Potential biomedical agents using

Water soluble starch capped nanoparticles proved to be efficient non-cytotoxic bactericidal agents at nanomolar concentrations. The investigation also suggested that starch capped CuNPs have great potential for use in biomedical applications such as cellular imaging or photothermal therapy. 

Polyamines and their ammonium salts have been of interest because they are known to have potential applications as chelating agents (1-3), ion exchange resins (4-6), flocculants (7,8), and other industrial uses (9). Recent biomedical applications have constituted another important use of polymeric amines they have been investigated for use as biocompatable materials, polymeric drugs, immobilization of enzymes, cell-culture substratum and cancer chemotherapeutic agents (10-12). 

If these methods do prove inconclusive, biomedical sample analysis may provide a unique method for establishing exposure. Due to both the complex technical requirements and the strict forensic approach used it is unlikely that this information will be available in the early phases of response to such an incident. Biomedical sample analysis does however offer another method by which proof of the use of chemical agents can be provided, and thus has a potentially significant role in the overall preparation of a capability for the response to a terrorist chemical agent attack. 

Although not yet a mature science, the development of a practical biomedical sampling capability is underway. At present, the OPCW does not have such a capability, and the capability in Member States in this field is also still very limited. Despite a number of practical and technical challenges, biomedical sample analysis has the potential however to be an extremely sensitive and specific method of establishing credible forensic information on the alleged use of chemical agents. 

Bacterial resistance to conventional antibiotics has become a serious problem in infection control, and has led to intensive research efforts to develop an effective novel antimicrobial agent. Antimicrobial peptides have already played a crucial role in pharmaceutical research as biomedically useful agents or as lead compounds for drug development. More specifically, cyclic peptides have shown some potential as a possible new class of... 

Artemisinin ( qinghaosu ) (18), a sesquiterpene lactone antimalarial compound with an endoperoxide group, discovered in the Peoples Republic of China as a constituent of Artemisia annua L., has created great interest in the biomedical community, owing to its unique mechanism of action on the heme complex. Artemisinin serves as an option for the treatment of chloroquine (4l)-resistant malaria and is used in some Asian countries as an antimalarial. However, the use of artemisinin as a single agent anti-malarial is a potential risk since the malaria parasite may become resistant to this compound class. 

Silver nanoparticles have also been prepared in aqueous solution using Capsicum annum L. extract. It is thought in this example that Ag(i) is reduced to Ag(0) by proteins within the natural extract and that these proteins also act to stabilize the particles. The size of the nanoparticles was found to increase with reaction time 5 h, 10 2 nm 9 h, 25 3 nm 13 h, 40 5 nm. It should be noted that gold and silver nanoparticles have potential pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, and it is therefore highly desirable to use natural stabilizing agents (starch, glucose or plant extracts) and biocompatible solvents such as water. 

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