: The main purpose of the present study was to fabricate mucoadhesive bio-nanocomposite hydrogels to prolong the drug retention time in the stomach. In these bio-nanocomposite hydrogels, chitosan (CH) was used as a bioadhesive matrix, montmorillonite (MMT) was applied to modulate the release rate, and tripolyphosphate (TPP) was the cross-linking agent. The test samples were analyzed via different methods such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Drug incorporation efficacy and mucoadhesive strength of these nanocomposite hydrogel beads were studied. Swelling and in vitro drug release behaviors of these bio-nanocomposite hydrogels were evaluated in simulated gastric fluid (SGF; pH 1.2). The optimized MMT-famotidine (FMT)/CH bio-nanocomposite hydrogels displayed a controllable and sustainable drug release profile with suitable mucoadhesion and prolonged retention time in the stomach. Thus, the results demonstrated that the fabricated mucoadhesive bio-nanocomposite hydrogels could remarkably increase the therapeutic efficacy and bioavailability of FMT by the oral route.
Cancer is now one of the major causes of death across the globe. The imbalance of cytokine and chemokine secretion has been reported to be involved in cancer development. Meanwhile, CC chemokines have received considerable interest in cancer research. CCR10, as the latest identified CC chemokine receptor (CCR), has been implicated in the recruitment and infiltration of immune cells, especially lymphocytes, into epithelia such as skin via ligation to two ligands, CCL27 and CCL28. Other than homoeostatic function, several mechanisms have been shown to dysregulate CCR10/CCL27–CCL28 expression in the tumour microenvironment. As such, these receptors and ligands mediate T-cell trafficking in the tumour microenvironment. Depending on the types of lymphocytes recruited, CCR10/CCL27–CCL28 interaction has been shown to play conflicting roles in cancer development. If they were T helper and cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells, the role of this axis would be tumour-suppressive. In contrast, if CCR10/CCL27–CCL28 recruited regulatory T cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts or myeloid-derived suppressor cells, it would lead to tumour progression. In addition to the trafficking of lymphocytes and immune cells, CCR10 also leads to the migration of tumour cells or endothelial cells (called angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis) to promote tumour metastasis. Furthermore, CCR10 signalling triggers tumour-promoting signalling such as PI3K/AKT and mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase, resulting in tumour cell growth. Since CCR10/CCL27–CCL28 is dysregulated in the tumour tissues, it is suggested that analysis and measurement of them might predict tumour development. Finally, it is hoped using therapeutic approaches based on this axis might increase our knowledge to overcome tumour progression.
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