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Abstract Background Lung cancer is the most common type of tumour worldwide. Its relative lethality is considerably high. However, since the tumour tissues are located deep within the human body, traditional technologies, such as photodynamic therapy, do not have the desired effect. Sonosensitisers can penetrate deeply into tissues, and sonodynamic therapy (SDT) effectively inhibits tumours by generating reactive oxygen species. Ultrasound can also penetrate deeply, with a favourable tumour inhibition effect. Results A redox/ultrasound-responsive Rhein-chondroitin sulphate-based nano-preparation encapsulating docetaxel was fabricated. The nanoparticles displayed increased cellular uptake with quick drug release, good stability, and a monodispersed form in the physiological environment. Rhein induced apoptosis and altered mitochondrial membrane potential, which enhanced the expression of apoptosis-related proteins. SDT inhibited the metastasis and angiogenesis of cancer cells and activated anti-tumour capacity by reducing the expression of M2 macrophages. Conclusions The potential of Rhein for SDT was demonstrated. Production of reaction oxygen species was markedly enhanced after ultrasound treatment. The nanoplatform enhanced the synergistic anti-tumour effects of SDT and chemotherapeutic efficacy. The approach was biocompatibility. The findings could inform investigations of chemo-SDT for different cancers.

The bitterness of a drug is a major challenge for patient acceptability and compliance, especially for children. Due to the toxicity of medication, a human taste panel test has certain limitations. Atomoxetine hydrochloride (HCl), which is used for the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), has an extremely bitter taste. The aim of this work is to quantitatively predict the bitterness of atomoxetine HCl by a biosensor system. Based on the mechanism of detection of the electronic tongue (E-tongue), the bitterness of atomoxetine HCl was evaluated, and it was found that its bitterness was similar to that of quinine HCl. The bitterness threshold of atomoxetine HCl was 8.61 µg/ml based on the Change of membrane Potential caused by Adsorption (CPA) value of the BT0 sensor. In this study, the taste-masking efficiency of 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CyD) was assessed by Euclidean distances on a principle component analysis (PCA) map with the SA402B Taste Sensing System, and the host–guest interactions were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Biosensor evaluation and characterization of the inclusion complex indicated that atomoxetine HCl could actively react with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin.

The zinc oxide nanomaterials (ZnO-NMs), owing to their broad biomedical applications have lately attracted the incredible interest in the development of therapeutic agents against microbial infections. In this contribution, we have biosynthesized ZnO-NMs with a size of ˜ 40 nm from the Bougainvillea flower extracts. The FTIR and SEM-EDX mapping analysis confirmed the size, shape and biogenic origin of ZnO-NPs. Furthermore, the purified ZnO-NMs were applied for antibacterial studies against susceptible and resistant bacterial strains and to elucidate the possible mechanism of their activity. The XTT assay and confocal imaging confirmed the ZnO-NMs materials anti-biofilm activities against medically important pathogens, i.e., S. aureus and E. coli. Moreover, the absence of cytotoxicity against healthy kidney cells (HEK-293) and erythrocytes confirmed their biocompatible nature. Furthermore, the biosynthesized ZnO-NMs showed potent anticancer activity against the breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). These biosynthesized ZnO-NMs are having excellent antimicrobial and anticancer activities and are highly biocompatible due to biogenic nature. During antimicrobial study, Zno-NMs showed excellent minimum inhibitory concentration 16 μg concentration againt E. coli, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. While in anticancer activity, of ZnO-NMs with 15 μg/ml dose showed good response against MCF-7 cell line. Further, this killing was mechanically confirmed by ROS generation by the ZnO-NMs, which cause cell lysis by the peroxidation of membrane lipid. So, this biogenic ZnO-NMs can be used in the future for nanomaterial-based drug development.

In this paper, we introduce the notions of (F, φ , α - ψ )-contractions and (F, φ , α - ψ )-weak contractions in metric spaces and utilize the same to prove some existence and uniqueness φ -fixed point results. Some illustrative examples are given to demonstrate the usefulness and effectiveness of our results. As applications, we deduce some fixed point theorems in partial metric spaces besides proving an existence result on the solution of nonlinear differential equations. Our results extend, generalize and improve some relevant results of the existing literature.