Area Of Drug Delivery Systems Research Articles

Revolutionizing transdermal drug delivery: unveiling the potential of cubosomes and ethosomes.

The area of drug delivery systems has witnessed significant advancements in recent years, with a particular focus on improving efficacy, stability, and patient compliance. Transdermal drug delivery offers numerous benefits compared to conventional methods of drug administration through the skin. It helps in avoiding gastric irritation, hepatic first-pass metabolism, and gastric degradation of the drug. It bypasses the gastrointestinal tract, eliminating the risk of first-pass metabolism and allowing drugs to be administered without being affected by pH, enzymes, or intestinal bacteria. Additionally, it allows for sustained release of the drug, is noninvasive, and enhances patient adherence to the treatment regimen. The transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) can serve as an alternative route for drug administration in individuals who cannot tolerate oral medications, experience nausea, or are unconscious. When compared to intravenous, hypodermic, and other parenteral routes, TDDS stands out due to its ability to eliminate pain, reduce the risk of infection, and prevent disease transmission associated with needle reuse. Consequently, the overall patient compliance is significantly improved with the utilization of TDDS. Among the noteworthy developments are cubosomes and ethosomes, two distinct yet promising carriers that have garnered attention for their unique properties. In conclusion, this review synthesizes the current knowledge on cubosomes and ethosomes, shedding light on their individual strengths and potential synergies. The exploration of their application in various therapeutic areas underscores their versatility and establishes them as key players in the evolving landscape of drug delivery systems.

Ionic liquid: A green designer solvent for topical delivery of Nano system

Ionic liquids (ILs) defined as organic salts that produced from combination of organic cation with various types of organic/inorganic anions whose melting point less than 100°C. Because of their ionic character, most of ionic liquids exhibit useful properties such as no volatility, recyclability, good thermal stability, high conductivity and chemical stability. Ionic liquid cation - anion combinations permits the solvents to be prepared such as N, N-dialkylimidazolium as cation and acetate as anion. Ionic liquid was utilized as solvents or preparation components in various areas of drug delivery systems, also as novel liquid forms of APIs in various stages of design drug delivery systems. Also their incorporation with polymers has enabled the development of drug delivery systems for new therapeutic routes of administration. Recently ionic liquid can be used as solubility and permeability enhancer to deliver drugs with poor aqueous solubility and low lipophilicity by designing topical drug delivery of nano system.

Innovative cancer nanomedicine based on immunology, gene editing, intracellular trafficking control.

The recent rapid progress in the area of drug delivery systems (DDS) has opened a new era in medicine with a strong linkage to understanding the molecular mechanisms associated with cancer survival. In this review, we summarize new cancer strategies that have recently been developed based on our DDS technology. Cancer immunotherapy will be improved based on the concept of the cancer immunity cycle, which focuses on dynamic interactions between various types of cancer and immune cells in our body. The new technology of genome editing will also be discussed with reference to how these new DDS technologies can be used to introduce therapeutic cargoes into our body. Lastly, a new organelle, mitochondria will be the focus of creating a new cancer treatment strategy by a MITO-Porter which can deliver macromolecules directly to mitochondria of cancer cells via a membrane fusion approach and the impact of controlled intracellular trafficking will be discussed.

Supramolecular assemblies based on natural small molecules: Union would be effective.

Natural products have been used to prevent and treat human diseases for thousands of years, especially the extensive natural small molecules (NSMs) such as terpenoids, steroids and glycosides. A quantity of studies are confined to concern about their chemical structures and pharmacological activities at the monomolecular level, whereas the spontaneous assemblies of them in liquids yielding supramolecular structures have not been clearly understood deeply. Compared to the macromolecules or synthetic small molecular compounds, NSMs have the inherent advantages of lower toxicity, better biocompatibility, biodegradability and biological activity. Self-assembly of single component and multicomponent co-assembly are unique techniques for designing supramolecular entities. Assemblies are of special significance due to their range of applications in the areas of drug delivery systems, pollutants capture, materials synthesis, etc. The assembled mechanism of supramolecular NSMs which are mainly driven by multiple non-covalent interactions are summarized. Furthermore, a new hypothesis aimed to interpret the integration effects of multi-components of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) inspired on the theory of supramolecular assembly is proposed. Generally, this review can enlighten us to achieve the qualitative leap for understanding natural products from monomolecule to supramolecular structures and multi-component interactions, which is valuable for the intensive research and application.

Micelle‐to‐vesicle transition of lipoamino Gemini surfactant induced by metallic salts and its effects on antibacterial activity

Gemini surfactants are amphiphilic molecules formed by two polar heads and two hydrophobic tails joined by a spacer between the polar groups. Their molecular structure gives them particular physico-chemical properties in comparison with their monomeric counterparts. In this work we synthetized a Gemini surfactant (SDDC) derived from the amino acid cystine and decanoic acid. The influence of different metallic salts on the aggregation of the surfactant was studied. SDDC forms core–shell type triaxial ellipsoidal micelles in aqueous solution, but the aggregates suffer a change in morphology, forming vesicles in the presence of copper or silver ions. This behavior was corroborated by TEM and SAXS measurements. With the last technique was possible to estimate that vesicles formed in presence of copper consisted of 7.3 stacked bilayers. It was possible to determine that Cu2+ was reduced to Cu+ in the solution containing SDDC, through EPR and UV–visible spectrophotometry measurements. The reduction of copper was accompanied with the concomitant oxidation of the cystine. The antimicrobial activity of the different aggregates was studied against E. coli and S. aureus and compared with the conventional antibiotic ampicillin. The most efficient system resulted the mixture of SDDC:CuSO4/10:1 against the Gram-negative bacterium, there with the minimum concentration used (0.01 mM) was possible to inhibit 70 % of growth. The new systems characterized in this work have many possibilities for potential applications, mainly in the area of drug delivery systems, templates in the synthesis of nanomaterials or as antibacterial compounds.

Electrosprayed Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Systems for Biomedical Applications.

Nanotechnology is a tool being used intensely in the area of drug delivery systems in the biomedical field. Electrospraying is one of the nanotechnological methods, which is growing due to its importance in the development of nanoparticles comprising bioactive compounds. It is helpful in improving the efficacy, reducing side effects of active drug elements, and is useful in targeted drug delivery. When compared to other conventional methods like nanoprecipitation, emulsion diffusion, and double emulsification, electrospraying offers better advantages to produce micro/nanoparticles due to its simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and single-step process. The aim of this paper is to highlight the use of electrosprayed nanoparticles for biomedical applications. We conducted a literature review on the usage of natural and synthetic materials to produce nanoparticles, which can be used as a drug delivery system for medical purposes. We summarized a possible key role of electrosprayed nanoparticles in different therapeutic applications (tissue regeneration, cancer). The modest literature production denotes that further investigation is needed to assess and validate the promising role of drug-loaded nanoparticles through the electrospraying process as noninvasive materials in the biomedical field.

A brief review on eutectic mixture and its role in pharmaceutical field

Eutectic mixture (EM) is as a mixture of more than one substance that does not interact individually to create a new entity but in a particular ratio that exhibits a lower range of melting point than it had in individual. EM should be formulated in such a way that it should have major advantages in pharmaceutical industries. EM can be a mixture of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), or different ratios of APIs and excipients, or various excipients. Deep eutectic solvents containing APIs (API-DES) considered as an innovative approach to form different APIs in the liquid state. This new approach of liquid form is versatile and plays an important role in drug delivery. The selection of ideal hydrogen bond-donor (HBD) and hydrogen bond-acceptor (HBA) is an essential parameter. Ionic liquids (IL), derivatives of deep eutectic solvents (DES) have got much attention since it can replace harmful organic solvent by their extraordinary properties. Therapeutic deep eutectic solvents (THEDESs) are considered to be an exceptional option in the advancement of biomedicine. This can be utilized for improvising drug solubility, bioavailability as well as drug permeation through the skin. Natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES) can be considered as an alternate option, replacing harsh solvents. It has special characteristics of better biodegradability and biocompatibility. These NADES mainly used to separate and purification of natural compounds. This review focuses on the eutectic mixture and its application in the area of drug delivery systems, and pharmaceutical and pharmacological fields.

Interactions of dendritic glycopolymer with erythrocytes, red blood cell ghosts and membrane enzymes

Interactions between maltose functionalized hyperbranched poly(ethylene imine)s (95% maltose decoration denoted as Mal-PEI A; 33% maltose decoration denoted as Mal-PEI B) and red blood cells (RBCs) and between red blood cell membranes were investigated. We monitored the degree of hemolysis, the change in cell shape, the influence of polymers on the fluidity of the cell membrane and some cell membrane enzymes to determine their possible cytotoxic impact on them. To observe the extent of hemolysis, the RBCs were incubated with different concentrations of Mal-PEIs. The first significant lysis of RBCs was observed after 6h of incubation. Prolongation of the incubation time increased the number of ruptured cells. Moreover, we observed that Mal-PEI B was more hemolytic than Mal-PEI A in buffer solution. In contrast, an incubation of RBCs with Mal-PEIs in human plasma significantly decreased the hemolytic process and showed higher hemolytic property of Mal-PEI A compared to Mal-PEI B. Also several changes in the shape of the RBCs occurred after incubation with Mal-PEIs. Some of the erythrocytes shrank (echinocytes), but their morphology generally remained unchanged during the incubation. As shown by fluorescence experiments, both polymers induced the increase of fluidity of RBCs membranes. In summary, both types of hyperbranched poly(ethylene imine)s were practically non-hemolytic even at high polymer concentrations. Mal-PEI B was slightly more noxious than the Mal-PEI A in a buffer solution, while in blood plasma, the situation was opposite. Decrease of Na+/K+ ATPase and total ATPase enzymes activity was related with molecule size and number of maltose groups on the surface of molecule. The low hemolytic properties only observed at higher concentration (100μM and 400μM) indicated that Mal-PEIs are promising macromolecules in the area of drug delivery systems.

Transcytosis-Targeting Peptide: A Conductor of Liposomal Nanoparticles through the Endothelial Cell Barrier.

The ultimate goal in the area of drug-delivery systems is the development of a nanoparticle that can penetrate the endothelial cell monolayer for the targeting of tissue parenchyma. In the present study, we identify a transcytosis-targeting peptide (TTP) that permits polyethyleneglycol (PEG)-modified liposomes (PEG-LPs) to penetrate through monolayers of brain-derived endothelial cells. These endothelial cells were layered on a gelatin nanofiber sheet, a nanofiber meshwork that allows the evaluation of transcellular transport of nanosized particles (ca. 100 nm). Systematic modification of the sequences results in the identification of the consensus sequence of TTP as L(R/K)QZZZL, where Z denotes hydrophilic amino acids (R/K/S and partially D). The TTP-modified liposomes are bound on the heparin sulfate proteoglycan, and are then taken up via lipid raft-mediated endocytosis. Subsequent intracellular imaging of the particles reveals a unique intracellular sorting of TTP-modified PEG liposomes (TTP-PEG-LPs); namely the TTP-LPs are not localized with the lysosomes, whereas this co-localization is dominant in the unmodified PEG liposomes (PEG-LPs). The in vivo endothelial penetration of liposomes in adipose tissue is conferred by the dual modification of the particles with TTP and tissue-targeting ligands. This technology promises innovations in intravenously available delivery system to tissue parenchyma.

Characteristics and release profiles of MPEG-PCL-MPEG microspheres containing immunoglobulin G

Polyester–polyether type block copolymers have attracted attention in the area of drug delivery systems with their capability in providing a broad range of amphiphilic characteristics. The aim of the present work was to prepare and characterize immunoglobulin G (IgG) loaded methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ɛ-caprolactone)-methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG-PCL-MPEG) microspheres as potential carrier for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies used in clinics. MPEG-PCL-MPEG triblock copolymer was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of ɛ-caprolactone initiated by MPEG and then characterized. Microspheres were prepared by double emulsion-solvent evaporation method and their properties were compared with those of PCL microspheres. Microspheres had spherical shape with a mean particle size around 6μm. MPEG-PCL-MPEG microspheres had higher encapsulation efficiency than PCL microspheres. After 90 days of release, 30±2% and 57±3% of the bioactivity of IgG released from non-irradiated PCL and MPEG-PCL-MPEG microspheres were protected, respectively. Presence of MPEG in microspheres provided more controlled IgG release rate and protected IgG from denaturation during γ-irradiation (20±3% and 49±2% for PCL and MPEG-PCL-MPEG microspheres, respectively). In vitro cytotoxicity tests revealed that both MPEG-PCL-MPEG and PCL microspheres had no toxic effect on cells. This study showed that MPEG-PCL-MPEG microspheres are promising delivery systems for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.

Trends of Activities in International Organization and Authorities in Each Country Regarding Risk Management of Nanomaterials

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that in 2015 the worldwide nanotechnology-related market will reach about US$1 trillion and will create about two million additional jobs. The field began with the general technical industry, including many areas of the pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural, and environmental/energy industries, and recently has expanded to the formulation of nanotechnology. In particular, elements of nanometer-sized research and development (R & D) in the areas of drug delivery systems and nanomedicine are attracting widespread interest. On the other hand, the potential negative effects on human health and the environment of nanomaterials manufactured on the industrial scale have not been investigated in detail. Therefore, although the risks have not been fully clarified, research institutions and international organizations such as the OECD are working in earnest to elucidate them. This paper outlines the status of initiatives in industry and regulatory conditions and trends in individual countries and institutions to determine the safety of nanomaterials from the perspective of international relations.

Nanoparticle based drug delivery system: Advantages and applications

There has been a considerable research interest in the area of drug delivery systems using nanoparticles. Nanostructured biomaterials have unique physicochemical properties such as ultra small and controllable size, large surface area to mass ratio, high reactivity and functionalizable structure. It alter and improve the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of various types of drug molecules that are capable of targeted delivery of both imaging agents and anticancer drugs and early detection of cancer lesions, determination of molecular signatures of the tumor by noninvasive imaging and, most importantly, molecular targeted cancer therapy. These properties can be applied on drug to overcoming some of the limitations in traditional therapeutics. They have been used in vivo to protect the drug entity in the systemic circulation, restrict access of the drug to the chosen sites and to deliver the drug at a controlled and sustained rate to the site of action, minimizes undesirable side effects of the drugs and allow for more efficient use of the drug. It should be present at appropriate concentrations at the target site, and it should not lose its activity or therapeutic efficacy while in circulation. Here, we review various aspects of nanoparticle formulation, characterization, effect of their characteristics and their applications in delivery of drug molecules, improving the targated delivery of therapeutic agents, the potential of nanomedicine, development of novel and more effective diagnostic and screening techniques to extend the limits of molecular diagnostics and challenges in synthesizing nanoparticle platforms for delivering various drugs.

Niosomes: A Controlled and Novel Drug Delivery System

During the past decade formulation of vesicles as a tool to improve drug delivery, has created a lot of interest amongst the scientist working in the area of drug delivery systems. Vesicular system such as liposomes, niosomes, transferosomes, pharmacosomes and ethosomes provide an alternative to improve the drug delivery. Niosomes play an important role owing to their nonionic properties, in such drug delivery system. Design and development of novel drug delivery system (NDDS) has two prerequisites. First, it should deliver the drug in accordance with a predetermined rate and second it should release therapeutically effective amount of drug at the site of action. Conventional dosage forms are unable to meet these requisites. Niosomes are essentially non-ionic surfactant based multilamellar or unilamellar vesicles in which an aqueous solution of solute is entirely enclosed by a membrane resulting from the organization of surfactant macromolecules as bilayer. Niosomes are formed on hydration of non-ionic surfactant film which eventually hydrates imbibing or encapsulating the hydrating aqueous solution. The main aim of development of niosomes is to control the release of drug in a sustained way, modification of distribution profile of drug and for targeting the drug to the specific body site. This paper deals with composition, characterization/evaluation, merits, demerits and applications of niosomes.

Peptidomimetic–functionalized carbon nanotubes with antitrypsin activity

Water-soluble functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been prepared and further conjugated through a stable covalent bond with two peptidomimetics. The structural design of the covalently grafted peptidomimetics to the CNTs is based on their structural similarity with the metabolites of antagonist G of substance P. A variety of analytical spectroscopic methods, in combination with electron microscopy and thermal analysis, aided the structural and morphological characterization of the four newly synthesized peptidomimetic–CNT conjugates. It is demonstrated that the trypsin inhibitory effect of the peptidomimetic–CNT is enhanced as a result of the high-loading of peptidomimetics onto the skeleton of the modified water-soluble CNTs. Additionally, the peptidomimetic–functionalized CNT conjugates can be recovered and re-employed up to six biological evaluation cycles showing the same trypsin inhibitory activity. Such a nanosized system is extremely advantageous for the inhibition of inflammation or malignancy and could find potential future biological applications in the area of drug delivery systems.