Magnetic/pH-sensitive nanocomposite hydrogel based on radiation prepared 2-(N, N′-dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate/chitosan for in vitro drug delivery application

Hydrogels, nanogels, and nanocomposites have attracted much attention as drug delivery systems during the past decades. In this work, a novel drug delivery system was synthesized by incorporation of nanogel into multi responsive hydrogel nanocomposite. At first, nanogel was prepared by copolymerization of N‑isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and (2-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (DMA). Then it was embedded it into pH, thermo, and magnetic responsive hydrogel nanocomposite including graft copolymerization of poly(2-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate (PDMA) onto salep (PDMA-g-salep) and Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs). The synthesized samples were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and atomic force micrographs (AFM). The sensitivity of the synthesized sample to temperature, pH, and magnetic field was studied using the swelling experiments. The drug release ability of the sample was also investigated at different pH, temperatures, and magnetic field. Finally, different kinetic models were used to discuss about the mechanism of drug release from the prepared sample. Our results represented the high efficiency of this kind of hydrogel nanocomposite for applications in cancer therapy.

Chitosan-based Dy2O3/CuFe3O4 bio-nanocomposite development, characterization, and drug release kinetics

Controlled drug delivery from 3D printed two-photon polymerized poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate devices

Magnetic hydrogels have promising applications in flexible electronics, biomedical devices, and soft robotics. However, most existing magnetic hydrogels are fragile and suffer insufficient magnetic response. In this paper, we present a new approach to fabricate a strong, tough, and adhesive magnetic hydrogel with nontoxic polyacrylamide (PAAm) hydrogel as the matrix and the functional additive [3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate coated Fe3O4] as the inclusions. This magnetic hydrogel not only offers a relatively high modulus and toughness compared to the pure hydrogel but also responds to the magnetic field rapidly because of high magnetic particle content (up to 60%, with respect to the total weight of the polymers and water). The hydrogel can be bonded to hydroxyl-rich hard and soft surfaces. Magnetic hydrogel withpolydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coating exhibits excellent underwater performance. The bonding between magnetic hydrogel and PDMS is very stable even under cyclic loading. An artificial muscle and its magnetomechanical coupling performance are demonstrated using this hydrogel. The adhesive tough magnetic hydrogel will open up extensive applications in many fields, such as controlled drug delivery systems, coating of soft devices, and microfluidics. The strategy is applicable to other functional soft materials.

Controlled drug delivery has been attracting a great deal of attention in the medical community for years as an efficient way of providing treatment for a wide class of diseases. The common principle on which various drug delivery devices are based is mass transfer of the given drug toward particular organs, in which either the mass transfer rate, or place, or both are prescribed according to certain medical protocols. Much progress has been achieved in the design and development of various controlled drug delivery systems, and many people routinely take medicine designed for controlled release. Mathematical modeling of drug delivery systems is very important because a successful model can provide a better understanding and a quantitative description of the physical, chemical and biological processes governing the performance of the systems. On the basis of this description, better controlled drug delivery systems can be designed. We hope that this collection of papers will result in an increased attention of applied mathematicians to this class of important mass transfer and control problems. We also hope that practitioners will become more aware of the mathematical results that can be useful. The papers differ in mathematical sophistication, ranging from models described by systems of ODEs to quite complex PDE problems. They consider quite a few different aspects of drug delivery thus introducing a significant portion of the field. Each paper has an extensive introduction that should make the paper understandable to an applied mathematician who is not an expert in drug delivery. A discussion of controlled drug delivery in cancer immunotherapy is presented in “Controlled Drug Delivery in Cancer Immunotherapy: Stability, Optimization, and Monte Carlo Analysis" by Minelli, Topputo, and Bernelli-Zazzera, who formulate and solve an optimal control problem and show that the control policy is effective even when the patient's initial conditions are uncertain. A hybrid model of cell population dynamics, where cells are discrete elements whose dynamics depend on continuous intracellular and extracellular processes, is developed in “Hybrid Model of Erythropoiesis and Leukemia Treatment with Cytosine Arabinoside" by Kurbatova, Bernard, Bessonov, Crauste, Demin, Dumontet, Fischer, and Volpert, to simulate the evolution of immature red blood cells in the bone marrow. The model is used to study normal and leukemic red blood cell production and treatment of leukemia. In “Quadratic Models to Fit Experimental Data of Paclitaxel Release Kinetics from Biodegradable Polymers," Blanchet, Delfour, and Garon validate three ODE models against experimental data in order to better understand drug release kinetics. A model for drug diffusion from a spherical polymeric drug delivery device is considered in “Asymptotic and Numerical Results for a Model of Solvent-Dependent Drug Diffusion through Polymeric Spheres" by McCue, Hsieh, Moroney, and Nelson. Here the solvent diffuses into the polymer, which transitions from a glassy to a rubbery state, thus resulting in a moving boundary problem. In “Model Reduction Strategies Enable Computational Analysis of Controlled Drug Release from Cardiovascular Stents," D'Angelo, Zunino, Porpora, Morlacchi, and Migliavacca deal with drug-eluting stents and consider a hierarchy of mathematical models ranging from a lumped ODE model to fully three-dimensional models for drug transfer in the artery. A gene delivery of nucleic acid to the cell nucleus problem is discussed in “Modeling the Early Steps of Cytoplasmic Trafficking in Viral Infection and Gene Delivery," in which Amoruso, Lagache, and Holcman focus on plasmid DNA and virus cytoplasmic trafficking. The editors thank all the authors and reviewers for their contributions to this collection.

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Natural pharmaceutical excipients have been applied extensively in the past decades owing to their safety and biocompatibility. Zein, a natural protein of plant origin offers great benefit over other synthetic polymers used in controlled drug and biomedical delivery systems. It was used in a variety of medical fields including pharmaceutical and biomedical drug targeting, vaccine, tissue engineering, and gene delivery. Being biodegradable and biocompatible, the current review focuses on the history and the medical application of zein as an attractive still promising biopolymer.Areas covered: The current review gives a broadscope on zein as a still promising protein excipient in different fields. Zein- based drug and biomedical delivery systems are discussed with special focus on current and potential application in controlled drug delivery systems, and tissue engineering.Expert opinion: Zein as a protein of natural origin can still be considered a promising polymer in the field of drug delivery systems as well as in tissue engineering. Although different researchers spotted light on zein application in different industrial fields extensively, the feasibility of its use in the field of drug delivery replenished by investigators in recent years has not yet been fully approached.

Despite incredible innovation in the current medical world, cancer remains a lethal disease struggling to cure and becomes a prime reason for deaths worldwide. In recent years, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are the major treatment modalities targeted to eradicate the various types of cancers. Conventional cancer treatments effectively destroy cancer cells, but they are also harmful to the normal healthy cells and tissues. A variety of nanomaterials recently appear as promising tools for cancer treatment due to the unique mechanism of passive and active tumor-targeted drug delivery. Various types of nanomaterials-based drug delivery platforms such as organic and inorganic nanomaterials have been significantly investigated for cancer treatment because they can load and carry anticancer drugs and accumulate drugs in the tumor site via passive or active targeting, thereby specifically carrying chemotherapeutic drugs to the preferred tumor sites. These functionalized nanomaterials will prominently enhance the chemotherapeutic drugs’ therapeutic efficacy while decreasing nonspecific adverse effects in cancer treatment. Additionally, remarkable efforts have been recently committed to developing targeted and controlled drug delivery systems from a variety of nanomaterials for cancer treatment, which can deliver drugs with a controlled manner to target tumor site and concurrently monitor therapeutic response by visualizing cancer cells. This chapter aims to emphasize the distinguished advantage of nanomaterials-based drug delivery systems and the mechanism of action underlying their selective targeted drug delivery effects and to introduce successful recent nanomaterials and their drug delivery systems for cancer treatment.KeywordsNanomaterialsDrug delivery systemCancer treatmentDiagnosis

The purpose of this study was to provide a control drug delivery system through a newly approved work to enhance the absorption and bioavailability of enalapril maleate loaded floating microspheres by ionotropic gelation technique using a hydrophilic carrier. Eleven developed formulations of floating microspheres were prepared by ionotropic gelation using different concentrations of sodium alginate, iota-carrageenan, sodium bicarbonate, calcium chloride, and the drug. These microspheres were characterized using a diversity of parameters like micrometric properties, percentage yield, entrapment efficiency, in vitro buoyancy, in vitro drug release, and kinetics of drug release. The optimum formula was evaluated and identified for drug-excipients compatibility using fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), surface morphology, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). From the results, F4 was selected as the optimum formula since it provides a faster and premium release of drug from the matrix (91.4%). Kinetics of drug release was found to depend on both diffusion and erosion mechanisms, as the correlation coefficient (R2) was best fitted with Korsmeyer's model and the release exponent (n) was shown to be between 0.43 and 0.84. Scanning electron microscopy images demonstrated spherical, discrete, and freely flowing microspheres with a particle size of 199.4±0.04 μm. Optimum buoyancy properties, percentage yield, and drug entrapment efficiency were achieved. FT-IR showed no interaction between enalapril and the polymers. DSC and XRD showed the miscibility of the drug with the polymers while maintaining the stable crystalline properties of enalapril loaded in the prepared microspheres. The developed floating microspheres of enalapril maleate can be considered a promising controlled drug delivery system, thereby improving patient compliance.

Fabrication and characterization of triple-responsive composite hydrogel for targeted and controlled drug delivery system

Synthesis of magnetic multi walled carbon nanotubes hydrogel nanocomposite based on poly (acrylic acid) grafted onto salep and its application in the drug delivery of tetracyceline hydrochloride

Controlled Drug Delivery Systems (CDDS) represent a significant advancement in pharmaceutical technology, designed to deliver therapeutic agents in a controlled and sustained manner over an extended period. These systems aim to optimize the drug's efficacy by maintaining therapeutic drug levels in the body, reducing side effects, and enhancing patient compliance. CDDS can be classified into various categories, including polymeric, liposomal, and nanoparticle-based systems, each offering unique benefits. Polymeric systems, for example, allow for the precise release of drugs through diffusion, degradation, or swelling mechanisms. Drugs can be targeted to certain tissues with the use of liposomes and nanoparticles, increasing the therapeutic index while lowering systemic exposure. To further improve the accuracy of drug administration, CDDS can also be made to react to environmental stimuli like pH, temperature, or electromagnetic fields. The creation of CDDS has been the subject of extensive research in recent decades in order to solve issues such patient adherence, drug stability, and bioavailability. With the development of new materials and technology, CDDS remains a promising treatment option for cancer, chronic diseases, and other complex medical problems, offering more individualized and efficient therapeutic alternatives.

Evaluation of blood compatibility and drug release studies of gelatin based magnetic hydrogel nanocomposites

Due to their extreme high hydrogen contents, high molecular weight (HMW-) and ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW-) polyethylene (PE) are a comprehensible choice as neutron radiation shielding material in casks for storage and transport of radioactive materials. But as a direct consequence of inserting radioactive material in such casks, gamma radiation occurs. Hence, the impact of gamma radiation on the molecular structure of polyethylene has to be taken into consideration. Consequently, PE has to withstand any type of gamma radiation induced degradation affecting safety relevant aspects in order to be applicable for long term neutron radiation shielding purposes during the whole storage period (in Germany, for instance, up to 40 years). The scope of our investigation comprises an estimation of the impact of gamma radiation and temperature on the molecular and supra molecular structure of the two types of PE used as neutron radiation shielding cask components. A further point which is worth exploring is to what extent these changes are detectable by conventional analysis methods. Therefore, thermoanalytical measurements were performed such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermo mechanical analysis (TMA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Additionally optical and weighing methods were applied. With those methods it is possible to detect structural changes in polyethylene induced by exposure to gamma radiation. The observed amounts of changes of the irradiated material are not safety relevant for the application of polyethylene as neutron radiation shielding material; moreover, some properties actually improve via irradiation.

Graft copolymers of ethyl methacrylate on waxy maize starch derivatives as novel excipients for matrix tablets: Drug release and fronts movement kinetics

Fabrication of biodendrimeric β-cyclodextrin via click reaction with potency of anticancer drug delivery agent