Celecoxib Research Articles

Inkjet printability of Celecoxib drug solutions

Abstract Inkjet printing is a versatile tool for the precise positioning of droplets that is used in many application areas such as 3D printing, biotechnology or pharmacy. This work focused on comparing the inkjet printability of different drug solutions of celecoxib (CLX), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, to produce drug depots in medical implants. CLX was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and a mixture of DMSO and PEGDA in a ratio of 1:1. The pure solvents and the drug solutions were inkjet printed using a Nanoplotter 2.1 with the NanoTip J printhead (GeSiM mbH, Radeberg, Germany). The voltage was varied from 60 V to 150 V using a step size of 5 V. Droplet volume and the trajectory of the droplets were investigated. For DMSO, DMSO-CLX, DMSO-PEGDA and DMSOPEGDA- CLX, reproducible droplet formation occurred with a droplet volume of approximately 300 pl - 500 pl and not more than one satellite droplet in a voltage range between 60 V to 80 V. Inkjet printing of PEGDA and PEGDA-CLX was not reproducible in the range of 60 V to 150 V. DMSO, DMSOPEGDA, DMSO-CLX and DMSO-PEGDA-CLX showed a high inkjet printability. In contrast, inkjet printability of PEGDA and PEGDA-CLX was very limited.

AI-driven Discovery of Celecoxib and Dexamethasone for Exploring their Mode of Action as Human Interleukin (IL-6) Inhibitors to Treat COVID-19-induced Cytokine Storm in Humans.

In the case of COVID-19 patients, it has been observed that the immune system of the infected person exhibits an extreme inflammatory response known as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) where the inflammatory cytokines are swiftly produced in quite large amounts in response to infective stimuli. Numerous case studies of COVID-19 patients with severe symptoms have documented the presence of higher plasma concentrations of human interleukin-6 (IL-6), which suggests that IL-6 is a crucial factor in the pathophysiology of the disease. In order to prevent CRS in COVID-19 patients, the drugs that can exhibit binding interactions with IL-6 and block the signaling pathways to decrease the IL-6 activity may be repurposed. This research work focused on molecular docking-based screening of the drugs celecoxib (CXB) and dexamethasone (DME) to explore their potential to interact with the binding sites of IL-6 protein and reduce the hyper-activation of IL-6 in the infected personnel. Both of the drugs were observed to bind with the IL-6 (IL-6 receptor alpha chain) and IL-6Rα receptor with the respective affinities of -7.3 kcal/mol and -6.3 kcal/mol, respectively, for CXB and DME. Moreover, various types of binding interactions of the drugs with the target proteins were also observed in the docking studies. The dynamic behaviors of IL-6/IL-6Rα in complex with the drugs were also explored through molecular dynamics simulation analysis. The results indicated significant stabilities of the acquired drug-protein complexes up to 100 ns. The findings of this study have suggested the potential of the drugs studied to be utilized as antagonists for countering CRS in COVID-19 ailment. This study presents the studied drugs as promising candidates both for the clinical and pre-clinical treatment of COVID-19.

A two-pronged approach against glioblastoma: drug repurposing and nanoformulation design for in situ-controlled release

Glioblastoma (GB) is one of the most lethal types of neoplasms. Its biologically aggressive nature and the presence of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) limit the efficacy of standard therapies. Several strategies are currently being developed to both overcome the BBB and deliver drugs site specifically to tumor cells. This work hypothesizes a two-pronged approach to tackle GB: drug repurposing with celecoxib (CXB) and a nanoformulation using ultra-small nanostructured lipid carriers (usNLCs). CXB antitumor druggable activity was inspected bioinformatically and screened in four glioma cell lines aiming at the comparison with temozolomide (TMZ), as standard of care. Delving into formulation design, it was tailored aiming at (i) improving the drug solubility/loading properties, (ii) assigning a thermal-triggerable drug release based on a lipid matrix with a low melting point, and (iii) enhancing the cytotoxic effect by selecting a template targetable to tumor cells. For this purpose, an integrated analysis of the critical material attributes (CMAs), critical process parameters (CPPs), and critical quality attributes (CQAs) was conducted under the umbrella of a quality by design approach. CMAs that demonstrate a high-risk level for the final quality and performance of the usNLCs include the drug solubility in lipids (solid and liquid), the lipid composition (envisioning a thermoresponsive approach), the ratio between lipids (solid vs. liquid), and the surfactant type and concentration. Particle size was shown to be governed by the interaction lipid-surfactant followed by surfactant type. The drug encapsulation did not influence colloidal characteristics, making it a promising carrier for lipophilic drugs. In general, usNLCs exhibited a controlled drug release during the 72 h at 37 °C with a final release of ca. 25%, while at 45 °C this was doubled. The in vitro cellular performance depended on the surfactant type and lipid composition, with the formulations containing a sole solid lipid (Suppocire® NB) and Kolliphor® RH40 as surfactant being the most cytotoxic. usNLCs with an average diameter of ca. 70 nm and a narrow size distribution (PdI lower than 0.2) were yielded, exhibiting high stability, drug protection, sustained and thermo-sensitive release properties, and high cytotoxicity to glioma cells, meeting the suitable CQAs for parenteral administration. This formulation may pave the way to a multi-addressable purpose to improve GB treatment.Graphical

Concomitant effects of paclitaxel and celecoxib on genes involved in apoptosis of triple-negative metastatic breast cancer cells.

Although triple-negative breast cancer accounts for less than one-fifth of breast cancers, it has a higher rate of metastasis and mortality. This study investigated the effects of combination treatment with paclitaxel and celecoxib on the expression of genes involved in the apoptosis of triple-negative metastatic breast cancer cells. MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured and then treated with certain concentrations of celecoxib (CLX), paclitaxel (PTX), and combination of them for 24 and 48 h. Cell viability was assessed by the MTT method. The real-time PCR method was utilized to assess the expression level of the genes involved in apoptosis. Western blotting was used for evaluating protein expression. IC50 values for CLX and PTX were 73.95 μM and 3.15 μM, respectively. The results demonstrated that PTX, CLX, and PTX+CLX significantly (p<0.05) reduced cell viability. The comparison of combination treatment with PTX showed a significant increase in caspase 3 gene expression at both time points, in Bax gene expression after 48 h, and a remarkable decrease in Bcl-2 gene expression at both times. Western blotting results were in line with genes' expression. These findings indicate that a combination of PTX and CLX results in a significantly more reduction in cell viability of breast cancer cells. In addition, it seems CLX may be an effective agent in regulating the expression level of caspase 3, Bax, and Bcl-2 when combined with PTX.

Nano-drug delivery system targeting FAP for the combined treatment of oral leukoplakia.

Oral leukoplakia (OLK) has received much attention due to its potential risk of malignant transformation. Studies have shown that when drug therapy is combined with photothermal therapy (PTT), not only can the cytotoxicity of the drug be enhanced, but also the heat energy can be used to kill the lesion cells, so we can combine drug therapy with PTT to enhance the therapeutic effect on OLK. However, with certain drawbacks due to its lack of targeting, fibroblast activating protein (FAP) has become an attractive target for OLK combination therapy. In this study, we used NGO-PEG loaded with FAP-targeting peptide (F-TP) and celecoxib (CXB) to construct a nano-drug delivery system CGPF for targeting OLK with high FAP expression and confirmed the biocompatibility and therapeutic efficacy of CGPF by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Overall, the novel nano-drug delivery system CGPF proposed in this study showed a very significant potential for the combination therapy of OLK.

Trace determination of celecoxib in biological samples after preconcentration by Dμ-SPE technique using a magnetized functionalized MOF/nanokeratin composite

Partially NH2-functionalized ZIF-7 and nanokeratin extracted from sheep wool were exploited for in-situ synthesis of a new magnetized nanocomposite (magnetized nanokerattin@NH2-ZIF-7; MKNZ). First, the MKNZ properties towards celecoxib (CXB) adsorption was inspected by scrutinizing assessments of equilibrium, thermodynamic, and kinetic aspects. Then, after discovering MKNZ advantages for CXB adsorption and its characterization studies, a selective, sensitive sample preparation procedure was designed for preconcentration of trace CXB amounts using Dμ-SPE (dispersive micro solid phase extraction) technique. Compared with the nanocomposite synthesized without NH2– functionalization, MKNZ exhibited stronger interactions with CXB molecules and a much higher affinity towards their adsorption with a maximal capacity of 61.05 mg/g at pH 6.8 and 25 ℃, revealed by thermodynamic studies. Using ultrasonic-assisted agitation, kinetic and isothermal assessments demonstrated that, even at high levels, MKNZ was capable to adsorb almost the whole drug molecules in a short time (3 min). The devised Dμ-SPE for preconcentrative extraction of CXB was optimized and triumphally exploited for determining trace CXB levels existing in biological samples, i.e., human plasma, breast milk, and urine samples, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with UV– Visible (UV) detector. Overall, the devised analytical method for CXB was highly beneficial, so that a wide linearity (0.1–10 ng/mL), a low limit of detection (0.03 ng/mL), acceptable intra- and inter–day precisions (RSD ≤ 4.9%; n = 7), and high relative recoveries (>95.25%) were obtained.

Investigations of Lipid Droplets Role in Attenuating Chemotherapeutic Responses to 5-FU in Cancer Cells in vitro

Cancer has been considered as a main cause of death worldwide. Despite the effectiveness of traditional anticancer therapies such as 5-Flurouracil (5-FU), poor therapeutic outcomes are reported in many cases, due to tumor recurrence and chemoresistance. Intracellular lipid accumulation as lipid droplets (LDs) is now a well-recognized hallmark of cancer. However, the influence of LDs accumulation in cancer progression and treatment remains to be elucidated. Adjuvant use of non-chemotherapeutic drugs (e.g. NSAIDs and corticosteroids) with anticancer drugs to manage cancer related symptoms, may though serve as factors modulating the therapeutic response to anticancer agents via LDs related mechanisms. The aim of this study is to evaluate possible strategies influencing chemoresistance by attenuating LDs biogenesis and function. LDs levels in eight human cancer cell lines were measured. The existence of correlation between the cellular levels of LDs and cytotoxicity of ten chemotherapeutic agents was evaluated. A moderate correlation between basal LDs levels and the half inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 5-FU on selected cell lines was established (r2= 0.5235). Nevertheless, LDs levels were significantly elevated following exposure to 5-FU. A549 human lung cancer cells showed the highest increase in LD accumulation (***P &gt;0.001) compared to their basal levels of LDs. LDs levels were also assessed following exposure to 5-FU in the presence of sub-lethal doses of celecoxib (CXB), dexamethasone (DEX), and simvastatin (SMV). Interestingly, CXB and DEX exposure to 5-FUtreated cells resulted in an alleviation in the antiproliferative activities of 5-FU in MDA-MB-468 and HCT116 but not in A549 cells. While, SMV exposure to 5-FU-treated cells resulted in reduced antiproliferative activities of 5-FU in MDA-MB-468 only. These results strongly suggest that increased LDs levels caused by CXB, DEX, and SMV may contribute in the development of a resistance mechanism exist only in some cancer types, which therefore, attenuates responses to 5- FU. The inhibition of phospholipid metabolism by DEX, as well as the inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3- methylglutaryl-CoA reductase (HMGCR) by SMV were expected to result in the up regulation of triacylglycerol (TAG), leading to LDs accumulation. This study highlights the importance of assessing drug-drug interaction before designing integrated therapy regimens for cancer patients receiving 5-FU treatment. Further studies are needed to discover the role of TAG inhibition on the sensitivity of cancer cells against 5-FU.

Nucleation During Storage Impeded Supersaturation in the Dissolution Process of Amorphous Celecoxib.

The aqueous solubility of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) is one of the most critical factors in determining the absorption of orally administered drugs. Amorphization of API may offer better drug absorption than the crystalline state owing to enhanced solubility. However, if crystal nuclei are formed during storage, they may develop into crystals upon contact with water, thus limiting the dissolution advantage. In an earlier study, we found that the nuclei of amorphous celecoxib (CEL) could be formed at freezing temperatures (FT) without further crystal growth. Following this finding, we compared the dissolution performances of amorphous CEL annealed at room temperature (RT, 25 °C) or FT (-20 °C). We found that only the RT-annealed CEL could achieve a supersaturated state effectively during the dissolution process, which could be explained by the fast conversion of the FT-annealed amorphous CEL to a crystalline state owing to the presence of nuclei. Investigation of the residual solids revealed that supersaturation could be maintained for a while after the appearance of the crystals, which could be explained by heterogeneous nucleation and competition between the dissolution of amorphous parts and crystallization. In addition, a new crystalline form of CEL was observed during dissolution.

Carrier-Free Inhalable Dry Microparticles of Celecoxib: Use of the Electrospraying Technique.

Upregulation of cyclooxygenase (COX-2) plays an important role in lung cancer pathogenesis. Celecoxib (CLX), a selective COX-2 inhibitor, may have beneficial effects in COVID-19-induced inflammatory storms. The current study aimed to develop carrier-free inhalable CLX microparticles by electrospraying as a dry powder formulation for inhalation (DPI). CLX microparticles were prepared through an electrospraying method using a suitable solvent mixture at two different drug concentrations. The obtained powders were characterized in terms of their morphology, solid state, dissolution behavior, and aerosolization performance. Electrosprayed particles obtained from the ethanol-acetone solvent mixture with a drug concentration of 3 % w/v exhibited the best in vitro aerosolization properties. The value of the fine particle fraction obtained for the engineered drug particles was 12-fold higher than that of the untreated CLX. When the concentration of CLX was increased, a remarkable reduction in FPF was obtained. The smallest median mass aerodynamic diameter was obtained from the electrosprayed CLX at a 3% concentration (2.82 µm) compared to 5% (3.25 µm) and untreated CLX (4.18 µm). DSC and FTIR experiments showed no change in drug crystallinity or structure of the prepared powders during the electrospraying process. The findings of this study suggest that electrospraying has potential applications in the preparation of DPI formulations.

Thermoresponsive mucoadhesive hydrogel based on Pluronic F127/thiolated glycol chitosan for intravesical administration of celecoxib/gemcitabine

In recent years, mucoadhesivein situ gelling formulations for intravesical application have been studied to improve the therapeutic outcomes of bladder cancer patients. Here, we carefully tuned a Pluronic F127-based thermoresponsive gel using two mucoadhesive thiolated derivatives of glycol chitosan, S-preactivated N-acetylcysteine (NAC)- and glutathione (GSH)-glycol chitosan (GC). The gel was loaded with a combination of Gemcitabine (GEM) and Celecoxib (CEX), and the aqueous solubility of the latter was increased for a synergic influence between Pluronic and the inclusion complex of 2-Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin/CEX. The effect of the inclusion complex of two mucoadhesive polymers on rheological features of Pluronic based gels was highlighted to select the best performance. Finally, ex-vivo retention studies, mucosal penetration and in-vitro drug release of the selected systems were monitored for 24 h, providing enhanced retention properties (50% after 6 h) and continued drug release.

Tetrandrine Represses Inflammation and Attenuates Osteoarthritis by Selective Inhibition of COX-2.

There is a lack of effective and long-term safe drugs for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). Tetrandrine (Tet) has been approved and used to treat rheumatoid arthritis for several decades, but its effect on OA has not been investigated. Herein, we explored the effect of Tet on OA and its underlying mechanism. OA was induced using destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) in C57BL/6J mice. The animals were randomly divided into sham, DMM, Tet, celecoxib (CXB), and indomethacin (INDO) groups. Each group was given solvent or corresponding drugs by gavage for 7 weeks after convalescence. Pathological staining, OARSI scores, micro-computed tomography and behavior tests were performed to evaluate the effects of Tet. Tet remarkably alleviated cartilage injury in the knee joint, limited bone remodeling in the subchondral bone, and delayed progression of OA. Tet also significantly relieved joint pain and maintained function. Further mechanistic studies revealed that Tet lowered inflammatory cytokine levels and selectively suppressed gene and protein expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 but not COX-1 (P<0.01). Tet also reduced the production of prostaglandin E2 without damaging the gastric mucosa. We found that Tet could selectively inhibit COX-2 gene expression and decrease cytokine levels in mice, thus reducing inflammation and improving OA without obvious gastric adverse events. These results provide a scientific basis for the clinical application of Tet in the treatment of OA.

Enabling direct compression tablet formulation of celecoxib by simultaneously eliminating punch sticking, improving manufacturability, and enhancing dissolution through co-processing with a mesoporous carrier

The development of a high quality tablet of Celecoxib (CEL) is challenged by poor dissolution, poor flowability, and high punch sticking propensity of CEL. In this work, we demonstrate a particle engineering approach, by loading a solution of CEL in an organic solvent into a mesoporous carrier to form a coprocessed composite, to enable the development of tablet formulations up to 40% (w/w) of CEL loading with excellent flowability and tabletability, negligible punch sticking propensity, and a 3-fold increase in in vitro dissolution compared to a standard formulation of crystalline CEL. CEL is amorphous in the drug-carrier composite and remained physically stable after 6 months under accelerated stability conditions when the CEL loading in the composite was ≤ 20% (w/w). However, crystallization of CEL to different extents from the composites was observed under the same stability condition when CEL loading was 30–50% (w/w). The success with CEL encourages broader exploration of this particle engineering approach in enabling direct compression tablet formulations for other challenging active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Preparation of polymersomes from synthesized hyaluronic acid-graft-poly(ε-caprolactone) copolymers for drug delivery to the brain

The application of amphiphilic block copolymer for drug delivery has received immense attention in recent years. Polymersomes are favorable types of polymeric systems that can load different molecules and their structures and functional properties can be decorated for various drug-releasing platforms. Here, we represent a hyaluronic acid (HA) and polycaprolactone (PCL)-based amphiphilic block copolymer that can be assembled as polymersomes via the solvent substitution strategy. HA-graft-PCL copolymers were synthesized by a novel method, through the formation of an amide bond between the N-terminal amino acid of PCL and the carboxyl (–COOH) group in HA. Following the assemblage of copolymers, nanopolymersomes were coated with polysorbate-80 (P80) to target blood–brain barrier receptors. To determine the functional capacity of this vehicle, celecoxib (COXI) was loaded into nanopolymersomes. Then, particle size distribution, encapsulation efficiency, zeta potential, and polydispersity index were improved to 95%, 120 ± 10 nm, −21 mV, and ≤0.2, respectively. The P80-COXI-NPOL (P80 coated-COXI loaded-Nanopolymersomes) exhibited up to 72 h of sustained drug release in phosphate-buffered saline. Besides, the release profile revealed a biphasic pattern containing initial anomalous release (n = 0.63) in the first 9 h, followed by a linear pattern in 9–72 h (zero-order model). Overall, through targeted delivery of the encapsulated drug (COXI), these nanopolymersomes provide a passive targeting system to spot P80 receptors on the blood–brain barrier.

Comparison of in vivo behaviors of intramuscularly long-acting celecoxib nanosuspensions with different particle sizes for the postoperative pain treatment

Celecoxib (CXB) has a good analgesic effect on postoperative acute pain, but clinically its compliance is compromised because of frequent administration. Therefore, the development of injectable celecoxib nanosuspensions (CXB-NS) for long-acting analgesic effects is highly desirable. However, how the particle size affects the in vivo behaviors of CXB-NS remains unclear. Herein, CXB-NS with different sizes were prepared by the wet-milling method. Following intramuscular (i.m.) injection in rats (50 mg/kg), all CXB-NS achieved sustained systemic exposure and long-acting analgesic effects. More importantly, CXB-NS showed size-dependent pharmacokinetic profiles and analgesic effects, and the smallest CXB-NS (about 0.5 μm) had the highest Cmax, T1/2, and AUC0-240h and the strongest analgesic effects on incision pain. Therefore, small sizes are preferred for long action by i.m. injection, and the CXB-NS developed in this study were alternative formulations for the treatment of postoperative acute pain.

Novel celecoxib-loaded chitosan-fucoidan nanoparticles as potential immunotherapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma: Mechanistic insights

Celecoxib (CXB), a selective COX-2 inhibitor, is a component of triple-oral-metronomic-chemotherapy. However, chronic CXB utilization in high doses could bring about major cardiovascular consequences. The CXB incorporation into chitosan (CS)/fucoidan (FCD) nanoparticles (NPs) could be expected to reduce drug toxicity, improve epithelial drug permeation, and enhance drug delivery to COX-2 over-expressing sites within TME. CXB-loaded CS/FCD NPs were developed and evaluated for particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, morphology, and in vitro drug release. SCC-4 cells were used to test the cytotoxic, antiproliferative, and pro-apoptotic effects by performing MTT, Ki-67, and Annexin-V assays, respectively. The selective uptake of CS/FCD NPs by labelled tumor immune cells (TICs), tumor-endothelial-cells (TECs), and myeloid-derived-suppressor-cells (MDSCs) was determined qualitatively and quantitatively. Furthermore, signaling molecules, including Jagged-1/Notch-signaling, and biomarkers of TICs, TECs, and MDSCs; such as TGF-β, IL-6, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and arginase-1/iNOS, were analyzed in harvested SCC-4 cells pre-treated with CXB-CS/FCD-NPs, plain FCD and CXB. The best achieved CXB-CS1FCD5 NPs were spherical in shape, and possessed an optimum size (226.4 nm), promising zeta potential (−26.30 mV), high entrapment efficiency (76.78%), and allowed sustained CXB release. They showed the utmost anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic and cell-cycle arrest in SCC-4 cells with greater accumulation within MDSCs. Neither FCD nor CXB in their plain form could affect all of the tested TME cellular biomarkers. On contrary, CXB-CS/FCD NPs had significantly affected all of the investigated biomarkers. This study highlighted the synergistic antitumor potential of CXB-CS/FCD NPs against oral cancer, at lower CXB doses, and provided some mechanistic insights that can in part explain the observed anticancer efficacy.

Vaccination with celecoxib-treated dendritic cells improved cellular immune responses in an animal breast cancer model

PurposeProstaglandin E2 (PGE2), a product of cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway of arachidonic acid, exerts inhibitory impacts on dendritic cell (DC) activity to repress anti-tumor immune responses. Therefore, targeting COX during DC vaccine generation may enhance DC-mediated antitumor responses. We aimed to investigate the impacts of DC vaccine treated with celecoxib (CXB), a selective COX2 inhibitor, on some T cell-related parameters. Materials and methodsBreast cancer (BC) was induced in BALB/c mice, and then they received DC vaccine treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS-mDCs), LPS with a 5 ​μM dose of CXB (LPS/CXB5-mDCs) and LPS with a 10 ​μM dose of CXB (LPS/CXB10-mDCs). The frequency of splenic Th1 and Treg cells and amounts of IFN-γ, IL-12 and TGF-β production by splenocytes, as well as, the expression of Granzyme-B, T-bet and FOXP3 in tumors were determined using flow cytometry, ELISA, and real-time PCR, respectively. ResultsCompared with untreated tumor group (T-control), treatment with LPS/CXB5-mDCs and LPS/CXB10-mDCs decreased tumor growth (P ​= ​0.009 and P ​< ​0.0001), escalated survival rate (P ​= ​0.002), increased the frequency of splenic Th1 cells (P ​= ​0.0872, and P ​= ​0.0155), increased the IFN-γ (P ​= ​0.0003 and P ​= ​0.0061) and IL-12 (P ​= ​0.001 and P ​= ​0.0009) production by splenocytes, upregulated T-bet (P ​= ​0.062 and P ​< ​0.0001) and Granzyme-B (P ​= ​0.0448 and P ​= ​0.4485), whereas decreased the number of Treg cells (P ​= ​0.0014, and P ​= ​0.0219), reduced the amounts of TGF-β production by splenocytes (P ​= ​0.0535 and P ​= ​0.0169), and reduced the expression of FOXP3 (P ​= ​0.0006 and P ​= ​0.0057) in comparison with T-control group. ConclusionsOur findings show that LPS/CXB-treated DC vaccine potently modulated antitumor immune responses in a mouse BC model.

Fabrication of Celecoxib PVP Microparticles Stabilized by Gelucire 48/16 via Electrospraying for Enhanced Anti-Inflammatory Action.

Electrospraying (ES) technology is considered an efficient micro/nanoparticle fabrication technique with controlled dimensions and diverse morphology. Gelurice® 48/16 (GLR) has been employed to stabilize the aqueous dispersion of Celecoxib (CXB) for enhancing its solubility and oral bioavailability. Our formula is composed of CXB loaded in polyvinylpyllodine (PVP) stabilized with GLR to formulate microparticles (MPs) (CXB-GLR-PVP MPs). CXB-GLR-PVP MPs display excellent in vitro properties regarding particle size (548 ± 10.23 nm), zeta potential (-20.21 ± 2.45 mV), and drug loading (DL, 1.98 ± 0.059 mg per 10 mg MPs). CXB-GLR-PVP MPs showed a significant (p < 0.05) higher % cumulative release after ten minutes (50.31 ± 4.36) compared to free CXB (10.63 ± 2.89). CXB exhibited good dispersibility, proved by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), adequate compatibility of all components, confirmed by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and spherical geometry as revealed in scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Concerning our anti-inflammatory study, there was a significant decrease in the scores of the inflammatory markers' immunostaining in the CXB-GLR-PVP MPs treated group. Also, the amounts of the oxidative stress biomarkers, as well as mRNA expression of interleukins (IL-1β and IL-6), considerably declined (p < 0.05) in CXB-GLR-PVP MPs treated group alongside an enhancement in the histological features was revealed. CXB-GLR-PVP MPs is an up-and-coming delivery system that could be elucidated in future clinical investigations.

Celecoxib Nanoformulations with Enhanced Solubility, Dissolution Rate, and Oral Bioavailability: Experimental Approaches over In Vitro/In Vivo Evaluation.

Celecoxib (CXB) is a Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) Class II molecule with high permeability that is practically insoluble in water. Because of the poor water solubility, there is a wide range of absorption and limited bioavailability following oral administration. These unfavorable properties can be improved using dry co-milling technology, which is an industrial applicable technology. The purpose of this study was to develop and optimize CXB nanoformulations prepared by dry co-milling technology, with a quality by design approach to maintain enhanced solubility, dissolution rate, and oral bioavailability. The resulting co-milled CXB composition using povidone (PVP), mannitol (MAN) and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) showed the maximum solubility and dissolution rate in physiologically relevant media. Potential risk factors were determined with an Ishikawa diagram, important risk factors were selected with Plackett-Burman experimental design, and CXB compositions were optimized with Central Composite design (CCD) and Bayesian optimization (BO). Physical characterization, intrinsic dissolution rate, solubility, and stability experiments were used to evaluate the optimized co-milled CXB compositions. Dissolution and permeability studies were carried out for the resulting CXB nanoformulation. Oral pharmacokinetic studies of the CXB nanoformulation and reference product were performed in rats. The results of in vitro and in vivo studies show that the CXB nanoformulations have enhanced solubility (over 4.8-fold (8.6 ± 1.06 µg/mL vs. 1.8 ± 0.33 µg/mL) in water when compared with celecoxib pure powder), and dissolution rate (at least 85% of celecoxib is dissolved in 20 min), and improved oral pharmacokinetic profile (the relative bioavailability was 145.2%, compared to that of Celebrex®, and faster tmax 3.80 ± 2.28 h vs. 6.00 ± 3.67 h, indicating a more rapid absorption rate).

Inhibiting COX-2/PGE2 pathway with biodegradable NIR-Ⅱ fluorescent polymeric nanoparticles for enhanced photodynamic immunotherapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) capable of eliciting antitumor immune responses by inducing immunogenic cell death (ICD) holds promise for tumor suppression. However, most photosensitizers suffer from limited degradation, insufficient biocompatibility, and inabilities to generate long-wavelength fluorescence for in vivo tracking. Moreover, PDT has the inherent problem of activating the cyclooxygenase-2/prostaglandin-E2 (COX-2/PGE2) pathway and upregulating programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression, resulting in insufficient efficacy of photodynamic immunotherapy. Herein, we designed and synthesized a dihydroxy-containing BODIPY monomer (MonoBodipy), and then formed the biodegradable polymer (PPDT) by polycondensation reaction, which could generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) for photodynamic immunotherapy and emit near-infrared-Ⅱ (NIR-Ⅱ) fluorescence for bioimaging. Subsequently, we further utilized PPDT to encapsulate the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor celecoxib (CXB) to form NPPDT@CXB that could inhibit the COX-2/PGE2 pathway. NPPDT@CXB displayed great anticancer potency on osteosarcoma and ovarian cancer in vitro. Further, NPPDT@CXB could accumulate at tumor site after intravenous administration into tumor-bearing mice, generate ROS, induce ICD cascade, and trigger antitumor immune responses under an 808 nm laser irradiation. The ROS further breaks up thioketal linkages in PPDT, resulting in a rapid CXB release to inhibit the COX-2/PGE2 pathway and then downregulate the PD-L1 expression in tumor cells, which in turn leads to an effective suppression of the primary and distant tumors. This work highlighted a well biocompatible and biodegradable photosensitizer that generates ROS, emits long-wavelength fluorescence, inhibits the COX-2/PGE2 pathway, and downregulates PD-L1 expression simultaneously, exhibiting a robust photodynamic immunotherapy efficacy. This study proposed a new strategy to overcome the inherent problems of photodynamic immunotherapy and pointed out the path of future PDT development.

Solubility and thermodynamics of celecoxib in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and (ethanol, 1-propanol) binary solvent mixtures at (293.15 to 313.15) K

ABSTRACT This study presents solubility determination and the thermodynamic analysis of celecoxib (CXB) in two kinds of solvent mixtures of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) + ethanol and NMP + 1-propanol at various temperatures (293.15–313.15 K). The density of CXB-free mixtures of NMP + 1-propanol at various temperatures was also measured since the data was not available from the literature. In both systems, the solubility raised with temperature and increased with increasing the amount of NMP in the blends. Measured solubility data were fitted using four mathematical cosolvency models. The resulting MRD% values for all examined models were less than 6.0. The measured densities of the CXB saturated solutions were calculated using an adopted version of Jouyban-Acree model. Further, predictive versions of the model which were trained using the density of drug-free mixed solvents were also used to predict the density of CXB saturated solutions with an overall MRD% of 1.3.