Current Drug Delivery - Volume 12, Issue 1, 2015

Vaccine candidates for the treatment of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers are aimed to activate T-cells and induce development of cytotoxic anti-tumor specific responses. Peptide epitopes derived from HPV-16 E7 oncogenic protein have been identified as promising antigens for vaccine development. However, peptide-based antigens alone elicit poor cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses and need to be formul Read More

There is an enormous drive to refine therapeutic designs and delivery systems, but in this review we ask if this is always the right direction? We choose to play devil&aposs advocate, and argue that refining drug design is not always needed, and what is actually needed is a greater understanding of the biology of the disease. Here we focus on asthma and the β2-agonist group of bronchodilators as an example of ho Read More

The study aims to develop and optimise lipid-based colloidal carriers (LBCC) for enhancing solubilisation and reducing fed/fasted variation for the poorly water-soluble danazol (DAN). Oil-based and self-microemulsifying delivery systems (SMEDDS) were developed, and the effect of solidification was investigated. Liquid SMEDDS (L-SMEDDS, Capmul MCM:Tween 80:Transcutol HP 1:2:1, w/w) and emulsion (Capmul MCM:soya lecithin Read More

Tuberculosis is the second leading cause of death from infectious diseases. Although antitubercular drugs have been traditionally administered orally, there is a growing interest in delivering drugs via the pulmonary route using nebulisers or dry powder inhalers. Drugs in dry powder inhalers (DPI) are stable and DPI are user-friendly compared to nebulisation which is time consuming, inconvenient and inefficient and requires s Read More

Previous studies have suggested that particle-particle impaction may influence aerosolization properties in carrier-based dry powder inhalers, through transfer of kinetic energy from large carriers to surfacedeposited active drug. The importance of particle-particle collision has yet to be compared against other mechanisms that could lead to drug liberation, such as particle-wall impaction and turbulence. In particular, par Read More

The high internal surface area and drug solubilizing capacity of liquid crystal lipids makes them promising oral drug delivery systems. Pluronic F127 is typically used to disperse highly viscous cubic liquid crystal lipids into cubosomes; however, such copolymers alter the internal structure and provide little control over enzymatic digestion. This study aimed to use hydrophilic silica nanoparticles to stabilize glyceryl monooleate ( Read More

Conventional dosage forms such as tablets, capsules and syrups are prescribed in the normal course of practice. However, concerns about patient preferences and market demands have given rise to the exploration of novel unconventional dosage forms. Among these, confectionery-based dose forms have strong potential to overcome compliance problems. This report will review the availability of these unconventional dos Read More

Nanomaterials promise to improve disease diagnosis and treatment by enhancing the delivery of drugs, genes, biomolecules and imaging agents to specific subcellular targets. In order to optimize nanomaterial design for this purpose, a comprehensive understanding of how these materials are taken up and transported within the cell is required. In this review, we discuss the endocytic pathways employed by different types of na Read More

Nanodermatology is a rapidly emerging field of study receiving significant interest because of its potential application in the prevention and treatment of skin diseases. However, nanoparticulate penetration into and through the skin is not feasible through topical application alone. Many physical and chemical approaches have been developed to enhance particulate penetration into skin. The most successful have been ph Read More

Drug delivery to the airway and lower respiratory tract by aerosol inhalation has become a successful, non-invasive method of preventing and treating local disease of the lung. Consequently, it has been a promising route for clinical trials using highly specific and novel therapies to overcome viral pulmonary infection such as RNA interference, neutralising monoclonal antibodies and microparticle treatments. Yet des Read More

Synthetic analogues of the peptide hormone calcitonin have been used in medicine as biologic drug therapies for decades, to treat pathological conditions of excessive bone turnover, such as osteoporosis, where more bones are removed than replaced during bone remodeling. Osteoporosis and other chronic skeletal diseases, including inflammatory arthritis, exact a substantial and growing toll on aging populations worldwide Read More

Despite the increasing need for antibiotics to fight infectious diseases, fewer new antibiotics are available on the market. Unfortunately, developing a new class of antibiotics is associated with high commercial risk. Therefore, modification or combination of existing antibiotics to improve their efficacy is a promising strategy. Herein, we conjugated the antibiotic, levofloxacin, with two peptides, i.e. an antimicrobial peptide indolic Read More

The pharmaceutical industry as well as European and US governing agencies have indicated the need for more accurate, high resolution, characterization of complex drug materials, nanomedicines, to facilitate their development and eventual approval. In particular, accurately measuring the size, zeta-potential, and concentration of nanomedicines is desired. Herein we demonstrate the comprehensive and high Read More