The skin, being the largest organ of the human body, serves as the primary barrier against external insults, including UV radiation, pollutants, and microbial pathogens. However, prolonged exposure to these environmental stressors can lead to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), causing oxidative stress, inflammation, and ultimately, skin aging and diseases. Antioxidants play a crucial role in neutralizing ROS and preserving skin health by preventing oxidative damage. In recent years, nanotechnology has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing the delivery of antioxidants onto the skin. In particular, liposomal formulations have offered unique advantages such as improved stability, controlled release, and enhanced penetration through the skin barrier. This has led to a surge in research focused on developing liposomal-based antioxidant delivery systems tailored for skin health applications. Through a comprehensive analysis of the literature from the 2019–2024 period, this review provides an overview of emerging trends in the use of liposomal delivery systems developed for antioxidants aimed at improving skin health. It explores the latest advancements in liposomal formulation strategies, vesicle characterization, and their applications in delivering antioxidants to combat oxidative stress-induced skin damage and other associated skin pathologies. A comparison of various delivery systems is conducted for the most common antioxidants. Finally, a brief analysis of lipid nanovesicles used in the cosmeceutical industry is provided.

Oxidative stress represents a hallmark for many degenerative pathologies of the Central Nervous System. Throughout life, the constant pressure of noxious stimuli and/or episodes of traumatic events may expose the brain to a microenvironment where the non-balanced reactive oxygen species inevitably lead to neuronal loss and cognitive decline. HO-1, a 32 kDa heat-shock protein catalyzing the degradation of heme into carbon monoxide (CO), iron and biliverdin/bilirubin is considered one of the main antioxidant defense mechanisms playing pivotal roles in neuroprotection. Restoring the redox homeostasis is the goal of many natural or synthetic antioxidant molecules pursuing beneficial effects on brain functions. Here, we investigated the antioxidant capacity of four selected benzofuran-2-one derivatives in a cellular model of neurodegeneration represented by differentiated SH-SY5Y cells exposed to catechol-induced oxidative stress. Our main results highlight how all the molecules have antioxidant properties, especially compound 9, showing great abilities in reducing intracellular ROS levels and protecting differentiated SH-SY5Y cells from catechol-induced death. This compound above all seems to boost HO-1 mRNA and perinuclear HO-1 protein isoform expression when cells are exposed to the oxidative insult. Our findings open the way to consider benzofuran-2-ones as a novel and promising adjuvant antioxidant strategy for many neurodegenerative disorders.

Novel hybrid Fe ₃ O ₄ superparamagnetic nanoparticles with polyoxazoline coatings enable the selective adsorption of pollutants and heavy metals, offering a refined and versatile solution for cutting-edge water purification. Graphical abstract background via Canva.com.

Organic wastewater compounds (OWCs) employed in human activities are, nowadays, commonly detected in surface water, groundwater, and drinking water. In particular, pharmaceuticals have caused great concern because after their consumption, traces of metabolites are excreted and reach the water resources either directly or after inefficient treatment. Despite this, these compounds are not regulated in drinking water, and existing toxicity data are inadequate to assess potential risks from chronic low-dose exposure. Considering the necessity to find new efficient, reusable, and biocompatible systems to remove organic pollutants from wastewater, the adsorption process has been found to be the most effective and economical because it is simple, highly efficient, regenerative, and scalable and does not produce intermediates that can increase the toxicity of the parent contaminants. Prompted by these reasons, in this research, an adsorbed medium composed of graphene oxide and an amine-oxazoline-based polymer (poly­(2-(3-(amino)­propyl))-2-oxazoline) was synthesized and employed in several adsorption experiments targeting nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (1), aspirin (2), ketoprofen (3), and benzoic acid (4). The specific interaction between acidic moieties of drugs and basic domains of the polymer has been investigated by targeting both acid compounds and pharmaceutical products free of carboxylic groups. Also, the influence of several parameters, including initial concentration, liquid-phase composition, pH, and reusability, has been investigated. Results show that the maximum adsorption capacity for ibuprofen (1), aspirin (2), ketoprofen (3), and benzoic acid (4) for experiments conducted in water, at the maximum initial concentration explored (90 mg L–1) and at natural pH equilibrium (pH ∼ 4), are, respectively, 37.4, 27.5, 43.5, and 26.0 mg g–1. These findings suggest that the prepared GO-pAmOx material has significant potential for adsorbing these drugs in water and good versatility for all investigated acid compounds and maintains high reusability. Notably, the reduction in adsorption capacity after ten adsorption cycles was only 1%.