Improvement of quality of life and menopausal symptoms in climacteric women treated with low-dose monthly parenteral formulations of non-polymeric microspheres of 17β-estradiol/progesterone

Objective: To evaluate the short term effect over menopausal symptoms and quality of life (QoL) of monthly parenteral formulations of 17β-estradiol (E)/progesterone (P) non-polymeric microspheres.

Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a multicenter, randomized, single-blinded study that included peri- and post-menopausal symptomatic women assigned to receive a monthly intramuscular injection of 0.5?mg E?+?15?mg P (Group A, n?=?34), 1?mg E?+?20?mg P (Group B, n?=?24), or 1?mg E?+?30?mg P (Group C, n?=?26) for 6 months. Intensity of menopausal symptoms was assessed before and after treatment with the Greene Climacteric Scale (GCS) and QoL with the Utian Quality of Life Scale (UQoLS).

Results: Menopausal symptoms improved for all groups at six months evidenced by lower cluster/sub-cluster GCS scores. Equally, there was an overall trend for QoL improvement for all groups evidenced by higher domain UQoLS scores at six months; but only significant for the emotional (Groups A and B) and occupational domains (Groups A and C).

Conclusion: The three low-dose continuous sequential intramuscular monthly formulations of E/P microspheres exerted a positive effect over menopausal symptoms and QoL. Long-term research is warranted with these formulations.

Clinical trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifiers NCT 00775242.     

PELA幽门螺杆菌口服疫苗微球黏膜免疫研究

目的：应用复乳挥发法制备PELA泛影葡胺显影微球与缨门螺杆菌超声上清口服疫苗微球，并进行靶向与黏膜免疫研究。方法：采用CT技术，研究显影微球的靶向，PELA幽门曙杆菌超声上清口服疫苗微球口服免疫小鼠后，运用ELISA法检测血清，唾液，肠粘液的抗体改变情况，ELISPOT法分析派伊尔氏结（PP结）抗原特异性抗体形成细胞（ASC）的数量增减，结果；口粒径在10um以下的微球，首先粘附在胃肠黏膜表面，后投递于PP结；H.pylori疫苗微球免疫后可诱导较高的唾液sIgA水平和肠道sIgA反应，PP结抗原特异性抗体形成细胞（ASC）数量与肠道 sIgA水平密切相关，结论：可生物降解的PELA微球可用于靶向口服疫苗的研究。     

Cross-linked chitosan microspheres as carriers for prolonged delivery of macromolecular drugs

Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and diphtheria toxoid (DT) were loaded by passive absorption from aqueous solutions into preformed glutaraldehyde cross-linked chitosan microspheres. In vitro release of BSA under sink conditions at 37°C showed that even though there was a large burst effect, there was a more or less steady increase with time thereafter for several days. Coating the BSA-loaded particles with paraffin oil or with a polymer, such as polylactic acid, modulated drug release. After the initial burst from PLA coated particles, the release rate increased with time for nearly 2 months. Preliminary immunogenicity studies on Wistar rats using DT loaded chitosan spheres showed that the antibody titres were fairly constant over a 5-month period, although very low compared to DT given on alum as control. Histological studies of placebo microspheres intramuscularly injected into rats demonstrated their tissue compatibility. Biodegradation was not complete in 6 months demonstrating the potential of cross-linked chitosan spheres as a long-acting drug delivery vehicle. The study demonstrated the possibility of incorporating biological macromolecules which are very sensitive to organic solvents, pH, temperature, ultrasound, etc. by a passive absorption technique to degradable biopolymer matrices thereby preserving their biological integrity. It is also shown that drugs passively absorbed into such matrices by taking advantage of their swelling behaviour need not necessarily be released completely in the initial 'burst' and a sustained release may be possible for macromolecules thus incorporated.     

Intranasal immunization against influenza virus using polymeric particles

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) nanoand microspheres, with a mean diameter of 220 nm and 8 μm, respectively, to enhance the nasal and systemic immune responses against influenza virus antigen. High encapsulation levels of antigen were achieved in all cases. Neither the molecular weight nor the antigenicity of the entrapped antigen were affected by the encapsulation procedure. Following nasal immunization, the nasal washes IgA and the serum IgG responses were evaluated. With the soluble antigen, relatively high immune responses were observed. With nanospheres, nasal washes IgA levels were significantly lower (p < 0.01) and serum IgG levels were not significantly different (p > 0.05) from those obtained with the soluble antigen. With microspheres, both nasal washes IgA and serum IgG levels were significantly lower (p < 0.01 and < 0.05, respectively) as compared to the levels found for the soluble antigen. In addition, fluorescent microspheres administered intranasally failed to reach the nasal-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT). This lack of particle uptake by NALT and the high immunogenicity of the antigen used in this study, could explain the absence of enhancement of the immune responses by the polymeric particles.     

Fabrication and characterization of silk microfiber-reinforced methacrylated gelatin hydrogel with tunable properties

Abstract

Despite considerable research effort, the natural hydrogels presently available for tissue engineering suffer from several major drawbacks, one of the significant issue is their poor mechanical strength which are unable to satisfy some mechanical requirements for successful outcomes. Herein, to mimic the composition and structure of the natural extracellular matrix, the micron-sized silk fibers obtained by alkaline hydrolysis were used as a reinforcement phase in a GelMA hydrogel, resulting in a material with significantly greater stiffness than pure GelMA hydrogel alone. In addition, the hydrogel demonstrated tunable compressive strength, swelling capacity, and degradation properties based on the silk fiber length. Experiments with cells indicated that MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts quickly adhered to and proliferated on the surface of the composite hydrogels, as revealed by FDA/PI staining and CCK-8 assays. In addition, various cellular responses, including cell adhesion, changes in cellular morphology and cell proliferation behavior, occurred on the composite hydrogel and varied with fiber length. Overall, this study introduces a series of fiber-reinforced, tunable composite hydrogels that could be useful for various tissue engineering applications.     

A wideband PVDF-on-silicon ultrasonic transducer array with microspheres embedded low melting temperature alloy backing

A PVDF-based 8-element ultrasound transducer array (1 mm × 1 mm element size with an inter-element spacing of 1 mm) on a silicon carrier substrate is fabricated and characterized. To improve the performance of the transducer, new CMOS-compatible fabrication technologies are introduced. These include: (1) adhesive micro-contact printing on non-radiating areas, and (2) glass microspheres (7–20 μm in diameter) embedded low melting temperature alloy (LMA) for backside electrical connection. The first improvement removes the adverse effects of adhesive layer (e.g., lower sensitivity) between the PVDF and backside contact while the second one improves the pulse-echo signal quality by eliminating reflections at the backing/water interface. The fabricated array elements are tested in a water tank and their pulse-echo response are recorded. The central frequency of each element is 25 MHz with a 100% measured 6-dB bandwidth (60% 3-dB bandwidth).     

Experimental Observation on the Effects of Different Chitosan on Preventing Traumatic Peritoneal Adhesion in Rats

objective： The effects of different chitosan on preventing traumatic peritoneal adhesion in rats was studied in this paper. METHODS ： 96 SD rats with injured vermiform process were randomly divided into 4 groups as follows： group A without any treatment as control, group B treated with chitosan gel, group C treated with pure chitosan film and group D treated with chiston film containing 50% gelatin. 2 and 4 weeks after surgery, 12 rats in each group were respectively belly opened to observe chitosan degradation and evaluate peritoneal adhesion, and the adhesive vermiform processes tissues were histopathologically observed. RESULTS： 1. Degradation in the group D was faster than that in the group C but slower than that in the group B. 2. 2 weeks after surgery the adhesion in the group B was milder than that in the control group（goup A） （P〈0. 05）, but that in the group C and D （both P〈0. 05） were more severe than that in the control group. 3. 4 weeks after surgery , the adhesion in the group B was milder than that in the control group （P〈0. 05）, but that in the group C and D （both P〈0. 05） were more severe than that in the control group , whereas, there was no significant difference between adhesion in the group C and group D （P〉0. 05）. 4. Histopathological examinaiton indicated that： 2 weeks after surgery ,inflammatory cell infiltration and fibroplastic proliferation dominated in local lesion and the response was most severe on the serous coat, furthermore, the response in the control group was more severe than that in the group B, but milder than that in the group C and D; 4 weeks after surgery, fibroplastic proliferation dominated in local lesion in each group , moreover, the response in the control group was more severe than that in the group B but milder than that in the group C and D. What＇s more, integrated fibrous membrane formed around implanted materials in the group C and D, and the fibrous membranes were thinner in the group C than that in the group D. CONCLUSION： 1.Chitosan gel has perfect effect in protecting traumatic peritoneal adhesion in rats. 2. Pure chitosan film could exacerbate peritoneal adhesion and chitosan containing gelatin could exacerbate peritoneal adhesion further.     

注射用雌二醇聚乳酸羟基乙酸缓释微球生物相容性研究

目的：以整体动物为研究对象，考察注射用雌二醇聚乳酸羟基乙酸缓释微球动物体内的生物降解和生物相容性。方法：肌注给药，显微镜观察组织切片，研究空白PLGA微球及载雌二醇PLGA微球的生物降解和相容性。结果：28d内，微球从规则球形降解为不规则微小颗粒，组织学观察空白微球和载雌二醇微球均未见病理改变。结论：注射用雌二醇聚乳酸羟基乙酸缓释微球具有良好的生物降解和相容性。     

Performance of fluorescence microspheres-based immunochromatography in simultaneous monitoring of five quinoxalines

Quinoxaline antibiotics are widely employed in the animal feeding and breeding industry and their metabolites transfer to the environment via the ecological cycle. In this study, fluorescence microspheres-based immunochromatography has been established for the simultaneous detection of five classical quinoxalines in environmental water and animal foodstuffs. Under the optimal conditions, it achieved qualitative and quantitative detection of five quinoxalines within 15 min. The visual limit of detection (LOD) for five quinoxalines in environmental water and animal foodstuffs was 5–15?µg/L and 100–250?µg/kg, respectively. Besides, assisted by a strip reader, the LOD for the quantitative detection of five quinoxalines was 0.09–2.04?µg/kg. The average recoveries for spiked samples ranged from 74.54% to 126.33%, with the coefficients of variation less than 28.21%. Thirty-four samples collected from different areas were detected with the developed immunochromatography and commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent kits; the results of the two methods showed a good correlation.     

盐酸米诺环素微球凝胶的制备及对大鼠实验性牙龈炎的抑制作用

目的:制备含盐酸米诺环素微球的功能性壳聚糖温敏凝胶,并观察载药凝胶对大鼠牙龈炎模型的抑菌效果。方法:将小分子药物盐酸米诺环素先制备成微球,共混于温敏凝胶中,观察其理化性质及释药性能;建立大鼠的实验性牙龈炎模型,观察载药凝胶对实验性牙龈炎模型的消炎效果。结果:实验制得的缓释凝胶,T50%可延长至4.24d;动物实验初步结果显示,与对照组相比实验组的牙龈指数和探诊深度有明显的减少,炎症细胞浸润数量少,毛细血管扩张程度轻。结论:加载盐酸米诺环素的缓释凝胶对大鼠实验性牙龈炎有一定的消炎作用。