Chinese dragon's blood, the red resin of Dracaena cochinchinensis, one of the renowned traditional medicines, has been used to facilitate blood circulation and disperse blood stasis for thousands of years. Phenolic compounds are considered to be responsible for its main biological activities. In this study, total phenolic compounds of Chinese dragon's blood were made into capsule (Longxuetonglu...

Objective: To formulate a mathematical model of odontogenic cyst growth and establish the dynamics of cyst enlargement and the role of osmotic pressure forces throughout its growth. Study design: The model assumed a spherical cyst with a semi-permeable lining of living cells and a core consisting of degraded cellular material, including a generic osmotic material, fed by the continuous death of...

Objective Lens osmotic expansion, provoked by overactivated aldose reductase (AR), is the most essential event of sugar cataract. Chloride channel 3 (Clcn3) is a volume-sensitive channel, mainly participating in the regulation of cell fundamental volume, and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) acts as its modulator. We aim to study whether P-gp and Clcn3 are involved in lens osmotic expansion of galactosemic...

While structurally complex benthic egg capsules can lower the vulnerability of gastropod embryos to a variety of environmental risks, including predation, desiccation, osmotic shock, and bacterial attack, little is known about their ability to shield embryos from ultraviolet radiation (UV) I examined the exposure of benthic egg capsules of the marine intertidal gastropod Nucella emarginata to s...

Odontogenic cysts are non-neoplastic lesions that form as a consequence of the proliferation of epithelial residues that remain embedded in the maxillary bones after formation of dental tissues. The epithelial rests proliferate in response to activating cell mediator signals released during inflammatory processes (for example as a consequence of a tooth infection). In this report we discuss the...

Capsules having a thin alginate hydrogel membrane and an aqueous core can be obtained by a process that involves a co-extrusion step in air followed by a sol-gel transition of the shell after immersion into a gelling bath. The possibility to encapsulate cells that further grow in these biocompatible compartments, and thus offer a versatile tool for cell culture, led us to investigate the physic...

A dry process induced phase transited, non disintegrating, controlled release, in situ formed asymmetric membrane capsular system for poorly water soluble drug, ketoprofen, was developed and evaluated both in vitro and in vivo for osmotic and controlled release of the drug. In situ formed asymmetric membrane capsules were prepared using fabricated glass capsule holders via dry, phase inversion ...

In the present study, asymmetric membrane capsules (AMCs) with two compartments were successfully developed for simultaneous delivery of two poorly water-soluble drugs, Atenolol and Amlodipine Besylate, by using solubility modulation approach. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) before dissolution showed presence of outer dense region and inner porous region for the prepared asymmetric membrane ...

Mature nematocysts of the sea anemones Rhodactis rhodostoma and Anthopleura elegantissima contain a fluid that has a high concentration of solutes and is extraordinarily rich in calcium (ca. 500-600 mmol/kg wet weight); this contrasts with the surrounding cytoplasm which is rich in potassium but poor in calcium. The undischarged capsule is surrounded by a membrane that probably acts as a select...

The diarrheal pathogen Campylobacter jejuni and other gastrointestinal bacteria encounter changes in osmolarity in the environment, through exposure to food processing, and upon entering host organisms, where osmotic adaptation can be associated with virulence. In this study, growth profiles, transcriptomics, and phenotypic, mutant, and single-cell analyses were used to explore the effects of h...