preparation of ALA niosomes allows IV injection and can increase bioavailability and penetration into the central nervous system (CNS).Methods: Film hydration method was used to prepare different niosomes composed of Span®, Tween®, and cholesterol at different molar ratio. ALA and niosome-forming compounds were dissolved in chloroform, before removing the organic solvent by rotary evaporator. Animals were randomly divided into four groups: Sham, control group, intravenous (IV) injection of empty niosomes plus intraperitoneal (IP) injection of ALA solution, and finally, IV injection of ALA niosomes. Rats were subjected to deep anesthesia before inducing cerebral ischemia, then, their internal common carotid arteries were clamped for 15 min and reperfusion was done for 30 min. Niosomal ALA was injected intravenously just before declamping.Results: Mean volume diameter of the prepared niosomes was between 4.36 ± 0.82 and 19.95 ± 1.21 μm in different formulations. Encapsulation efficiency percent (EE%) of ALA in the selected formulation, Span60/Tween60/cholesterol (35:35:30 molar ratio), was 94.5 ± 0.2, and 59.27 ± 5.61% of ALA was released after 4h. In the niosomal group, the rate of reduction in complications of cerebral ischemia such as histopathologic changes and acute damage (from score 3 to 1) in CNS was higher than other groups.Conclusion: The obtained results show that niosomes can be used as effective drug delivery systems for ALA in cerebral ischemia.