Gaurav Bhanjana

Synthesis, characterization and on field evaluation of pesticide loaded sodium alginate nanoparticles.

The pesticide formulations in use these days have their own burdens on farming systems in terms of their accumulation in soil and ecosystems which can have serious effects on mankind and living organisms. With the help of nanotechnology, controlled release of agrochemicals, site targeted delivery of various macromolecules desired for improved plant disease resistance, enhanced plant growth and efficient nutrition utilization can be easily done. Nanoencapsulation has an advantage of safer handling and more efficient use of pesticides with less exposure to environment that guarantees ecoprotection. In plant entomology, nanotechnology targets specific agricultural problems in plant pests interaction and provide new ways for crop protection. The present investigation involves the delivery of imidacloprid (admire) pesticide in the form of nanoformulation to plants and investigation of their ultimate effects which can provide some insight for the safe use of this novel technology for the improvement of crop yield and safety.

Quinapyramine sulfate-loaded sodium alginate nanoparticles show enhanced trypanocidal activity

AIM To reduce the dose, toxic effects and to ensure sustained release of quinapyramine sulfate (QS), a highly effective drug against Trypanosoma evansi. MATERIALS & METHODS QS-loaded sodium alginate nanoparticles (QS-NPs) were formed by emulsion-crosslinking technology using dioctyl-sodium-sulfosuccinate and sodium alginate. The formulation was characterized for size, stability, morphology and functional groups by a zetasizer, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In vitro safety and toxicity studies were performed by metabolic assay in Vero cell lines, and in vivo efficacy was evaluated in mice. RESULTS QS-NPs were <60 nm with 96.48% entrapment efficiency and 3.70% drug loading. The formulation showed an initial burst effect followed by slow drug release in accordance with quasi-Fickian Higuchi diffusion mechanism. QS-NPs were much less toxic and able to clear the parasite at a much lower concentration than QS. CONCLUSION The QS-NPs synthesized are safe, less toxic and highly effective compared with QS.

Synthesis and optimization of ceftriaxone-loaded solid lipid nanocarriers

The use of nanocarriers to enhance drug delivery efficacy has been increasing in the healthcare field due to their tunable surface properties. In this study, ceftriaxone-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (CL-SLNPs) were synthesized using a water-in-oil-in-water (w/o/w) type double emulsification method. The formulation was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and was characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), and UV-vis and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The CL-SLNPs were of spherical shape, 15-20nm in size, and retained the properties of the drug or other constituents/ingredients after loading. The prepared nanoformulation offered sustained drug release after 24h, while ceftriaxone sodium followed a burst release. Antibacterial activity of the nanoformulation was evaluated against different gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains. The minimum inhibitory concentration of CL-SLNPs against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was determined as 31μg/mL.

Development of nanoformulation approaches for the control of weeds

The nanoformulation of pesticides has the potential to increase food productivity, while resolving the drawbacks of conventional agrochemicals, which have negative environmental impacts. In this study, herbicide (metsulfuron methyl)-loaded pectin (polysaccharide) nanoparticles were synthesized and evaluated for herbicidal activity and cytotoxicity. The optimum formulation of nanoparticles was obtained using the Central Composite Design. The basic properties (mean particle size, stability, morphology, and interaction between polymer and herbicide) were characterized using a particle size analyzer (PSA), zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The nanoparticles were found to be in size range of 50-90nm with zeta potential value of -35.9mV. The herbicide loading and herbicide encapsulation efficiency of the nanoparticles were determined to be 6.30% and 63±2%, respectively. The cytotoxicity of the herbicide-loaded nanoparticles was evaluated using healthy cell lines (Vero cell lines) and compared with that of commercial herbicide. In addition, an in-field evaluation of our nanoformulations effects on the Chenopodium album plant was performed using a pectin nanocarrier. The results showed that application of herbicide-loaded nanoparticles could be used to reduce the use of herbicides with improved efficacy and environmental safety.

Coencapsulation of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Antituberculosis Drugs in Synergistic Brij 96 Microemulsions: A Biophysical Characterization

A microemulsion has been formulated to coencapsulate antituberculosis drugs to solve the issue of stability of rifampicin (RIF) in the presence of isoniazid (INH) and pyrazinamide (PZA). The structural transition, solubilization locus, and quantitative release of drugs without interference have been estimated. Derivative absorbance spectroscopy, especially ratio derivative and double divisor ratio derivative methods, has been employed for estimating the release. The coencapsulation of the anti-tuberculosis drugs were carried out in single, binary, or ternary mixtures and occupy the same solubilization sites in multiple drugs microemulsion systems as in the case of single drug-loaded systems. INH and PZA obey the diffusional (Fickian) release mechanism, whereas RIF shows anomalous release. Resazurin assay and agar well diffusion method were adopted for cytotoxicity analysis and antimicrobial activity, respectively. Cytotoxicity was found to be dependent on concentration and on colloidal structure of microemulsion.

Metformin‐loaded alginate nanoparticles as an effective antidiabetic agent for controlled drug release

Present modalities for the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes still suffer from certain limitations such as erratic absorption, need of high dose, poor sensitivity or specificity, resistance, substantial morbidity and mortality, long‐term complications, and patient‐to‐patient variability with lifetime treatment.

Enhanced Antimicrobial Activity Of Antibiotics Mixed With Metal Nanoparticles

Current producers of antimicrobial technology have a long lasting, environmentally safe, non‐leaching, water soluble solution that will eventually replace all poisons and heavy metals. The transition metal ions inevitably exist as metal complexes in biological systems by interaction with the numerous molecules possessing groupings capable of complexation or chelation. Nanoparticles of metal oxides offer a wide variety of potential applications in medicine due to the unprecedented advances in nanobiotechnology research. the bacterial action of antibiotics like penicillin, erythryomycin, ampicillin, streptomycin, kanamycin etc. and that of a mixture of antibiotics and metal and metal oxide nanoparticles like zinc oxide, zirconium, silver and gold on microbes was examined by the agar‐well‐diffusion method, enumeration of colony‐forming units (CFU) and turbidimetry.

DNA interaction, anti-proliferative effect of copper oxide nanocolloids prepared from metallosurfactant based microemulsions acting as precursor, template and reducing agent

In the present study, we have synthesized mixed cuprous/copper oxide nanosuspensions by metallosurfactant based microemulsion technique. Three metallosurfactants were synthesized which includes two non-ionic double chained metallosurfactants with C12, C16 chains with coordinated copper i.e. Cudda and Cuhexa, respectively. Another cationic double chained metallosurfactant with loosely bound metal (Cuctac) was also prepared. The prepared metallocomplexes were characterized using FTIR, elemental analysis, and NMR. The effect of the position of metallosurfactant in microemulsion on the fabrication and properties of nanosuspensions was elucidated. In this method, no external reducing agent and capping agent were added and tween 80 acted both as reducing and stabilizing agent for the nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized and it was observed that mixed copper and cuprous oxide particles are present in colloidal suspension for all the three studied metallosurfactants. The kinetics of formation of mixed copper/cuprous oxide nanosuspensions (Ns) and their stability was estimated using Uv-visible spectroscopy. Further, the binding and interactions of copper nanosuspensions with calf Thymus DNA (CT-DNA) were assessed using Uv-vis spectroscopy, circular dichroism and gel electrophoresis. Additionally, the antioxidant activity of the Cu Ns was checked using DPPH assay. The role of positive charge on nanoparticles as evaluated from Zeta potential was responsible for DNA affinity. The DNA conformational changes in the presence of nanosuspensions and relevant scavengers were investigated. Further, the anti-proliferative activity of copper Ns was assessed using HeLa cells and Cuhexa derived Ns were proved to be active with highest activity at a low concentration and were nontoxic towards normal cell lines. In summary, this work demonstrates a softer approach for the synthesis of copper nanosuspensions with a size range of 2-5 nm and evaluated the role of type and structure of metallosurfactant on size, stability of particles and anti-proliferative activity.

Modification of cellulose foam paper for use as a high-quality biocide disinfectant filter for drinking water

Development of a foam-formed cellulose filter paper with high wet strength was carried out for application as a drinking water filter. The wet strength and antimicrobial activity of cellulose foam paper against several bacteria species (Bacillus subtilis MTCC 441 (Gram +ve), B. cereus NCDC 240 (Gram +ve), Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCDC 105 (Gram -ve), Klebsiella pneumonia NCDC 138 (Gram -ve), and Escherichia coli MTCC 40 (Gram -ve)) were investigated. The morphology and structure of the cellulose foam paper were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of our study confirmed that glutaraldehyde solution or 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) added to cellulose foam paper pretreated with cationic polyacrylamide (C-PAM) provided very high and stable wet strength performance together with excellent antimicrobial properties.

One-step synthesis of silver metallosurfactant as an efficient antibacterial and anticancer material

In this work a silver based double chained metallosurfactant was synthesized and characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), elemental analyses, X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and thermogravimetry. The rate of decomposition of the Ag metal complex was estimated using the non-isothermal thermogravimetry (TG) method. Similar adducts had been prepared in the past to generate colloidal nanoparticles, however, here we are concentrating on the surface and self aggregation properties of the metal surfactant complex. The emphasis is laid on the aggregation behavior being affected by the presence of metal ions. The formation of metallomicelles was authenticated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), conductivity and surface tension measurements. The formed metallosurfactant was analyzed for its binding with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) using UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, the potential of the as-synthesized metallosurfactant (CTA–AgB) as an antimicrobial and anticancer agent was evaluated. The anticancer activity was estimated with human leukemia HL-60, pancreatic MIA-Pa-Ca-2 and prostate cancer PC-3 cells using the MTT assay. For antimicrobial activity, a Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli and a Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and fungi strains, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium herbarium, Curvularia lunata, Helminthosporium oryzae were used. Along with the concentration effect, mechanism of action of as-synthesized metallosurfactant against various microbial strains was explored using transmission electron microscopy analyses.