Untangling this mystery is key to addressing each

Exploring the forgotten but critically important science of zeta potential

The zeta potential concept is foundational not only to vaccine injury but also health and longevity

Exploring the Wild West of Water Cures and the legitimate options I have come across.

April's Open Thread

In the first part of this series, I discussed how diseases frequently emerge that before long affect many people, and how in many cases conventional medicine cannot acknowledge what happened.

Healthy water creates the structure, solidity and circulation throughout the body and plays a critical role in preventing many common "inexplicable" diseases.

What they don't tell us about salt and how to select the healthiest options

Past discoveries that can help us understand the current wave of neurological injuries and the silence surrounding them

Why natural salt is essential for health

The causes and treatments of dementia are critical to understand for the era we live in.

Exploring the Forgotten Causes and Treatments of Hypertension and the Dangers of BP Medications

Exploring the Forgotten Causes and Treatments of Hypertension and the Dangers of BP Medications

The Forgotten Lessons in Lung Health

Trehalose, a remarkable substance, holds great importance in biomedicine for its anti-inflammatory properties and its capacity to hinder scar formatio…

Traditional healthcare systems like Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine have promoted the health benefits of skin-to-skin contact with the earth for hundreds, if not thousands of years. If that's not reason enough to consider this therapy, there is also now a growing body of research not only proving what those wise physicians knew all along, but showing exactly what happens when we perform this simple act.

It Starts Early: Spot the Hidden Signs and Stop Alzheimer's Before It Takes Hold

The subtle dangers of vaccinations must be considered when assessing if their risks and benefits justify mandating them

May's Open Thread

Glucosamine sulfate (GS) has been used orally for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). However, it may be susceptible to the liver first pass phenomenon, which greatly affects its bioavailability, in addition to its side effects on the gastrointestinal tract. Alginate nanoparticles (Alg NPs) were investigated as a new drug carrier for transdermal delivery of GS to improve its effectiveness and reduce side effects. GS-Alg NPs were characterized by encapsulation efficiency, NP yield, particle size and surface charge properties. The in vitro release studies of GS and the ex vivo permeability through rat skin were determined using a UV-Vis spectrophotometer. GS-Alg NPs are within the nanometer range of size. High negative surface charge values are obtained and indicate the high suspension stability of the prepared formulation. The in vitro release studies showed that GS is released from Alg NPs in a sustained and prolonged manner. The ex vivo permeability of GS through rat skin is enhanced significantly after encapsulation in the negatively charged Alg NPs. We successfully reported a highly stable nanoparticlulate system using Alg NPs that permits the encapsulation of GS for topical administration, overcoming the disadvantages of oral administration.

Emerging formulation technologies aimed to produce nanoemulsions with improved characteristics, such as stability are attractive endeavors; however, comparisons between competing technologies are lacking. In this study, two formulation techniques that employed ultrasound and microfluidic approaches, respectively, were examined for relative capacity to produce serviceable oil in water nanoemulsions, based on hempseed oil (HSO). The ultrasound method reached > 99.5% entrapment efficiency with nanoemulsions that had an average droplet size (Z-Ave)

Exosomes are important mediators in intercellular communication. Released by many cell types, they transport proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids to distant recipient cells and contribute to important physiopathological processes. Standard current exosome isolation methods based on differential centrifugation protocols tend to induce aggregation of particles in highly concentrated suspensions and freezing of exosomes can induce damage and inconsistent biological activity. Trehalose is a natural, non-toxic sugar widely used as a protein stabilizer and cryoprotectant by the food and drug industry. Here we report that addition of 25 mM trehalose to pancreatic beta-cell exosome-like vesicle isolation and storage buffer narrows the particle size distribution and increases the number of individual particles per microgram of protein. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles induce an increase in particle concentration and in the width of the size distribution for exosome-like vesicles stored in PBS, but not in PBS 25 mM trehalose. No signs of lysis or incomplete vesicles were observed by cryo-electron tomography in PBS and trehalose samples. In macrophage immune assays, beta-cell extracellular vesicles in trehalose show consistently higher TNF-alpha cytokine secretion stimulation indexes suggesting improved preservation of biological activity. The addition of trehalose might be an attractive means to standardize experiments in the field of exosome research and downstream applications.

August's Open Thread

Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative joint disease causing pain and disability. Glucosamine sulphate is a well known oral supplement for its treatment. The present pioneering study provides an overview of the accentuated transdermal delivery of glucosamine sulphate through the optimized gel formulation w

Decades of neglect in understanding the actual causes of dementia have transformed it into one of the most costly diseases in existence.

How to Find the Article You are Looking For Here

Forgotten Russian research that uncovered the extraordinary spiraling capacities of the heart that make life possible

Fucoidan belongs to the family of marine sulfated, L-fucose-rich polysaccharides found in the cell wall matrix of various brown algae species. In the last few years, sulfated polysaccharides have attracted the attention of researchers due to their broad biological activities such as anticoagulant, antithrombotic, antidiabetic, immunomodulatory, anticancer and antiproliferative effects. Recently the application of fucoidan in the field of pharmaceutical technology has been widely investigated. Due to its low toxicity, biocompatibility and biodegradability, fucoidan plays an important role as a drug carrier for the formulation of various drug delivery systems, especially as a biopolymer with anticancer activity, used for targeted delivery of chemotherapeutics in oncology. Furthermore, the presence of sulfate residues with negative charge in its structure enables fucoidan to form ionic complexes with oppositely charged molecules, providing relatively easy structure-forming properties in combination with other polymers. The aim of the present study was to overview essential fucoidan characteristics, related to its application in the development of pharmaceutical formulations as a single drug carrier or in combinations with other polymers. Special focus was placed on micro- and nanosized drug delivery systems with polysaccharides and their application in the field of oncology.