Atherosclerosis is a complex and long‐lasting disorder characterized by chronic inflammation of arteries that leads to the initiation and progression of lipid‐rich plaques, in which monocytes/macrophages play the central role in endothelial inflammation and taking up these lipids. Circulating monocytes can adopt a long‐term proinflammatory phenotype leading to their atherogenic activities. During atherogenic condition, inflammatory monocytes adhere to the surface of the activated endothelial cells and then transmigrate across the endothelial monolayer into the intima, where they proliferate and differentiate into macrophages and take up the lipoproteins, forming foam cells that derive atherosclerosis progression. Therefore, modulating the atherogenic activities of inflammatory monocytes can provide a valuable therapeutic approach for atherosclerosis prevention and treatment. Curcumin is a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound with numerous pharmacological activities and shows protective effects against atherosclerosis; however, underlying mechanisms are not clearly known yet. In the present review, on the basis of a growing body of evidence, we show that curcumin can exert antiatherosclerotic effect through inhibiting the atherogenic properties of monocytes, including inflammatory cytokine production, adhesion, and transendothelial migration, as well as intracellular cholesterol accumulation.
Background: Due to their plasticity, macrophages exert critical effects on both promoting and suppressing inflammatory processes. Pathologic inflammatory conditions are frequently correlated with dynamic alterations in macrophage activation, with classically activated M1 cells associated with promoting and sustaining inflammation and M2 cells implicated in resolution or smoldering chronic inflammation. Inflammation deputes a common feature from various chronic diseases and direct involvement in the insurgence and development of these conditions. Macrophages participate in an auto-regulatory loop characterizing inflammatory process, as they produce a wide range of biologically active mediators that exert either deleterious or beneficial effects during the inflammation. Therefore, balancing the favorable ratios of M1/M2 macrophages can help to ameliorate the inflammatory landscape of pathologic conditions. Curcumin is a component of turmeric with many pharmacological properties. Objective: Recent results from both in-vivo and in-vitro studies have indicated that curcumin can affect polarization and/or functions of macrophage subsets in the context of inflammation-related diseases. There is no comprehensive review of the impact of curcumin on cytokines involved in macrophage polarization in the context of inflammatory diseases. The present review will cover some efforts to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms by which curcumin modulates the macrophage polarization in distant pathological inflammatory conditions, such as cancer, autoimmunity, renal inflammation, stroke, and atherosclerosis, sharing macrophage-driven pathogenesis. Result: The accumulation of findings from in vitro and in vivo experimental studies suggest that curcumin beneficially influences M1 and M2 macrophages in a variety of inflammatory diseases with unfavorable macrophage activation. Conclusion: Curcumin not only enhances anti- tumor immunity (via shifting M polarization towards to M1 phenotype and/or up-regulation of M1 markers expression), but ameliorates inflammatory diseases including auto immune diseases (experimental autoimmune myocarditis and Behcet's disease), nephropathy, chronic serum sickness, stroke and atherosclerosis.
In biomedical applications, biocompatible and nontoxic compounds are the most critical types of cytotoxic effects. In this work, the nanobiomaterial MCC/IL/Ag-AgCl NPs were fabricated by immobilizing Ag-AgCl nanoparticles on the surface of organic biopolymer [microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)] without using any reducing agent. The physical and chemical properties of nanobiomaterial were characterized by techniques including transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), FOurier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The in vitro antibacterial activity of MCC/IL/Ag-AgCl NPs was investigated on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC-43300) and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC-27853). The results such as MIC and MBC illustrated that the antimicrobial effect of MCC/IL/Ag-AgCl NPs against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1−2 μg/mL of MIC and MBC value) was higher than that of Staphylococcus aureus (4 μg/mL of MIC and MBC value) and also by using the microtiter plate method, the antibiofilm effect of MCC/IL/Ag-AgClNPs against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was remarkable in a variety of low concentrations (32, 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1 μg/mL). Besides, the cytotoxicity study (cell death induction) by MCC/IL/Ag-AgCl NPs in Caco-2 cells revealed low toxic effects in different doses of MCC/IL/Ag-AgCl NPs up to 400 ppm for Ag-AgCl nanoparticles and MCC/IL support, which were further confirmed in biomedical products. It is expected that using these biocompatible compounds can inhibit the biofilm formation of bacteria on surfaces and equipment, to reduce nosocomial infections, in hospital environments, especially in the intensive care unit, and surgery unit/room.
Objectives: Lead exposure has destructive effects on some organs. It may produce a variety of toxic effects on endothelial cells of the vascular system. Any changes or damages to endothelial cells may lead to cardiovascular diseases, particularly the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. The aim of this study was to determine the ameliorative effects of ascorbic acid on the endothelium of coronary and aorta arteries in lead-exposed rabbits. Methods: In this study, 30 white male rabbits of New Zealand race (weighing about 1.6–2 kg and 5 months old) were used and divided randomly into three groups: Group 1 ( N = 10) that served as the control and received water and normal diet, Group 2 ( N = 10) was exposed to lead acetate 547 ppm (5 mg/L) daily for 40 days, and Group 3 ( N = 10) received vitamin C (500 mg/kg) and underwent the same duration of lead exposure (5 mg/L) daily for 40 days. The levels of cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein were measured using spectrophotometry, and the level of blood lead was calculated using a lead analyzer (Magellan Diagnostics, USA). The animals were anesthetized by pentobarbital (50 mg/kg). Subsequently, they were sacrificed, and their thoracic aortas and coronary arteries were removed. Then fixation, tissue processing, histological sectioning, and H & E staining were carried out. Finally, the sections were studied using light microscopy. The results were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney test. Results: The results indicated that ascorbic acid could reduce the destructive effects of lead on vascular endothelial cells and prevent the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in coronary and aorta arteries. Conclusion: The results of this study confirm the beneficial effects of ascorbic acid against the destructive effects of lead on vascular endothelial cells. Hence, it could be proposed as a potential prophylactic treatment for the amelioration of lead toxicity, prevention of atherosclerosis, and improvement of endothelial cells dysfunction.
Introduction. The aim of this study was to prepare a temporary restorative material containing curcumin nanocrystals and to evaluate the physicochemical properties and the antimicrobial action against Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Materials and Methods. Dental temporary restorative material was physically mixed with curcumin nanocrystals at weight percentages of 80/20 and 70/30. The prepared materials were then subjected to the physicochemical tests: Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to investigate possible bonds, X-ray diffraction (XRD) method to test the crystallinity pattern, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) method to study the morphology of the prepared materials. Besides, the release pattern of nanocurcumin from the temporary material was evaluated using drug dissolution USP apparatus II and UV spectrophotometer. For microbial evaluation, the disk diffusion method was used against the mentioned bacteria. Results. The results showed the homogenous mixing of nanocurcumin with the temporary restorative material. Nanocurcumin showed a two-stage release pattern from the temporary material, and both types of samples containing 20% and 30% nanocurcumin had antimicrobial action against all selected bacteria. Conclusion. Extensive cellular, animal, and clinical studies are needed to demonstrate the use of temporary restorative material containing antimicrobial nanoparticles.
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