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Cosmetic-Medical Treatments
Published in Paloma Tejero, Hernán Pinto, Aesthetic Treatments for the Oncology Patient, 2020
M. Lourdes Mourelle, B. N. Díaz
Clays have antiphlogistic properties and have been used in therapy since time immemorial. The best-known clays are bentonites, a type of smectite, and kaolin, a kaolinite compound. Kaolin can be applied to skin lesions, with calming effects, as long as it is kept moist, applying a gauze moistened in thermal water interposed between the affected area and the clay plaster. Otherwise, drying is more difficult to remove and can cause discomfort. Green clay from France (Montmorillonite) is also used for its calming and bactericidal properties; in fact, there are experiences in thermal centers where a decrease in skin irritation caused by chemotherapy treatments has been observed, although more studies are needed to confirm these first impressions. For use in caring for cancer patients, these must be of high purity, with the guarantee that they do not have heavy metals that can be harmful [45].
Radionuclide Concentrations in Soils lution-Processed Organic Solar Cells
Published in Michael Pöschl, Leo M. L. Nollet, Radionuclide Concentrations in Food and the Environment, 2006
Radionuclides can be absorbed by some mineral fractions of the soil (silt and clay fractions). The main minerals in these fractions are smectite, illite, vermiculite, chlorite, allophone, and imogolite. Other contributors to the absorption process are the oxides and hydroxides of silica, aluminum, iron, and manganese. Soils with a high content of illite, smectite, vermiculite, or mica within the clay fraction absorb large amounts of cations due to their intrinsic negative charge [1]. On the other hand, anions can be absorbed by aluminum and iron oxides at pH values in the range of 8 to 9. Water-soluble anionic compounds such as phosphate, selenite, molybdate, and arsenate can be absorbed by the formation of stable complexes and the exchange of ligands with aluminum and iron oxides. The presence of organic matter reduces anion absorption.
Microneedles for transdermal drug delivery using clay-based composites
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2022
Farzaneh Sabbagh, Beom Soo Kim
The results of several studies show that the structure and function of drugs loaded in the montmorillonite layer do not change [59]. The results of the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2 H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay of the concentration of montmorillonite indicate that this clay has a cytotoxic effect at high concentrations [130]. Sodium montmorillonite is a naturally occurring clay and may have different properties and compositions. It belongs to the smectite group and is mainly used due to its swelling and adsorption properties. Due to its high sodium and calcium content, it is prone to swelling in water, which must be taken into account when choosing the processing technology [57]. When combined with a compound such as chitosan, the release rate of a drug can be reduced, and there is no burst effect. Increasing the concentration of montmorillonite from 1% to 5% may cause some changes, such as increases in glass transition temperature, thermal stability, hydrophilicity, crystallinity, and drug release duration [57]. Recent studies have shown that a 3 wt% montmorillonite concentration is suitable for packaging applications and a 5 wt% montmorillonite concentration is suitable for transdermal delivery applications. Incorporation of reduced graphene oxide with montmorillonite led to greater drug entrapment and in vitro results showed higher drug release (99.66% at 24 h) [58].
Aflatoxin M1 in milk and dairy products: global occurrence and potential decontamination strategies
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2022
Khurram Muaz, Muhammad Riaz, Carlos Augusto Fernandes de Oliveira, Saeed Akhtar, Shinawar Waseem Ali, Habibullah Nadeem, Sungkwon Park, Balamuralikrishnan Balasubramanian
The addition of smectite in human nutrition was another initiative in order to decontaminate contaminants (Afriyie-Gyawu et al. 2008a). The efficacy of a specific smectite as a sequestering agent for aflatoxins was observed along with its safety for humans after ingestion (Wang et al. 2005, Afriyie-Gyawu et al. 2008b). The treatments for decontamination of AFM1 involving adsorption may fulfill few of the criterions required for the purpose as these are economical, eliminate the probability for formation of secondary toxic compounds and have been observed to bear high removal efficiencies. Clays were utilized for attenuation of AFM1 in bovine milk by Carraro et al. (2014) who showed bentonites to be highly efficient as the milk contaminated with AFM1 at levels of approximately up to 0.080µg/L was decontaminated to permissible levels with only minute changes in the nutritional profile of milk. Kaolin, however, was found to be less adsorptive than bentonite. High adsorbent capacities were observed by bentonites owing to higher cell surface areas available for AFM1 binding and surface hydrophobicity (Carraro et al. 2014). Additionally, Di Natale and his team observed activated carbons to have higher adsorbing capacities as compared to montmorillonitic bentonite and zeolite which might have been due to larger surface areas of activated carbon in comparison to bentonite (Di Natale et al. 2009). Some recent studies involving use of various adsorbents are shown in Table 4.
Biofilm-based delivery approaches and specific enrichment strategies of probiotics in the human gut
Published in Gut Microbes, 2022
Jie Gao, Faizan Ahmed Sadiq, Yixin Zheng, Jinrong Zhao, Guoqing He, Yaxin Sang
Biofilms on the surface of smectite have been reported to reduce tumor growth. Biofilm-laden smectite particles activate dendritic cells by the classical TLR2 signalling pathway and suppress tumor growth and increase the efficacy of chemotherapy, compared to planktonic doses of the same probiotic. In an in vitro trial, smectite with LAB showed to exhibit anti-tumor characteristics and enhanced the efficacy of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, when used in combination with these therapies.89