Proteins and peptides (PPs) have gradually become more attractive therapeutic molecules than small molecular drugs due to their high selectivity and efficacy, but fewer side effects. Owing to the poor stability and limited permeability through gastrointestinal (GI) tract and epithelia, the therapeutic PPs are usually administered by parenteral route. Given the big demand for oral administration in clinical use, a variety of researches focused on developing new technologies to overcome GI barriers of PPs, such as enteric coating, enzyme inhibitors, permeation enhancers, nanoparticles, as well as intestinal microdevices. Some new technologies have been developed under clinical trials and even on the market. This review summarizes the history, the physiological barriers and the overcoming approaches, current clinical and preclinical technologies, and future prospects of oral delivery of PPs.

Ascorbic acid plays a significant role in regulation of various bodily functions with high concentrations in immune cells and being involved in connective tissue maintenance. Commonly it is detected through various colorimetric methods. In this study, we propose a one-step simple method based on the inhibitory activity of ascorbic acid on horseradish peroxidase and hydrogen peroxide. The detection is observed by colorimetric changes to TMB (3,3′,5,5′ tetramethylbenzidine). The enzyme inhibition unit was optimized with a high level of linearity (r² = 0.9999) and the level of detection and level of quantification were found to be 1.35 nM and 4.08 nM, respectively with higher sensitive compared to the HPLC method (11 μM). Both intra and inter-assays showed high correlations at different AA concentrations. (r² > 0.9999). Similar results were also observed for vitamin C tablets, ascorbate salts, fruits, and market products (r² = 0.999). There was negligible effect of interference by citric acid, lactic acid, tartaric acids, and glucose with high recoveries (>98%) at 1 mg/mL to 0.0078 mg/mL concentration ranges. The recovery error (RE%) was found to be less than 10%. Our detection method is distinguished by its simplicity, nano-level of detection, reproducibility, and potential application and adaptability as a point-of-use test.

Summary: This paper presents a wellbore-stability study of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) research borehole located near Parkfield, California, USA. In the summer of 2005, the SAFOD borehole was drilled successfully through the active trace of the San Andreas Fault (SAF) in an area characterized by fault creep and frequent microearthquakes. In this study, we report how the analysis of wellbore failures in the upper part of the hole, geophysical logs, and a model for stress gradients in the vicinity of the fault were used to estimate the mud weights required to drill through the fault successfully. Because logging-while-drilling (LWD) acoustic caliper data and real-time hole-volume calculations both showed that relatively little failure occurred while drilling through the SAF, the predicted mud weight was successful in drilling a stable borehole. However, a six-arm caliper log, run after drilling was completed, indicates that there was deterioration of the borehole with time, which appears to be caused by fluid penetration around the borehole. The LWD-resistivity measurements show that essentially no fluid penetration occurred as the hole was being drilled. Because of this, the mud weight used was capable of maintaining a stable wellbore. However, the resistivity data obtained after drilling show appreciable fluid penetration with time, thus negating the effectiveness of the mud weight and leading to time-dependent wellbore failure. Using finite-element modeling (FEM), we show that mud penetration into the fractured medium around the borehole causes failure with time.

Hairy root culture (HRC) represent a valuable biotechnological tool for the production of plant secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolome study of Arabidopsis thaliana may help to understand the biological roles of various secondary metabolites present in it. The present work deals with the establishment of Agrobacterium rhizogenes strains transformed HRC of A. thaliana with very high transformation frequency resulting in long term hairy root cultures grown in hormone free media. Optimization of culture medium and standardisation of co-cultivation period are the key role players in obtaining high frequency of hairy roots. Four days of preculture in CIM medium and five min of co-cultivation in the bacterial suspension were found to be optimal conditions for root induction. This protocol could become a powerful tool for transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics-based studies for different transgenic root lines of A. thaliana.