Search

MicroRNAs (MiRNAs) are endogenous non-coding small RNA molecules that regulate gene expression in plants, animals and some viruses. Both normal and pathological liver processes are regulated by miRNAs. Recent research indicated that miRNAs have been implicated in liver diseases caused by viral hepatitis (Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C), metabolic problems, alcohol and drug abuse. Because altered miRNA expression is linked to liver metabolic dysregulation, liver damage, liver fibrosis, and tumour growth, miRNAs are promising therapeutic targets for the detection and treatment of liver diseases. In this review, we summarise the current knowledge about the role of microRNAs in acute and chronic liver diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma. We cover the miRNA-based therapy for liver disorders as well as the use of miRNAs as biomarkers for early diagnosis, prognosis and assessment of liver diseases. The investigation of miRNAs in liver diseases will provide a better understanding of the pathogeneses, identification of biomarkers and therapeutic targets for liver diseases in the future., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

In the present investigation, sulfated derivatives of Okra fruit gum (OFG) with the degree of substitution (DS) ranging from 0.39 to 1.13 were synthesized using chlorosulfonic acid/pyridine (CSA/Py) reagents under the umbrella of Box-Behnken Design (BBD) of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to optimize the reaction conditions. The extracted gum was characterized for particle size, zeta-potential, surface morphology, architectural arrangement, mechanical and rheological chattels, pharmacological properties etc. The optimal reaction conditions of sOFG (sulfated okra fruit gum) were included ratio of CSA/Py, 0.28; reaction time, 3.05 h and reaction temperature, 58.74 °C. A high DS of 1.004 was procured at optimized conditions that was analogous to the predicted value. The sOFG was investigated to be advanced over the immensely used polysaccharide sodium alginate in mechanical and rheological attributes. Also, pharmacological properties including anticoagulant and antimicrobial property of sOFG were superior as compared to OFG. In conclusion, sulfation of OFG under the shed of BBD offered a superior DS that could be further explored for wide usage as pharmaceutical excipient for designing health care products., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Herein, MoS₂-ZnO heterostructure nanorods were hydrothermally synthesized and characterized in detail using several compositional, optical, and morphological techniques. The comprehensive characterizations show that the synthesized MoS₂/ZnO heterostructure nanorods were composed of wurtzite hexagonal phase of ZnO and rhombohedral phase of MoS₂. The synthesized MoS₂/ZnO heterostructure nanorods were used as a potent photocatalyst for the decomposition of methylene blue (MB) dye under natural sunlight. The prepared MoS₂/ZnO heterostructure nanorods exhibited ~97% removal of MB in the reaction time of 20 min with the catalyst amount of 0.15 g/L. The kinetic study revealed that the photocatalytic removal of MB was found to be in accordance with pseudo first-order reaction kinetics with an obtained rate constant of 0.16262 min -1 . The tremendous photocatalytic performance of MoS₂-ZnO heterostructure nanorods could be accredited to an effective charge transportation and inhibition in the recombination of photo-excited charge carriers at an interfacial heterojunction. The contribution of active species towards the decomposition of MB using MoS₂-ZnO heterostructure nanorods was confirmed from scavenger study and terephthalic acid fluorescence technique.