Current Drug Therapy - Volume 7, Issue 1, 2012

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Plant derived gums and mucilage have been used extensively in the pharmaceutical industry as they are nontoxic, stable, and easily available, associated with less regulatory issues as compared to their synthetic counterpart and are inexpensive. They can be easily modified to have tailor-made materials for drug delivery systems. Use of cashew gum, as the scaffold material in formulating hydrogels has been highly pursue Read More

In 1956, (±)-thalidomide was introduced into the market in Europe as sedative and drug for morning sleeping sickness which resulted into a tragedy called thalidomide tragedy (softenon drama) due to its teratogenic effects in newly born babies. Thalidomide was banned all over the world due to this havoc, which was a big breakdown in the history of this drug. But, in 1998 it resurged after US, FDA approved it for treating Erythem Read More

Ulcerative colitis is known to cause damage to the liver tissue. Although synthetic and natural substances have been used to prevent liver damage in colitis, little success has been achieved so far. In this study rats were given 120 mg/kg of trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) in order to induce colitis. Protective effects of lycopene and N-Nitro-LArginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME) on oxidative stress and liver damage in colitis were as Read More

Objective: To describe novel medical therapies in asthma. Data Sources: A comprehensive Pub Med search was performed and studies published between 2000 and 2008 were reviewed. Updated studies from 2009 to 2011 were also included. A focus was placed on randomized, controlled studies. Results: Indacaterol, a once daily inhaled long acting beta 2-agonist (LABA) increased forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1) a Read More

With the exception of viral-induced malignances such as cervical cancer, high-affinity proinflammatory T cells specific for tumor-associated antigens (TAA) are either deleted or rendered anergic as a consequence of central and peripheral tolerance. Reprogramming of peripheral blood-derived T cells while preserving their full functional potential to recognize and kill tumor cells is thus required to circumvent negative sel Read More

The oral route constitutes the preferred route for drug delivery. However, numerous drugs remain poorly available when administered by this route. In order to circumvent this problem, it has been proposed to incorporate drugs successfully to polymeric nanoparticulate systems containing mucoadhesive polymer(s) because of their propensity to interact with the mucosal surface. Peptide drugs are poorly absorbable and are Read More

Supercooled smectic nanoparticles are under investigation as potential drug carrier systems. Lipid nanoemulsions have the disadvantage of insufficient stabilization whereas solid lipid nanoparticles suffer from disadvantages like low drug incorporation tendencies. Hence there was a need to develop new drug delivery systems which could overcome these disadvantages. Liquid crystalline state also called as mesophase, has Read More

This prospective, single centre, open –label study assessed the efficacy, efficiency and tolerability of topical recombinant human platelet –derived growth factor (rhPDGF) in the treatment of chronic ulcers at sites other than the foot in 4 patients with diabetes mellitus. RhPDGF gel 0.01% was applied once daily to the target ulcer in these patients. Efficacy was assessed in terms of ulcer size reduction and efficiency as time to c Read More

This paper reviewed two common sources of elderly incontinence with brain etiologies, “vascular incontinence” (a disorder of bladder control resulting from cerebral white matter disease) and normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), from a neurological point of view. Both diseases manifest with gait disturbance, dementia, and urinary incontinence. Urinary frequency/ urgency (overactive bladder, OAB) often precedes urinary Read More