The physical, chemical and optical properties of nano-scale colloids depend on their material composition, size and shape. There is a great interest in using nano-colloids for photo-thermal ablation, drug delivery and many other biomedical applications. Gold is particularly used because of its low toxicity. A property of metal nano-colloids is that they can have a strong surface plasmon resonan...

Gathering required information in a fast and inexpensive way is essential for assessing the risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). The extension of conventional (quantitative) structure-activity relationships ((Q)SARs) approach to nanotoxicology, i.e., nano-(Q)SARs, is a possible solution. The preliminary attempts of correlating ENMs' characteristics to the biological effects elicited by ENM...

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising non-invasive therapeutic modality that has been proposed for treating prostate cancer, but the procedure is associated with limited efficacy, tumor recurrence and photo-toxicity. In the present study, we proposed to develop a novel multifunctional nano-platform for targeted delivery of heat, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to evaluate the synthesis and biocompatibility of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and investigate their therapeutic effects when combined with magnetic fluid hyperthermia on cultured MCF-7 cancer cells. METHODS Magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles were prepared using a coprecipitation method. The appearance, structure, phase composition, functional groups, surface charg...

Because of its high biocompatibility, bio-degradability, low-cost and easy availability, cellulose finds application in disparate areas of research. Here we focus our attention on the most recent and attractive potential applications of cellulose in the biomedical field. We first describe the chemical/structural composition of cellulose fibers, the cellulose sources/features and cellulose chemi...

The paper is aimed to investigate the toxicity of nano-TiO2 and its potential harmful impact on human health using meta-analysis of in vitro and short-time animal studies. Data were retrieved according to included and excluded criteria from 1994 to 2011. The combined toxic effects of nano-TiO2 were calculated by the different endpoints by cell and animal models. From analysis of the experimenta...

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in human body and essential for the formation and maintenance of bones and teeth as well as diverse cellular functions. Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) is widely used as a dietary supplement; however, oral absorption efficiency of CaCO₃ is extremely low, which may be overcome by applying nano-sized materials. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of food grade ...

The fisheries and livestock sectors capture the highest share of protein-rich animal food and demonstrate accelerated growth as an agriculture subsidiary. Environmental pollution, climate change, as well as pathogenic invasions exert increasing stress impacts that lead the productivity momentum at a crossroads. Oxidative stress is the most common form of stress phenomenon responsible for the re...

Objective(s): In this work, CuO- NiO nano-composites were synthesized via free-surfactant co-precipitation method and then their physiochemical properties, as well as cytotoxicity and antifungal effects, were studied. Methods: The structural and optical properties of CuO-NiO nanostructures were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron micros...

Objective(s): Evaluation of nanomaterials interaction with blood ingredients is a part of preclinical risk assessment of newly-synthesized materials, especially for nano-sized pharmaceuticals which are intravenously administrated. The red blood cells (RBCs) are susceptible to oxidative stress damage. This study was designed to evaluate induced oxidative hematotoxic effect of na...