Elkholy, N. S., M. W. Shafaa, and H. S. Mohammed,
"Biophysical characterization of lutein or beta carotene-loaded cationic liposomes",
RSC Adv., vol. 10: The Royal Society of Chemistry, pp. 32409-32422, 2020.
AbstractThe interactions between carotenoids and membrane constituents are vital for understanding the mechanism of their dynamic action. Lutein and beta-carotene were loaded separately into the bilayer of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) mixed at a molar ratio with l-α-phosphatidylethanolamine derived from sheep brain (cephalin) and stearylamine (SA) to form cationic liposomes. The molecular interaction between lutein or beta-carotene with cationic liposomes was studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM){,} dynamic light scattering (DLS){,} differential scanning calorimetry (DSC){,} and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Encapsulation efficiency (EE %) and in vitro drug release were determined. The DLS measurements confirmed the mono-dispersity of all samples. TEM results revealed that liposomal samples were oval-shaped and there was a change in their morphology and size upon encapsulation of lutein or beta-carotene. Beta-carotene was observed to adhere to the boundary surface within the liposomal assembly with external morphological alterations. EE% of lutein and beta-carotene exceeded 98.8 ± 0.3% and 87 ± 4%{,} respectively. Lutein doped with cationic liposomes shows better in vitro release stability (about 30%) than beta-carotene (about 45%) between the 3rd and the 6th hour manifested by lower leakage rate percentage of lutein which would lead to higher lutein retention. The incorporated lutein resulted in broadening and shifting of the major endothermic peak of the co-liposomes{,} while the incorporation of beta-carotene did not induce a noticeable shift. An FTIR study was employed to reveal structure alterations in the vesicles after the encapsulation of lutein or beta-carotene into liposomes. Encapsulation of lutein or beta-carotene into liposomes induced a change in the frequency of the symmetric and asymmetric CH2 stretching bands in the acyl chain that may influence the order of the membrane.
Mohammed, H. S., E. N. Hosny, Y. A. Khadrawy, M. Magdy, Y. S. Attia, O. A. Sayed, and M. AbdElaal,
"Protective effect of curcumin nanoparticles against cardiotoxicity induced by doxorubicin in rat.",
Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease, vol. 1866, issue 5, pp. 165665, 2020.
AbstractThe present study designed to investigate the protective effect of curcumin nanoparticles (CUR-NPs) on the cardiotoxicity induced by doxorubicin. Rats were divided into four groups; control, rats treated daily with CUR-NPs (50 mg/kg) for 14 days, rats treated with an acute dose of doxorubicin (20 mg/kg) and rats treated daily with CUR-NPs for 14 days injected with doxorubicin on the 10th day. After electrocardiogram (ECG) recording from rats at different groups, rat decapitation was carried out and the heart of each rat was excised out to measure the oxidative stress parameters; lipid peroxidation (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and reduced glutathione (GSH) and the activities of Na,K,ATPase and acetylcholinesterase (AchE). In addition, the levels of dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-HT) were determined in the cardiac tissues. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was measured in the serum. The ECG recordings indicated that daily pretreatment with CUR- NPs has prevented the tachycardia (i.e. increase in heart rate) and ameliorated the changes in ST wave and QRS complex induced by doxorubicin. In addition, CUR-NPs prevented doxorubicin induced significant increase in MDA, NO, DA, AchE and LDH and doxorubicin induced significant decrease in GSH, NE, 5-HT and Na,K,ATPase. According to the present findings, it could be concluded that CUR-NPs have a protective effect against cardiotoxicity induced by doxorubicin. This may shed more light on the importance of CUR-NPs pretreatment before the application of doxorubicin therapy.