Current Drug Delivery - Volume 15, Issue 4, 2018

Lectins are proteins / glycoproteins of non-immunological origin found ubiquitously in all organisms. Research investigations show that many types of diseased tissues often display glycans that vary from their normal counterparts. Therefore, lectins that can interact with these transformed glycans may be used for early diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Specificity of lectins towards glycans has greatly attracted nanobiot Read More

Background: The incidence of diabetes mellitus has increased drastically over the past few decades. This oxidant-antioxidant imbalance resulting in complication of diabetes mellitus includes macro- and microvascular complications. Resistance to conventional treatment and patient compliance has paved the way to the usage of effective natural products and supplements. Momordica charantia (bitter gourd) is widely consumed i Read More

Intranasal drug delivery system provides distinct advantage over conventional drug delivery system for a drug that is pharmacokenetically or biologically unstable. Major concern for the treatment of central nervous system diseases is, low concentration of therapeutically active molecule within brain as blood brain barrier is creating obstacle, where intranasal drug delivery provides direct transport of therapeutically active Read More

Background: Until recently, one of the main reasons for mortality has been infectious diseases, and bacteria that are drug-resistant have emerged as a result of the wide application, as well as the misuse of antibacterial medications. Having multidrug-resistance, bacteria present a great problem for the efficient management of bacterial infections and this challenge has resulted in the creation of other means of dealing w Read More

Background: Delivery of conventional small molecule drugs and currently evolving nucleic acid-based therapeutics, such as small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and genes, and contrast agents for high resolution imaging, to the target site of action is highly demanding to increase the therapeutic and imaging efficacy while minimizing the off-target effects of the delivered molecules, as well as develop novel therapeutic and imaging ap Read More

Background: Cancer was and still a very stressful and urgent disease condition representing a leading cause of death in developed as well as developing countries. Although, much research work in both medical and pharmaceutical fields has evolved in the past few years in addition to some promising clinical trials and few market products, cancer becomes much wilder, threatening and getting more lives. Most approac Read More

Background: Nanoparticles (NPs) suffer from rapid clearance from body and require frequent dosing if long treatment is required. Method: In order to solve this problem for solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and prolong their action, SLNs were incorporated into thermo-responsive Poloxamer sol-gels and their fate was investigated in-vivo and in-vitro using a near infrared lipophilic fluorescent dye; dialkylcarbocyanin [1]. Leakage test, r Read More

Background: Asenapine is an anti-psychotic agent approved by the US-FDA for treatment of acute schizophrenia and manic or bipolar I disorder in adults. It is poorly absorbed when administered orally, hence exhibits poor oral bioavailability, which limits its use in clinical practice. Objective: Enhancement in solubility of asenapine through complexation with three different cyclodextrins, viz. βCD, HPβCD and sulphobutylether-β Read More

Background: Many studies have shown that Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) Nees has a good anti-tumor effect, but poor solubility in water and poor bioavailability hinder the modernization of it. Method: To formulate the effective parts (mainly diterpene lactones) of Andrographis paniculata (AEP) into targeting drug delivery system, a series of poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D.L-lactic acid)(mPEG-PLA) with different ratio of hydrop Read More

Background: Microencapsulation is one of the most common techniques for the delivery of macromolecules; however, it can cause various stability problems, such as degradation or loss of bioactivity of the loaded molecules. For this reason, several techniques were investigated to load insulin into pre-formed porous microparticles (MPs). Objective: The high loading of insulin is a prerequisite of its delivery in sufficient concentrat Read More

Background: Melatonin is an endogen substance with several physiological functions, acting as an important antioxidant. Our objective was to prepare nanoparticles composed of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) coated with polysorbate 80 (PLGA-PS80) or uncoated (PLGA) nanoparticles containing melatonin (MLT) and evaluate their in vitro cytotoxicity over erythrocytes and in vitro antioxidant activity. Methods: Nanoparti Read More

Background: Docetaxel (DTX) has been used to treat several types of cancers, but it has provided pharmaceutical challenges due to its poor water solubility and toxicities associated with the co-solvents (tween-80 and ethanol). Nanopolymer therapeutics can be engineered to deliver anticancer agent specifically to cancer cells, thereby leaving normal healthy cells unaffected by toxic drugs such as DTX. The objective of the prese Read More

Background: The aim of this research was to engineer solid dispersion lipid particles (SDSLs) in which a solid dispersion (SD) was encapsulated to form the core of solid lipid particles (SLs), thereby achieving an efficient enhancement in the dissolution of a poorly water-soluble drug. Methods: Ultrasonication was introduced into the process to obtain micro/nanoscale SLs. The mechanism of dissolution enhancement was investig Read More

Background: Liposomes have been widely used in gene transfection and drug delivery systems due to their excellent biocompatibility and encapsulation ability, especially, the ability to deliver the gene/drug into the cells via the membrane fusion. Thermosensitive liposomes have been proven to be a precise and effective method for cancer treatment in many preclinical studies. But the imperfect crystalline arrangemen Read More

Background: Retinal neovascularization (NV) is the leading cause of blindness in the majority of ocular diseases. Several treatment approaches have been developed for retinal NV; of these methods, instillation of nanoparticles into the conjunctival sac has shown potential for retinal NV treatment because it does not cause physical damage and is easy to operate. Methods: In this study, honokiol-loaded chitosan/sulfobutyl Read More