CONCLUSION: A thermo-sensitive gel containing Cur/DsiRNA CS nanoparticles was successfully developed and has a great potential to be further developed.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to systematically review studies on the use of blockchain technology in health care and to analyze the characteristics of the studies that have implemented blockchain technology.
METHODS: This study used a systematic review methodology to find literature related to the implementation aspect of blockchain technology in health care. Relevant papers were searched for using PubMed, SpringerLink, IEEE Xplore, Embase, Scopus, and EBSCOhost. A quality assessment of literature was performed on the 22 selected papers by assessing their trustworthiness and relevance.
RESULTS: After full screening, 22 papers were included. A table of evidence was constructed, and the results of the selected papers were interpreted. The results of scoring for measuring the quality of the publications were obtained and interpreted. Out of 22 papers, a total of 3 (14%) high-quality papers, 9 (41%) moderate-quality papers, and 10 (45%) low-quality papers were identified.
CONCLUSIONS: Blockchain technology was found to be useful in real health care environments, including for the management of electronic medical records, biomedical research and education, remote patient monitoring, pharmaceutical supply chains, health insurance claims, health data analytics, and other potential areas. The main reasons for the implementation of blockchain technology in the health care sector were identified as data integrity, access control, data logging, data versioning, and nonrepudiation. The findings could help the scientific community to understand the implementation aspect of blockchain technology. The results from this study help in recognizing the accessibility and use of blockchain technology in the health care sector.
METHODS: Prior to analyzing the ability of this novel combined herbal therapy to promote aspects of bone regeneration, its cytotoxicity was determined using MC3T3-E1 cells (pre-osteoblast model). Cell proliferation was evaluated using phase-contrast microscopy and cell differentiation was estimated using alkaline phosphatase activity. The effect of the combined herbal therapy (CUR + FLL) was also assessed in terms of mineralization in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of cultured cells. Further, to explore the molecular mechanisms of bone formation, time-dependent expression of bone-regulating protein biomarkers was also evaluated.
RESULTS: Combined herbal therapy (CUR + FLL) significantly upregulated the viability, proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells compared to the monotherapy of CUR or FLL. The magnitude of ECM mineralization (calcium deposition) was also higher in MC3T3-E1 cells treated with combined therapy. The time-dependent expression of bone-forming protein biomarkers revealed that the tendency of expression of these bone-regulating proteins was remarkably higher in cells treated with combined therapy.
CONCLUSION: The co-administration of CUR and FLL had superior promotion of elements of bone regeneration in cultured cells, thus could be a promising alternative herbal therapy for the management of bone erosive disorders such as osteoporosis.
OBJECTIVE: The current review was aimed to present a comprehensive overview and critical appraisal of majorly employed neuroimaging techniques for rational diagnosis and effective monitoring of effectiveness of employed therapeutic intervention for NPH. Moreover, a critical overview of recent developments and utilization of pharmacological agents for treatment of hydrocephalus has also been appraised.
RESULTS: Considering the complications associated with the shunt-based surgical operations, consistent monitoring of shunting via neuroimaging techniques hold greater clinical significance. Despite having extensive applicability of MRI and CT scan, these conventional neuroimaging techniques are associated with misdiagnosis or several health risks to patients. Recent advances in MRI (i.e., Sagittal-MRI, coronal-MRI, Time-SLIP (time-spatial-labeling-inversion-pulse), PC-MRI and diffusion-tensor-imaging (DTI)) have shown promising applicability in diagnosis of NPH. Having associated with several adverse effects with surgical interventions, non-invasive approaches (pharmacological agents) have earned greater interest of scientists, medical professional, and healthcare providers. Amongst pharmacological agents, diuretics, isosorbide, osmotic agents, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, glucocorticoids, NSAIDs, digoxin, and gold-198 have been employed for management of NPH and prevention of secondary sensory/intellectual complications.
CONCLUSION: Employment of rational diagnostic tool and therapeutic modalities avoids misleading diagnosis and sophisticated management of hydrocephalus by efficient reduction of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production, reduction of fibrotic and inflammatory cascades secondary to meningitis and hemorrhage, and protection of brain from further deterioration.
OBJECTIVES: The present study was aimed to fabricate the capecitabine as smart pH-responsive hydrogel network to efficiently facilitate its oral delivery while shielding its stability in the gastric media.
METHODS: The smart pH sensitive HP-β-CD/agarose-g-poly(MAA) hydrogel network was developed using an aqueous free radical polymerization technique. The developed hydrogels were characterized for drug-loading efficiency, structural and compositional features, thermal stability, swelling behaviour, morphology, physical form, and release kinetics. The pH-responsive behaviour of developed hydrogels was established by conducting the swelling and release behaviour at different pH values (1.2 and 7.4), demonstrating significantly higher swelling and release at pH 7.4 as compared with pH 1.2. The capecitabine-loaded hydrogels were also screened for acute oral toxicity in animals by analysing the body weight, water and food intake, dermal toxicity, ocular toxicity, biochemical analysis, and histological examination.
RESULTS: The characteristic evaluations revealed that capecitabine (anticancer agent) was successfully loaded into the hydrogel network. Capecitabine loading was ranged from 71.22% to 90.12%. An interesting feature of hydrogel was its pH-responsive behaviour which triggers release at basic pH (94.25%). Optimum swelling (95%) was seen at pH 7.4. Based upon regression coefficient R2 (0.96 - 0.99) best fit model was zero order. The extensive toxicity evaluations evidenced good safety profile with no signs of oral, dermal or ocular toxicities, as well as no variations in blood parameters and histology of vital organs.
CONCLUSION: Our findings conclusively evinced that the developed hydrogel exhibited excellent pharmaceutical and therapeutic potential and thus can be employed as pH-responsive system for controlled delivery of anticancer agents.
OBJECTIVE: The current review was aimed to present a comprehensive overview and critical appraisal of majorly employed neuroimaging techniques for rational diagnosis and effective monitoring of the effectiveness of the employed therapeutic intervention for NPH. Moreover, a critical overview of recent developments and utilization of pharmacological agents for the treatment of hydrocephalus has also been appraised.
RESULTS: Considering the complications associated with the shunt-based surgical operations, consistent monitoring of shunting via neuroimaging techniques hold greater clinical significance. Despite having extensive applicability of MRI and CT scan, these conventional neuroimaging techniques are associated with misdiagnosis or several health risks to patients. Recent advances in MRI (i.e., Sagittal-MRI, coronal-MRI, Time-SLIP (time-spatial-labeling-inversion-pulse), PC-MRI and diffusion-tensor-imaging (DTI)) have shown promising applicability in the diagnosis of NPH. Having associated with several adverse effects with surgical interventions, non-invasive approaches (pharmacological agents) have earned greater interest of scientists, medical professional, and healthcare providers. Amongst pharmacological agents, diuretics, isosorbide, osmotic agents, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, glucocorticoids, NSAIDs, digoxin, and gold-198 have been employed for the management of NPH and prevention of secondary sensory/intellectual complications.
CONCLUSION: Employment of rational diagnostic tool and therapeutic modalities avoids misleading diagnosis and sophisticated management of hydrocephalus by efficient reduction of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) production, reduction of fibrotic and inflammatory cascades secondary to meningitis and hemorrhage, and protection of brain from further deterioration.
OBJECTIVE: To date, numerous conventional wound dressings are employed for the management of DFUs but there is a lack of absolute and versatile choice. The current review was therefore aimed to summarize and critically discuss the available evidences related to pharmaceutical and therapeutic viability of polymer-based dressings for the treatment of DFUs.
RESULTS: A versatile range of naturally-originated polymers including chitosan (CS), hyaluronic acid (HA), cellulose, alginate, dextran, collagen, gelatin, elastin, fibrin and silk fibroin have been utilized for the treatment of DFUs. These polymers have been used in the form of hydrogels, films, hydrocolloids, foams, membranes, scaffolds, microparticles, and nanoparticles. Moreover, the wound healing viability and clinical applicability of various mutually modified, semi-synthetic or synthetic polymers have also been critically discussed.
CONCLUSION: In summary, this review enlightens the most recent developments in polymer-based wound dressings with special emphasis on advanced polymeric biomaterials, innovative therapeutic strategies and delivery approaches for the treatment of DFUs.
OBJECTIVE: This review was aimed to critically overview the literature and summarizes the antibacterial, antiprotozoal, and antifungal trends of E. longifolia and its medicinally active components.
RESULTS: Besides its well-documented safety, efficacy, and tolerability, a plethora of in vitro, in vivo, and human clinical studies has evidenced the antimicrobial efficacy of E. longifolia and its bioactive constituents. Phytochemical screening of various types of extracts (methanolic, ethyl acetate, and nbutanolic) from different parts (roots, stem, and leaves) of E. longifolia displayed a dose-dependent antibacterial, antiprotozoal, and antifungal responses. Comparative analysis revealed that the root extract of E. longifolia exhibited the highest antimicrobial efficacy compared to other parts of the plant. Bioactivity-guided fractionation identified that among all of the medicinal compounds isolated/ extracted from different parts of E. longifolia, eurycomanone displayed the strongest antibacterial, antiprotozoal and antifungal activities.
CONCLUSION: Based on the critical analysis of the literature, we identified that E. longifolia exhibits promising antibacterial, antiprotozoal, and antifungal efficacies against various pathogenic microbes and thus can be considered as a potential complementary and alternative antimicrobial therapy.