Nanotechnology has been the latest approach for diagnosis and treatment for cancer, which opens up a new alternative therapeutic drug delivery option to treat disease. Nanoparticles (NPs) display a broad role in cancer diagnosis and has various advantages over the other conventional chemotherapeutic drug delivery. NPs possess more specific and efficient drug delivery to the targeted tissue, cell, or organs and minimize the risk of side effects. NPs undergo passive and active mode of drug targets to tumor area with less elimination of the drug from the system. Size and surface characteristics of nanoparticles play a crucial role in modulating nanocarrier efficiency and the biodistribution of chemo drugs in the body. Several types of nanocarriers, such as polymers, dendrimers, liposome-based, and carbon-based, are studied widely in cancer therapy. Although FDA approved very few nanotechnology drugs for cancer therapy, a large number of studies are undergoing for the development of novel nanocarriers for potent cancer therapy. In this review, we discuss the details of the nano-based therapeutics and diagnostics strategies, and the potential use of nanomedicines in cancer therapy and cancer drug delivery.

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), formerly known as Clostridium difficile, continues to be the most common healthcare-associated infection worldwide. With the shifting epidemiology towards higher a incidence of community-acquired CDI and the continued burden on the healthcare system posed by high rates of CDI recurrence, there has been an impetus to advance the diagnostic testing and treatment strategies. Recent advancements over the past decade have led to rapidly changing guidelines issued by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. With our comprehensive review, we aim to summarize the latest advances in diagnosing and treating CDI and thus attempt to help readers guide best practices for patient care. This article also focusses on cost-effectiveness of various therapies currently available on the market and provides an analysis of the current evidence on a relatively new monoclonal antibody therapy, Bezlotoxumab, to treat recurrent CDI.

Nanotechnology involves understanding and manipulating materials normally in the size range of 1 to 100 nm, where particles show completely novel physico-chemical properties from their bulk counterpart. In the last two decades a number of precisely engineered nanomaterials have been developed for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. For diagnostic applications, nanoparticles allow detection at the molecular scale. Some fluorescent nanohybrids can serve the dual purpose of detection and destruction of pathogenic microbes. The specificity and sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging can be greatly improved by using nanoparticles as contrast enhancement material. As therapeutic agent, they allow targeted delivery and sustained release of drug molecules and they also have huge potential in tissue engineering. Given the vast range of application of nanomaterials in the biomedical domain, this review focuses on the major nanoparticle based diagnostic and therapeutic modalities.

BackgroundCOPD patients have increased numbers of macrophages and neutrophils in the lungs. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) trans-signaling via its soluble receptor sIL-6R, governs the influx of innate immune cells to inflammatory foci through regulation of the chemokine CCL3. We hypothesized that there would be enhanced levels of IL-6, sIL-6R and CCL3 in COPD sputum.Methods59 COPD patients, 15 HNS and 15 S underwent sputum induction and processing with phosphate buffered saline to obtain supernatants for IL-6, sIL-6R and CCL3 analysis. Cytoslides were produced for differential cell counting and immunocytochemistry (COPD; n = 3) to determine cell type surface expression of the CCL3 receptors CCR5 and CCR1.ResultsCOPD patients expressed higher levels (p < 0.05) of sIL-6R and CCL3 compared to controls (sIL-6R medians pg/ml: COPD 166.4 vs S 101.1 vs HNS 96.4; CCL3 medians pg/ml: COPD 117.9 vs S 0 vs HNS 2.7). COPD sIL-6R levels were significantly correlated with sputum neutrophil (r = 0.5, p < 0.0001) and macrophage (r = 0.3, p = 0.01) counts. Immunocytochemical analysis revealed that CCR5 and CCR1 were exclusively expressed on airway macrophages.ConclusionEnhanced airway generation of sIL-6R may promote IL-6 trans-signaling in COPD. Associated upregulation of CCL3 may facilitate the recruitment of macrophages into the airways by ligation of CCR1 and CCR5.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12931-014-0103-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.