Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology - Volume 2, Issue 4, 2014

Despite its potent in vitro anti-cancer activity, the vitamin E extract tocotrienol has its therapeutic potential hampered by its poor bioavailability and by its inability to reach tumors in a specific way after intravenous administration. One possibility to overcome this issue would be to entrap tocotrienol within vesicles bearing transferrin, whose receptors are present in abundance on many cancer cell types. In this study, we d Read More

Cationic gene delivery molecules are relatively cytotoxic [50% cell survival concentrations (IC50) < 0.05 mg mL-1], limiting their use clinically. We hypothesise that a low molecular weight polymer with reduced amine content would yield biocompatible gene therapy nanoparticles with DNA. We synthesised and characterised an amine terminated poly(ethylene glycol) – (PEG) based polymer - tetra-O,O,O,O-[poly(ethyleneglycol-O- Read More

Polyamidoamine dendrimers (PAMAM) are being used as efficient vectors for delivery of nucleic acids to the cells. However, these dendrimers cause a significant amount of cytotoxicity. In order to improve its transfection efficiency and cell viability, surface amine groups of PAMAM were converted into guanidinium (Gn) and tetramethylguanidinium (TMG) moieties. These modified PAMAM dendrimers interacted with negati Read More

Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the choroid layer of the eye; it is a pathophysiological characteristic of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Current clinical treatment utilizes frequent intravitreal injections, which can result in retinal detachment and increased ocular pressure. The purpose of the current study is to develop a novel drug delivery system of loteprednol e Read More

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common causes of dementia and death in elderly populations. However, therapeutic intervention in Alzheimer’s disease is limited by the blood-brain barrier, which not only protects the brain by limiting the permeation of potential toxins into neural tissue but also by blocking certain drugs aimed at neurological disorders. MKT-077 is one such drug, which has shown promise in reducin Read More

Solid lipid nanoparticles of a lipophilic cosmeceutical molecule, 18β- glycyrrhetinic acid were prepared by emulsion-solvent evaporation technique, using methanol as solvent, stearic acid as lipid and tween 80 as surfactant. The solid lipid nanoparticle preparation was optimized by response surface methodology using Box Behnken design. Under optimum level of stearic acid (0.68%), tween 80 (0.5%) and 18β-glycyrrhetinic a Read More