Current Nanomedicine - Volume 12, Issue 1, 2022

Background and Objective: Herbal medicines exhibit pronounced therapeutic activity with minimal toxic effects. The use of the herbal drug through the oral route is considered to be an impediment owing to its poor bioavailability. Therefore, an alternative approach to the Transdermal route was adopted. It has been a challenge for pharmaceutical scientists to deliver the herbal compound effectively through the skin due to the presence of the impregnable layer i.e. the Stratum corneum. Various strategies were employed to overcome the obstruction property of the skin. Firstly, vesicular liposomes were developed and they were unable to access the intact skin layer namely the stratum corneum. Later the use of novel lipid-based vesicular carriers such as ethosomes, invasomes, glycerosomes, transferosomes, and transethosomes for herbal drug delivery showed an increased efficiency to penetrate through the stratum corneum. Furthermore, the use of novel niosomes and proniosomes which are categorized as surfactant-based vesicular carriers improves the skin permeation of the herbal medication. Methods: In this current review, painstaking efforts were made to compile and update the various applications of the emerging vesicular carriers such as ethosomes, transethosomes, transferosomes, glycerosomes, invasomes, niosomes, and proniosomes which are employed in herbal drug formulations. This article portrays a detailed survey about varied applications as viz., anti-cancer, anti-acne, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-aging, anti-diabetic, etc. in the form of tables. Conclusion: The application of herbal medicines by employing a suitable novel carrier can exhibit a pronounced therapeutic activity. Therefore, extensive research in the field of herbal drug technology is carried out to impart the phytoconstituents to the targeted sites.

Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death in women worldwide. The extremely rapid rate of metastasis and the propensity to develop resistance to all non-traditional treatments make them equally difficult to treat, which are the causes of increased morbidity and death in breast melanoma patients. Experts all around the world have been focusing on the first detection of a breast lump so that action can be taken at the earliest possible time. Furthermore, traditional treatment procedures such as chemotherapy, radiation, and local surgical treatment suffer from a slew of drawbacks, including toxicity, normal cell genetic modification, and cancer cell spread to healthy tissues. As a result, new therapy regimens with little toxicity to normal cells must be developed very away. Methods: Iron oxide nanoparticles are still widely utilized for heat targeting and imaging of breast development cells. Using an external magnetic field, they can be coupled with medicines, proteins, enzymes, antibodies, or nucleotides and delivered to target organs, tissues, or malignancies. Results: Both in vitro and in vivo, iron oxide nanoparticles are effective as theranostics in treating breast cancer. Furthermore, their interactions with pharmaceuticals or functional biomolecules improve drug delivery efficiency and reduce drug systemic toxicity. Conclusion: The multipurpose presentations of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on the analysis, behavior, and perceiving development of breast disease remedies are emphasized in this assessment. Because of their remarkable superparamagnetic, biocompatible, and biodegradable qualities, they are widely used.

Introduction: Naproxen sodium is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis to relieve pain and inflammation. It mainly acts by inhibiting COX1 and COX2 receptors. By inhibiting the COX1 receptor, it causes severe gastric bleeding and peptic ulcer, and by inhibiting the COX2 receptor, it causes cardiovascular side effects. In order to avoid the adverse effects of naproxen, there is a need to develop a novel drug delivery system. So that invasomes, because of their vesicular structure, are capable of penetrating more into the systemic circulation and will be acting locally and systemically. Methods: In this study, attempts have been made to prepare and characterize naproxen sodium loaded invasomes. Naproxen sodium loaded invasomes were prepared by thin film hydration technique using soya lecithin as lipid, span60 as surfactant, limonene as terpene and methanol, ethanol and chloroform as organic solvents. A total of twelve formulations (INV1-INV12) of invasomes were prepared, in which four formulations were prepared by varying drug to surfactant ratio and eight formulations were prepared by varying drug to lipid ratio. Results and Discussions: All the formulations were evaluated for drug content, entrapment efficiency, particle size, zeta potential, and invitro drug release. Among the twelve formulations of invasomes, the INV2 formulation (1:1) ratio containing 40mg drug and 40mg surfactant (span60) was found to be the best formulation with a drug content of 96.62%, entrapment efficiency of 90.9%, zeta potential of -68.5mV, mean particle diameter of 572.4 nm, and invitro drug release of 91.6% in a time period of 12 hrs and followed the zero order kinetics with non fickian diffusion mechanism. Conclusion: In this present study, naproxen sodium loaded invasomes were successfully prepared and evaluated.

Background: Osteoporosis is a debilitating bone ailment characterized by the obvious loss of bone mass and bone microarchitecture impairment. Objective: This study aimed to illuminate the in vivo usefulness of nanotechnology as a treatment for osteoporosis via analyzing the effectiveness of nano-hydroxyapatite (nHa), nano-hydroxyapatite/ chitosan (nHa/C), and nano-hydroxyapatite/silver (nHa/S) in mitigation of osteoporosis in ovariectomized rats. Methods: The characterization of the nHa, nHa/C, and nHa/S was carried out using TEM, SEM, FTIR, and Zeta potential measurements. This in vivo study included 48 adult female rats that were randomized into six groups (8 rats/group): (1) Sham-operated control, (2) osteoporotic, (3) nHa, (4) nHa/C, (5) nHa/S, and (6) Fosamax®. Serum osterix level was quantified using ELISA. Femur bone morphogenetic protein 2 and SMAD1 mRNA levels were evaluated by qPCR. The femur bones were scanned by DEXA for measurement of bone mineral density and bone mineral content. In addition, a histopathological examination of femur bones was performed. Results: The present approach denoted that the treatment with nHa, nHa/C, or nHa/S yields a significant rise in serum level of osterix and mRNA levels of bone morphogenetic protein 2 and SMAD1 as well as significant enhancements of bone tissue minerals. Conclusion: The findings affirmed the potency of nHa, nHa/C, and nHa/S as auspicious nanoplatforms for repairing bone defects in the osteoporotic rat model. The positive effect of the inspected nanoformulations arose from bone formation indicators in serum and tissue, and additionally, the reinforcement of bone density and content, which were verified by the histopathological description of bone tissue sections.

Objective: A micellar approach is used to synthesize Ultrasmall Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (USPIONs) with an average diameter of 3.4±0.5 nm, suitable for dual-mode T1T2 contrast agents. Methods: Micelles with 3.8 nm, measured by dynamic light scattering, were obtained by selforganizing the surfactant iron(III) dodecyl sulfate (IDS) in 1-octanol. IDS was prepared by replacing Na+ cation in sodium dodecyl sulfate molecule, and its critical micelle concentration (CMC) was measured by electrical conductivity. The USPIONs were synthesized in a biphasic system: IDS in octanol (55% above the CMC) and water containing NaBH4. Results: A yellow precipitate is immediately formed at the water/alcohol interface, rapidly changes to a black one, and transfers to the aqueous phase. The magnetite phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The magnetic behavior shows a major paramagnetic character with a weak ferromagnetic component at 5 K, the latter attributed to the interparticle couplings below its blocking temperature (TB = 35 K). The particles were coated with carboxymethyl dextran, showing an isoelectric point of 2.7 with electrokinetic potential around -30 mV in the physiological pH range. Magnetic relaxation measurements showed relaxivity values r1 = 0.17 mM^-1 s^-1 and r2 = 1.73 mM^-1 s^-1 (r2/r1 = 10) in a 3T field. These values infer that the ultrasmall size affects the interactions with the protons of the nearby water molecules. The r2 value decreases because the core magnetization decreases with size; r1 intensifies due to the high surface. Conclusion:The results show a system with high colloidal stability, non-cytotoxic, and potential application as T1-T2 dual-mode contrast agents.

Background: Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles have been widely investigated for the development of next-generation nano-antibiotics against a broad range of microorganisms including multi-drug resistance. The morphology of nanomaterials plays an important role in antibacterial activity. Objective: The research goal is focused on the development of a low-cost antibacterial agent. Methods: The biosynthesis method was used to make ZnO nanoflowers. The antibacterial activity of these biogenic ZnO nanoflowers was analyzed by three methods: growth curve, well diffusion, and colony-forming unit count (CFU) assays. Results: The assay methods used in this study confirmed the antibacterial activity of ZnO nanoflowers. The growth curve shows that 0.5 mg/mL concentration of ZnO nanoflowers acted as an effective bactericide as no significant optical absorption and virtually bacterial growth were observed. The inhibition zone was found at 25 mm at 70 μg of ZnO nanoflowers. Conclusion: The unique, simplistic, environmental-friendly, and cost-effective biosynthesis method was established for the ZnO nanoflowers using biomass of Bacillus licheniformis. The resulted ZnO nanoflowers show excellent antibacterial activity which could be used as an alternative to antibiotics in therapeutic processes.