Characterization of Magnesium Orotate‐Loaded Chitosan Polymer Nanoparticles for a Drug Delivery System

The drug release properties of magnesium orotate (MgOr) encapsulated in the chitosan (CS) cavity and the complexation behavior between MgOr and CS were investigated. The MgOr‐loaded CS nanoparticles (MgOrCSNPs) were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. MgOr was successfully encapsulated into the CS cavity. Results with 3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)2,5‐diphenyl tetrazolium bromide indicated that MgOrCSNPs retained their cytotoxic activity against the liver cancer cell line (HepG2) and breast cancer cell line (MCF‐7), and low toxicity against the human cell line (3T3) and human retinal epithelial cell line (ARPE‐19).     

MEMS-Based Controlled Drug Delivery Systems: A Short Review

The use of microelectromechanical systems-based drug delivery vehicles is on the rise. These advancements in the technologies have enabled the researchers in developing miniaturized devices including drug delivery platforms. This has opened up a new arena in pharmaceutical research. The main advantage of these devices is their ability to control the release profile of the drugs in a temporal scale. The main components of the microelectromechanical systems-based drug delivery devices are the microsensors, microvalves, micropumps, microchannel and a miniaturized control system. The current review discusses the different pumping mechanisms and clinical applications of the microelectromechanical systems-based delivery devices.     

Nanoparticle-Mediated Pulmonary Drug Delivery: A Review

Colloidal drug delivery systems have been extensively investigated as drug carriers for the application of different drugs via different routes of administration. Systems, such as solid lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles and liposomes, have been investigated for a long time for the treatment of various lung diseases. The pulmonary route, owing to a noninvasive method of drug administration, for both local and systemic delivery of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) forms an ideal environment for APIs acting on pulmonary diseases and disorders. Additionally, this route offers many advantages, such as a high surface area with rapid absorption due to high vascularization and circumvention of the first pass effect. Aerosolization or inhalation of colloidal systems is currently being extensively studied and has huge potential for targeted drug delivery in the treatment of various diseases. Furthermore, the surfactant-associated proteins present at the interface enhance the effect of these formulations by decreasing the surface tension and allowing the maximum effect. The most challenging part of developing a colloidal system for nebulization is to maintain the critical physicochemical parameters for successful inhalation. The following review focuses on the current status of different colloidal systems available for the treatment of various lung disorders along with their characterization. Additionally, different in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo cell models developed for the testing of these systems with studies involving cell culture analysis are also discussed.     

Modification of Magnetite Cellulose Nanoparticles via Click Reaction for use in Controlled Drug Delivery

Superparamagnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (MNPs) were functionalized by modified cellulose. The modified cellulose was synthesized through bromoacetylation of cellulose (BACell) followed by the substitution of sodium azide to form BACell-N₃. The remaining methylene bromide groups on BACell-N₃ was further reacted with the MNPs to form Fe₃O₄/Cell-N₃. Then propargyl alcohol (PA) was immobilized on the azide-terminated Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles through copper (I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (click reaction) to form Fe₃O₄/Cell/TAA nanoparticles. Doxorubicin (DOX) was loaded on prepared nanoparticles and release profiles of the DOX as a model drug from the Fe₃O₄/Cell/TAA nanoparticles and its loading capacity were determined by UV–Vis absorption at λ_max 483?nm.     

Biopolymers as Carriers for Nasal Drug Delivery

Biopolymers are the most abundant raw materials that can be obtained from natural sources including bacteria, fungi, plants and even humans. The biopolymers are easily available, non-toxic, biodegradable and Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS). These natural polymers can play an important role in the formulation of drug delivery systems by influencing the release, residence time and permeation of the therapeutic agent. The present review gives an insight into the important biopolymers and their properties in the effective delivery of the therapeutic agents systemically as well as targeting the brain via the intranasal route.     

Acidity and Glutathione Dual-Responsive Polydopamine-Coated Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Controlled Drug Delivery

Controversial biodegradability and nonspecific pre-drug leakage are major limitations for inorganic nanoparticles in cancer treatment. To solve these problems, we developed organic-inorganic hybridized hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles with polydopamine modifications on the surface to simultaneously achieve enhanced biodegradability and controllable drug release. The morphology and chemical structure of the nanoparticles were characterized by TEM, N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherms, TEM-mapping and XPS. Moreover, the release behavior of nanoparticles under various pH conditions and the degradation behavior in the presence of GSH were evaluated. With effective controlled release, HMONs-PTX@PDA were shown to significantly inhibit cancer cell proliferation and achieve antitumor effects in vivo through dual-response release in the tumor microenvironment. Overall, this nanoplatform has significant potential to achieve tumor microenvironment-responsive degradation and release to enhance tumor accumulation, which is very promising for cancer treatment.     

温敏性聚合物胶束应用于药物控制释放体系的研究进展

当环境温度发生变化时,温敏性双亲嵌段聚合物对这一刺激产生响应,自组装为具有疏水性核/亲水性壳结构的胶束,可作为载体负载活性物质或疏水性药物,具有提高药物利用率、靶向作用、降低毒副作用等特点,可应用于药物控制释放等生物医药领域,具有显著的研究价值和应用前景。介绍了不同类型温敏性聚合物胶束在药物控制释放体系的研究进展。     

Silk Fibroin-Based Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery

Silk fibroin (SF) is a protein-based biomacromolecule with excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity. The development of SF-based nanoparticles for drug delivery have received considerable attention due to high binding capacity for various drugs, controlled drug release properties and mild preparation conditions. By adjusting the particle size, the chemical structure and properties, the modified or recombinant SF-based nanoparticles can be designed to improve the therapeutic efficiency of drugs encapsulated into these nanoparticles. Therefore, they can be used to deliver small molecule drugs (e.g., anti-cancer drugs), protein and growth factor drugs, gene drugs, etc. This paper reviews recent progress on SF-based nanoparticles, including chemical structure, properties, and preparation methods. In addition, the applications of SF-based nanoparticles as carriers for therapeutic drugs are also reviewed.     

Bioadhesive Nanoparticles for Local Drug Delivery

Local drug delivery is an effective strategy for achieving direct and instant therapeutic effects. Current clinical treatments have fallen short and are limited by traditional technologies. Bioadhesive nanoparticles (NPs), however, may be a promising carrier for optimized local drug delivery, offering prolonged drug retention time and steadily maintained therapeutic concentrations. In addition, the possibility of clinical applications of this platform are abundant, as most polymers used for bioadhesion are both biodegradable and biocompatible. This review highlights the major advances in the investigations of polymer-based bioadhesive nanoparticles and their innumerable applications in local drug delivery.     

pH和温度响应型介孔SiO2杂化材料的药物控释研究进展

基于介孔SiO2的智能响应型有机-无机杂化纳米复合材料,由于其优异的物化性能、可控的结构特征及其良好的生物相容性,近年来在药物缓控释领域中备受关注.针对N-异丙基丙烯酰胺共聚丙烯酸聚合物P(NIPAM-co-AA)和介孔SiO2纳米球,分析和归纳了具有pH和温度双重响应性能的介孔SiO2杂化材料的合成策略、物化性能及其...     

Shear-Responsive Platelet Mimetics for Targeted Drug Delivery

Most targeted drug delivery approaches utilize molecular targets or regional variations in chemical or structural properties of the tissue microenvironment to localize drug at disease sites. Here we briefly describe a novel nanotherapeutic drug delivery platform that relies upon local mechanical activation by high fluid shear stresses to selectively target drugs to sites of vascular obstruction. This strategy is based on the use of microscale aggregates of nanoparticles that are shear sensitive and break up into individual nanoscale components that adhere to the surface of stenotic vessels in regions of abnormally high fluid shear stress, much as natural platelets do. This biomimetic approach to targeted drug delivery offers a potential new therapeutic approach for treatment of pulmonary embolism, stroke, atherosclerosis, and other hemodynamic-related disorders that are caused by vascular clots, stenosis or obstruction.     

Formulation and Evaluation of Polymeric Nanoparticulate Gel for Topical Delivery

The aim of the present study was to enhance the permeation of drug into the skin and to reduce the skin irritation. To achieve the objective the drug was formulated in to nanoparticles using chitosan as a polymer and these drug loaded nanoparticles were incorporated in gel. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by FTIR, DSC, SEM, and particle size. The particle size for optimized nanoparticulate gel (NPG-4) was found to be between 49–305nm. SEM photographs showed that nanoparticles were roughly spherical in shape and free from cracks. The NPG-4 showed 43.9% of encapsulation efficiency and 18.9% drug loading. At the end of 24h the in vitro drug release was found to be 90.1% in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and in vitro skin permeation studies NPG-4 showed 2.1mg/cm² of drug permeation, which was better than the marketed formulation (NIZRAL 2%) cream, which showed only 1.2mg/cm² of drug permeation. The NPG-4 showed no primary skin irritation when tested on rabbit skin.     

PLA在受控堆肥条件下的生物降解行为研究

依据ISO 14855的检测方法,研究了聚乳酸(PLA)在受控堆肥条件下的生物降解性能,结果表明:PLA具有良好的生物降解性。在培养土提取液中,以蛋白酶K对PLA膜进行降解,显微镜观察发现,PLA膜表面逐渐被蛋白酶侵蚀;红外光谱研究表明,PLA膜在降解前后的分子结构没有发生很大变化。     

Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review of In Vivo Studies

Many efforts have been made in the field of nanotechnology to improve the local and sustained release of drugs, which may be helpful to overcome the present limitations in the treatment of knee OA. Nano-/microparticles and/or hydrogels can be now engineered to improve the administration and intra-articular delivery of specific drugs, targeting molecular pathways and pathogenic mechanisms involved in OA progression and remission. In order to summarize the current state of this field, a systematic review of the literature was performed and 45 relevant studies were identified involving both animal models and humans. We found that polymeric nanoparticles loaded with anti-inflammatory drugs (i.e., dexamethasone or celecoxib) are the most frequently investigated drug delivery systems, followed by microparticles and hydrogels. In particular, the nanosystem most frequently used in preclinical research consists of PLGA-nanoparticles loaded with corticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Overall, improvement in histological features, reduction in joint inflammation, and improvement in clinical scores in patients were observed. The last advances in the field of nanotechnology could offer new opportunities to treat patients affected by knee OA, including those with previous meniscectomy. New smart drug delivery approaches, based on nanoparticles, microparticles, and hydrogels, may enhance the therapeutic potential of intra-articular agents by increasing the permanence of selected drugs inside the joint and better targeting specific receptors and tissues.     

Advances in Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery

Nanoparticles (NPs) have an outstanding position in pharmaceutical, biological, and medical disciplines. Polymeric NPs based on chitosan (CS) can act as excellent drug carriers because of some intrinsic beneficial properties including biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity, bioactivity, easy preparation, and targeting specificity. Drug transport and release from CS-based particulate systems depend on the extent of cross-linking, morphology, size, and density of the particulate system, as well as physicochemical properties of the drug. All these aspects have to be considered when developing new CS-based NPs as potential drug delivery systems. This comprehensive review is summarizing and discussing recent advances in CS-based NPs being developed and examined for drug delivery. From this point of view, an enhancement of CS properties by its modification is presented. An enhancement in drug delivery by CS NPs is discussed in detail focusing on (i) a brief summarization of basic characteristics of CS NPs, (ii) a categorization of preparation procedures used for CS NPs involving also recent improvements in production schemes of conventional as well as novel CS NPs, (iii) a categorization and evaluation of CS-based-nanocomposites involving their production schemes with organic polymers and inorganic material, and (iv) very recent implementations of CS NPs and nanocomposites in drug delivery.     

Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Magnetically-Guided and Magnetically-Responsive Drug Delivery

In this review, we discuss the recent advances in and problems with the use of magnetically-guided and magnetically-responsive nanoparticles in drug delivery and magnetofection. In magnetically-guided nanoparticles, a constant external magnetic field is used to transport magnetic nanoparticles loaded with drugs to a specific site within the body or to increase the transfection capacity. Magnetofection is the delivery of nucleic acids under the influence of a magnetic field acting on nucleic acid vectors that are associated with magnetic nanoparticles. In magnetically-responsive nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles are encapsulated or embedded in a larger colloidal structure that carries a drug. In this last case, an alternating magnetic field can modify the structure of the colloid, thereby providing spatial and temporal control over drug release.     

Apoferritin Modified Magnetic Particles as Doxorubicin Carriers for Anticancer Drug Delivery

Magnetic particle mediated transport in combination with nanomaterial based drug carrier has a great potential for targeted cancer therapy. In this study, doxorubicin encapsulation into the apoferritin and its conjugation with magnetic particles was investigated by capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF). The quantification of encapsulated doxorubicin was performed by fluorescence spectroscopy and compared to CE-LIF. Moreover, the significant enhancement of the doxorubicin signal was observed by addition of methanol into the sample solution.     

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles: Drug Delivery Vehicles for Antidiabetic Molecules

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are promising nanomaterials that are widely used in biomedical applications like drug delivery, diagnosis, bio-sensing and cell tracking. MSNs have been investigated meticulously in the drug-delivery field due to their unique chemical and pharmacokinetic properties, such as highly ordered mesopores, high surface area and pore volume, tuneable pore size, stability, surface functionalisation, and biocompatibility. MSN-based nanocomposites have been used to deliver therapeutic molecules like insulin, GLP-1, exenatide, DPP-4 inhibitor and plasmid-containing GLP-1 genes for managing diabetes mellitus for the last decade. The functionalisation properties of MSNs make them substantially capable of the co-delivery, controlled delivery and stimuli-responsive delivery of antidiabetic drugs. This review focuses on the delivery of antidiabetic therapeutics with special emphasis on the functionalisation of MSNs and stimuli-responsive delivery.     

微/纳米药物给药系统的研究进展

在过去的几十年中,探索高效的微/纳米给药系统一直是药剂学领域的研究热点。不同的微/纳米颗粒已被用于药物输送的研究,以期实现有效靶向给药,最大限度地减少副作用,从而提高治疗效果。本文主要综述了微/纳米药物输送给药系统及在药物制剂领域应用。     

壳聚糖在药物控释载体方面的应用研究

壳聚糖是一种具有很好的生物相容性和生物降解性的新型医用高分子材料,其在医药及制剂方面有着广泛的应用.本文就近年来壳聚糖在药物控释载体方面的应用研究作了一个概述,以进一步加深人们对这一方面研究状况的了解.