Current Drug Metabolism - Volume 10, Issue 8, 2009

Nanotechnology-based drugs, newly emerging pharmaceutics, are characterized by the physical sizes of the drugs engineering by various nano-materials such as nanoparticles [1, 2]. These nano-sized drugs can be designed to target specific tissues and organs by chemically and/or biologically tailoring the surfaces of particles or biomaterials [3, 4]. This issue covers four papers reviewing the strategy of nano-sized an Read More

This review focuses on the application of drug-loaded nanoparticles (NPs), also called therapeutic NPs, to combat cancer chemoresistance. Many cancer patients have encouraging response to first line chemotherapies but end up with cancer progression or cancer recurrence that requires further treatment. Response to subsequent chemotherapies with various agents usually drops significantly due to formidable cancer che Read More

The efficacy of drug delivery systems using nanoparticles to enhance the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs has been confirmed in both preclinical trials and clinical settings. A nanosized drug system has improved efficacy, reduced side effects and clearance, increased cellular uptake and prolonged time in circulation. This article will focus recent studies of the pharmacokinetic behavior of such systems as poly(ethylene Read More

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) combines photosensitizer, visible light and oxygen, which has the characteristics of high selectivity, minimal invasiveness, low side effect, and allowing repetitive application. The photophysics and mechanisms leading to cell death mediated by PDT have been studied extensively, and PDT has been approved as the modality for superficial tumors and non-cancerous diseases worldwide. For Read More

The use of drug cocktails has become a widely adopted strategy in clinical cancer therapy. Cytotoxic drug cocktails are often administered based on maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of each agent, with the belief of achieving maximum cell kill through tolerable toxicity level. Yet, MTD administration may not have fully captured the therapeutic synergism that exists among the individual agents in the drug cocktail, as th Read More

Staphylococcal infection can cause a wide range of diseases resulting either from staphylococcal bacteria invasion or through toxin production. The majority of infections caused by staphylococci are due to Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has recently been considered to be one of the major causes of hospital-acquired infections. The treatment of staphylococci infections is diffi Read More

Gene delivery remains to be a very challenging field to efficiently transport the therapeutic gene and to modulate proteins with the desired function at the target site. The physiochemical and biological barriers are the major hurdles that need to be considered, particularly when administered systematically, in order to optimize the therapeutic efficacy. Numerous modifications have been extensively investigated aiming to provi Read More

The immune system is the responsible for body integrity and the prevention of external invasion. In principle, the immune system has not been evolutionarily trained to respond against inorganic engineered nanoparticles (NPs). However, how it will react against them will determine developments on the use of NPs as medical devices and their toxicological impact on human and environmental health. Initial observati Read More

A number of new nanotechnology-based Chinese herb drugs have been developed that have efficient biopharmaceutical properties and desirable target characteristics. This offers several alternatives for medical applications. Nanoparticles of Chinese herb drugs possess many benefits, such as improving component solubility, enhancement of bioavailability, increasing absorbency of the organism, reducing medicinal herb doses, Read More

Chemical defensive system consisting of bio-sensoring, transmitting, and responsive elements has been evolved to protect multi-cellular organisms against environmental chemical insults (xenobiotics) and to maintain homeostasis of endogenous low molecular weight metabolites (endobiotics). Both genetic and epigenetic defects of the system in association with carcinogenesis and individual sensitivity to anti-tumor therapies ha Read More

Drug metabolizing enzymes (DME) play a central role in the intestinal absorption/permeability, metabolism, elimination and detoxification of endogenous and exogenous compounds. DME include phase I and II metabolizing enzymes. The hydroxylation activity of phase I DME increases the hydrophilicity of the molecules. The electrophilicity of phase I DME-derived products is reduced via conjugation with endogenous ligands, Read More