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Blood plasma and plasma fractions as therapy for tumor growth and progression
The invention relates to treating individuals with cancer by using blood plasma or blood plasma fractions as treatment. [1]
Palm oil and ground nut oil supplementation effects on blood glucose and antioxidant status in alloxan-induced diabetic rats
This study investigated the effects of two common cooking oils (palm oil, PO) and (groundnut oil, GO) supplementation on the antioxidant status and diabetic indices in Alloxan (100mg/kg) induced diabetic Wistar rats. A total of forty-eight Wistar rats of both sexes were used for this study. They were divided into four groups of 12 animals each as: control, diabetic non-supplemented, diabetic supplemented with PO (200mg/kg/day)and diabetic supplemented with GO (200mg/kg/day) rats. Blood glucose, plasma vitamin E,SOD, Total Protein and Albumin levels were measured using standard laboratory procedures. After three weeks of supplementation there was a significant (p<0.05) reduction in blood glucose of supplemented groups compared with the diabetic non-supplemented group. Plasma Vitamins C and E, SOD, and Albumin levels were significantly (p<0.05) increased in the supplemented groups when compared with the diabetic non-supplemented group. However, the plasma levels of these parameters were found to be significantly (p<0.05) higher in the GO supplemented rats compared with the PO supplemented group. The plasma vitamin C levels in the diabetic groups were lower than in other groups while increased levels in the plasma total protein were not significant. There was no significant difference in the measured parameters in reference to the gender of the animals. It was concluded from this study that GO exhibited superior antioxidant activities and that the supplementation of red palm oil and ground nut oil as a source of antioxidant was beneficialin diabetic state as it reduced blood glucose and enhance antioxidant status. [2]
Electrokinetics with blood
Microfluidics based lab‐on‐a‐chip technology holds tremendous promises towards point‐of‐care diagnosis of diseases as well as for developing engineered devices aimed towards replicating the intrinsic functionalities of human bodies as mediated by blood vessel mimicking circulatory networks. While the analysis of transport of blood including its unique cellular constituents has remained to be the focus of many reported studies, a progressive interest on understanding the interplay between electric field and blood flow dynamics has paved a new way towards further developments from scientific engineering as well as clinical viewpoint. Here, we briefly outline the interconnection between electrokinetics and blood flow through micro‐capillaries, in an effort to address several challenging propositions in a wide variety of applications encompassing biophysical transport to medical diagnostics. We first present the fundamentals of interaction of electric field with cellular components. In conjunction with the unique rheological features of blood, we show that this interaction may turn out to be compelling for the use of electric fields for transporting blood samples through microfluidic conduits. We discuss the perspectives of both direct current and alternating current electrokinetics in the context of blood flow. In addition, we provide a brief outline of the concerned theoretical developments. We also bring out the relevant biophysical perspectives and focus on applications such as blood plasma separation and separation of circulatory tumor cells. Finally, we attempt to provide a futuristic outlook and envisage the potential of combining electrokinetics with blood microcirculation towards developing futuristic biomimetic microdevices that can replicate a novel control mechanism over micro‐circulatory transport in the entire connective network of human bodies. This may effectively pave the way towards the realization of a next‐generation medical simulation device, significantly advanced from what is available under the ambit of the state of art technology in the field. [3]
An anti-clogging method for improving the performance and lifespan of blood plasma separation devices in real-time and continuous microfluidic systems
On-chip blood plasma separators using microfluidic channels are typically developed as disposable devices for short-term use only because blood cells tend to clog the microchannels, limiting their application in real-time and continuous systems. In this study, we propose an anti-clogging method. We applied dielectrophoresis to prevent microchannel clogging in a plasma separator that can be used over long periods for real-time and continuous monitoring. Prior to applying the anti-clogging method, the blood plasma separator stopped working after 4 h. In contrast, by manipulating the separator with the new anti-clogging method at a voltage of 20 V, it continued working in a long-term experiment for 12 h without performance deterioration or an increase in cell loss. Two critical performance parameters of the manipulated separator, the purity efficiency and the plasma yield, were 97.23 ± 5.43% and 38.95 ± 9.34%, respectively, at 20 V after 15 min. Interestingly, the two performance parameters did not decrease during the long-term experiment. Hence, the blood plasma separator with the anti-clogging method is an interesting device for use in real-time and continuous blood plasma separation systems because of its consistent performance and improved lifespan. [4]
Physiological Dynamics of Spontaneous Erythrocytes’ Aggregation of Rats at Last Ontogenesis
In modern biology we still have the actual demand of further investigation of aging aspects of mammals and human beings. Great attention in this investigation is devoted to different aspects of blood rheological peculiarities and its regular elements, i.e. in aging aspect, in normal state and in some pathology conditions and, also, on the background of many variants of correctional impacts on an organism. The purpose is to establish the age dynamics of microrheological particular properties of aging rats’ red blood cells. The study involved 95 healthy Wistar male rats that included 32 rats of 18 months of age, 29 rats of 24 months and 34 rats of 30 months of age. We used biochemical, hematological and statistical methods. The control group was represented by 27 healthy Wistar male rats. Examined animals on the background of aging were noted to have activity increase of freely radical lipids’ oxidation in the liquid part of blood at the decrease of AOA from 30.70±0.32% at 18 months to 24.40±0.29% at 30 months. Analogical values in the control group were 1.440±0.007 D233/1 ml, 3.460±0.016 umol/l and 34.8±0.010%, correspondingly. Similar picture of POL dynamics of examined animals was also found in erythrocytes: Levels of AHP and MDA in them gradually increased – from 18 months of life to 30 months of life on 27.2% and 26.1%, correspondingly. At the same time experimental rats between 18 and 30 months of life were noted to have increase of erythrocytes’ aggregation activity with the rise of their summary inclusion into aggregates and quantity of aggregates at the lowering of free erythrocytes’ number (228.70±0.31), in comparison with control rats. Found increase of their aggregation is mostly provided by appearing changes in the charge of erythrocyte membranes due to degradation of some negatively charged glycoproteins on them under the influence of increasing with age lipid peroxidation. Aggregation also increases due to inhibition of adenylate cyclase in erythrocytes what leads to the amount decrease of cyclical adenosine phosphate in them and to the stimulation of Ca2+ inflow into them. Development of oxidative damage in plasma globular protein “bridges” between erythrocytes, providing their aggregation, increases erythrocytes’ disaggregation threshold due to the increase of their connection in aggregates. Age increasing erythrocytes’ aggregation in rats negatively influences microcirculation and contributes significantly to marked with aging morbid aggravation due to strengthening a body’s sensitivity to negative impacts of environmental factors which promote the realization of hereditary predisposition to various diseases. [5]
Reference
[1] Braithwaite, S.P., Minami, S.S. and McCracken, J., Alkahest Inc, 2019. Blood plasma and plasma fractions as therapy for tumor growth and progression. U.S. Patent Application 10/245,285.(Web Link)
[2] Olabiyi, F.A., Olatunji, O.I., Makinwa, T.T. and Oguntibeju, O.O., 2019. Palm oil and ground nut oil supplementation effects on blood glucose and antioxidant status in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Pakistan journal of pharmaceutical sciences, 29(1), pp.1-7. (Web Link)
[3] Chakraborty, S., 2019. Electrokinetics with blood. Electrophoresis, 40(1), pp.180-189. (Web Link)
[4] An anti-clogging method for improving the performance and lifespan of blood plasma separation devices in real-time and continuous microfluidic systems
Dong-Hyun Kang,Kyongtae Kim &Yong-Jun Kim
Scientific Reports 8, Article number: 17015 (2018) (Web Link)
[5] S. Yu, Z. (2017) “Physiological Dynamics of Spontaneous Erythrocytes’ Aggregation of Rats at Last Ontogenesis”, Annual Research & Review in Biology, 13(1), pp. 1-7. doi: 10.9734/ARRB/2017/33616. (Web Link)