Enhanced Cellular Uptake in an Electrostatically Interacting Fucoidan-L-Arginine Fiber Complex

Improving the Bioavailability and Efficacy of Coenzyme Q10 on Alzheimer's Disease Through the Arginine Based Proniosomes

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a fat-soluble vitamin-with a benzoquinone-like structure. CoQ10 plays a role in membrane stability, energy conversion, and ATP production. It is also one of the important antioxidants in the body. The bioavailability of exogenous CoQ10 is extremely low due to its poor aqueous solubility and large molecular mass. In this study, mixed proniosomal drug delivery systems have been used to increase solubility and bioavailability of CoQ10. Arginine (semi-essential amino acid) was incorporated in the formulation composition to achieve higher efficacy by boosting nitric oxide presence, endothelial dysfunction, and cellular uptake. Proniosomes were investigated in terms of particle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, and process yield, and optimization studies were carried on by utilizing STATISTICA 8.0 software considering dependent factors (carrier amount, drug amount, and surfactant ratio). Optimum proniosome formulation (particle size 187.5 ± 16.35 nm, zeta potential: -44.7 ± 12.8 mV, encapsulation efficiency 99.05±0.30%, and product yield: 90.55%) was evaluated for thermal analysis, in-vitro drug release using microcentrifuge method. In-vitro cytotoxicity studies of proniosomes were performed on intestinal Epithelial Cells (Cellartis®, ChiPSC18) and no cytotoxic effects was seen during the 72 h. Besides, anti Alzheimer effect was investigated on APPSL-GFP lentivirus-infected human neural cells (APPSL-GFP-l-HNC) and Alzheimer biomarkers (p-tau181 and p-tau217). While CoQ10's relative bioavailability was statistically increased by proniosome compared to CoQ10 suspension (p<0.01, Grubb test). PK parameters of proniosome formulation, obtained with non-compartmental modeling, were fitting to the data (R2=0.956±0.026). The study results proved that proniosomal formulation has a high potential drug delivery system for both increasing bioavailability and anti-Alzheimer effect of CoQ10.

Characterization and Bioactivity of Polysaccharides Separated through a (Sequential) Biorefinery Process from Fucus spiralis Brown Macroalgae

Marine macroalgae biomass is a valuable renewable resource that can be used for the development of bioeconomy through the valorisation of valuable compounds. The aim of the current study is separate macroalgal polysaccharides with bioactive properties from brown macroalgae Fucus spiralis based on a designed biocascading biorefinery approach. Thus, we applied an integrated processing method for the separation of fucoidan and alginate, in addition to characterization through IR spectroscopy and ¹H NMR. The bioactivity potential (antioxidant activity using superoxide anion and DPPH radical scavenging analysis) of the two polysaccharides was evaluated, together with DNA binding studies performed though voltametric techniques and electronic spectroscopy titration. In terms of results, functional groups S=O (1226 cm⁻¹), N=S=O (1136 cm⁻¹) and C-O-SO₃ (1024 cm⁻¹), which are characteristic of fucoidan, were identified in the first polysaccharidic extract, whereas guluronic units (G) (1017 cm⁻¹) and mannuronic units (M) (872 and 812 cm⁻¹) confirmed the separation of alginate. The DNA binding studies of the isolated polysaccharides revealed an electrostatic and an intercalation interaction of DNA with fucoidan and alginate, respectively. Both antioxidant activity assays revealed improved antioxidant activity for both fucoidan and alginate compared to the standard α-tocopherol.