Current Drug Delivery - Volume 14, Issue 2, 2017

Modern Chemical Engineering was born around the end of the 19th century in Great Britain, Germany, and the USA, the most industrialized countries at that time. Milton C. Whitaker, in 1914, affirmed that the difference between Chemistry and Chemical Engineering lies in the capability of chemical engineers to transfer laboratory findings to the industrial level. Since then, Chemical Engineering underwent huge transform Read More

The controlled delivery of drugs, including siRNAs, can be effectively obtained using Hydrogel- Based Drugs Delivery Systems (HB-DDSs). Successful design of HB-DDSs requires the knowledge of the mechanisms that influence drug release. The modeling of the physical phenomena involved could help in the development and optimization of HB-DDS, sensibly reducing the time and costs required by a trial-and-error procedures. The Read More

Background: Accompanied by significant improvements of modeling techniques and computational methods in medical sciences, the last thirty years saw the flourishing of pharmacokinetic models for applications in the pharmacometric field. In particular, physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models, grounded on a mechanistic foundation, have been applied to explore a multiplicity of aspects with poss Read More

The full success of pharmacological therapies is strongly depending on the use of suitable, efficient and smart drug delivery systems (DDSs). Thus DDSs development is one of the main challenges in pharmaceutical industry both to achieve tailored carrier systems based on drug features and to promote manufacturing innovations to reduce energetic resources, emissions, wastes and risks. Main functions of an ideal DDS are: to p Read More

Hydrogels can constitute reliable delivery systems of drugs, including those based on nucleic acids (NABDs) such as small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA). Their nature, structure, and response to physiological or external stimuli strongly influence the delivery mechanisms of entrapped active molecules, and, in turn, their possible uses in pharmacological and biomedical applications. In this study, a thermo-gelling chitosa Read More

The advances of short interfering RNA (siRNA) mediated therapy provide a powerful option for the treatment of many diseases by silencing the expression of targeted genes including cancer development and progression. Inulin is a very simple and biocompatible polysaccharide proposed by our groups to produce interesting delivery systems for Nucleic Acid Based Drugs (NABDs), such as siRNA, either as polycations able to gi Read More

Nano-carrier drug transport in blood microcirculation is one of the hotspots of current research in drug development due to many advantages over traditional therapies, such as reduced sideeffects, target delivery, controlled release, improved pharmacokinetics and therapeutic index. Despite the substantial efforts made in the design of nanotherapeutics, the big majority of the used strategies failed to overcome the biological Read More

In this work, double-structured polymeric scaffolds were produced, and a double flow bioreactor was designed and set up in order to create a novel system to carry out advanced in vitro drug delivery tests. The scaffolds, consisting of a cylindrical porous matrix, are able to host cells, thus mimicking a three-dimensional tumor mass: moreover, a "pseudo-vascular" structure was embedded into the matrix, with the aim of all Read More

Background: Short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are double-stranded RNA molecules able to specifically targeting genes products responsible for human diseases. Cyclin D1 (CyD1) is a cell cycleregulatory molecule, up-regulated at sites of inflammation in several tissues. CyD1 is a very interesting potential target in lung and colon inflammatory diseases. Objective: The aim of this paper was testing CyD1 expression in hu Read More

Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, are among the most common chronic diseases and their prevalence is increasing. Each of these diseases is characterized by the secretion of cytokines and pro-inflammatory molecules which are thought to play a critical role in their pathogenesis. Moreover, immune cells, particularly neutrophils, macrophages and dendritic cells as Read More

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the third leading cause of cancer-related death. Because of the fast growth, early hepatic metastasis and the multidrug resistance, the five-year survival rate is very low. Thus, the understanding of its biology can significantly contribute in identifying valuable targets for novel therapeutic approaches. In this regard, E2F1 may represent an interestin Read More

Gefitinib (Iressa, AstraZeneca) has been widely used for the treatment of locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. A number of studies have been reported on its pharmacokinetics profiles, especially on the metabolism. In this review, we have comprehensively summarized the pharmacokinetic characteristics of gefitinib: absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME). Overall, gefitinib reached th Read More

Oral administration of medication is the first option when patient compliance is considered. However, many barriers face oral absorption of drugs that limit bioavailability in about 90% of therapeutic agents. Utilization of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems is a major strategy for increasing oral absorption. They can improve oral bioavailability through mechanisms such as protection of the drug in the GI tract, increasing cellu Read More