Int J Nanomed
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The emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection has increased precipitously over the past several decades, with far-reaching health care and societal costs. MRSA infections in the context of burn wounds lead to invasive disease that could potentially cause mortality. Chloramphenicol is a well-known broad-spectrum bacteriostatic antibiotic that has been used since 1949, but due to its hydrophobicity, poor penetration in skin, fast degradation, and toxicity, its application has been hindered. ⋯ In vitro antibacterial activities were performed by zone of inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentrations, minimum bacterial concentration, and time-kill assays, which showed that CAM-PCL-P NPs exhibited significantly enhanced anti-MRSA activity against ten clinical isolates of MRSA strains. The augmented activity of CAM-PCL-P NPs was further tested on a MRSA-infected burn-wound animal model and achieved quicker efficacy in MRSA clearance and improved the survival rate compared with free-chloramphenicol treatment. Thus, we propose CAM-PCL-P NPs as a promising novel antimicrobial candidate that may have a good potential for preclinical applications.
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To investigate the sonoactivity of hypericin (HY), together with its sonodynamic effect on THP-1 macrophages and the underlying mechanism. ⋯ HY mediated SDT-induced apoptosis in THP-1 macrophages via ROS generation. Then, the proapoptotic factor BAX translocated from the cytosol to the mitochondria, increasing the ratio of BAX/Bcl-2, and the mPTP opened to release cytochrome C. This study demonstrated the great potential of HY-mediated SDT for treating atherosclerosis.
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Mesoporous calcium-silicon xerogels with a pore size of 15 nm (MCS-15) and pore volume of 1.43 cm(3)/g were synthesized by using 1,3,5-mesitylene (TMB) as the pore-expanding agent. The MCS-15 exhibited good degradability with the weight loss of 50 wt% after soaking in Tris-HCl solution for 56 days, which was higher than the 30 wt% loss shown by mesoporous calcium-silicon xerogels with a pore size of 4 nm (MCS-4). The pore size and pore volume of MCS-15 had significant influences on load and release of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2). ⋯ Moreover, the MCS-15 system exhibited sustained release of rhBMP-2 as compared with MCS-4 system (showing a burst release). The MCS-15/rhBMP-2 system could promote the proliferation and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells, showing good cytocompatibility and bioactivity. The results indicated that MCS-15, with larger mesopore size and higher pore volume, might be a promising carrier for loading and sustained release of rhBMP-2, which could be used as bone repair material with built-in osteoinduction function in bone reconstruction.
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[This corrects the article on p. 4245 in vol. 9, PMID: 25228803.].