Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Formulation - Volume 17, Issue 3, 2023

Background: The topical drug delivery system has gained more attention in recent years as compared to oral and parenteral drug delivery. However, owing to the barrier function of the skin's topmost layer, only a few drug molecules can be administered by this route. Therefore, encapsulating the drugs in glycerosomes is one potential solution to this problem. Glycerosomes are vesicular drug delivery systems primarily made up of large concentrations of glycerol, phospholipid, water, and other active ingredients. Objective: The main aim of this review is to summarize the most recent information on the encapsulated vesicular system used in cosmetic preparations, specifically glycerosomes made from both synthetic and naturally occurring plant bioactive substances. Purpose: Glycerosomes offer many benefits, including increased efficacy, better stability, improve absorption, drug targeting at specific sites, and delivering the same at a predetermined rate. Method: The mechanism behind the penetration of glycerosomes is the hydration and lipid fluidization of skin, fabricated by glycerol. Result: Numerous methods have been reported for the formulation of glycerosomes, including the thin film hydration method, reverse-phase evaporation, solvent spherule, detergent removal method, and so on. Conclusion: Researchers are currently investigating the potential of glycerosomes as nanocarriers for natural bioactive and synthetic drugs. This review describes the structure of glycerosomes, preparation techniques, applications, distinctions from liposomes, and benefits of glycerosomes.

For the last two decades, carbon dots, a revolutionary type of carbon nanomaterial with less than 10 nm diameter, have attracted considerable research interest. CDs exhibit various physicochemical properties and favorable characteristics, including excellent water solubility, unique optical properties, low cost, eco-friendliness, an abundance of reactive surface groups, and high stability. As a result, the synthesis of CDs and their applications in pharmaceutical and related disciplines have received increasing interest. Since CDs are biocompatible and biodegradable with low toxicity, they are a promising healthcare tool. CDs are extensively employed for numerous applications to date, including theranostics, bioimaging, drug delivery, biosensing, gene delivery, cancer therapy, electrochemical biosensing, and inflammatory treatment. This comprehensive review aims to explore various synthesis methods of carbon dots, including top-down and bottom-up approaches, as well as highlight the characterization techniques employed to assess their physicochemical and biological properties. Additionally, the review delves into carbon dots' pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, showcasing their potential in drug delivery, bioimaging, diagnostics, and therapeutics.

A wide variety of dosage forms are used for the oral administration of drugs to humans and animals. Apart from solid dosage forms, it also includes liquid dosage forms, such as solutions, suspensions, and emulsions. The selection is based on the physiochemical attributes of the therapeutically active ingredient. Suspensions are classified as dispersed systems that are heterogeneous in nature and consist of two phases. One phase is the continuous phase, the dispersion medium, or the external phase, which is either liquid or semisolid; the other is a solid particle dispersed in the external phase and called an internal or dispersed phase. They have several advantages over other dosage forms, such as effectively delivering hydrophobic drugs, avoiding the need for cosolvents, masking unpleasant tastes, and providing resistance to degradation and easy swallowing for young or elderly patients. They also attain higher drug concentrations compared to solution forms. This review article aims to study and explore the advantages, novel suspending agents, patent preference, and innovations of pharmaceutical suspension. It was targeted to scrutinize the literature floating in the internet domain regarding pharmaceutical suspension for delivery of drugs by oral route. The literature survey is targeted at the novel herbal suspending agents used, their patents involved, and innovations in the dosage form. Further, the study gives an insight into various aspects of suspension, such as classification of suspension, theories of suspension, various components used in suspension formulation, formulation aspect of suspension, evaluation parameters of suspension, patents, innovations, and regulatory status.

Generally, therapeutic drugs have issues like poor solubility, rapid removal from the bloodstream, lack of targeting, and an inability to translocate across cell membranes. Some of these barriers can be overcome by using nano drug delivery systems (DDS), which results in more efficient drug delivery to the site of action. Due to their potential application as drug delivery systems, nanoparticles are the main topic of discussion in this article. Experimental and computational investigations have substantially aided in the understanding of how nanocarriers work and how they interact with medications, biomembranes and other biological components. This review explores how computational modelling can aid in the rational design of DDS that has been optimized and improved upon. The most commonly used simulation methods for studying DDS and some of the most important biophysical elements of DDS are also discussed. Then, we conclude by investigating the computational properties of various types of nanocarriers, such as dendrimers and dendrons, polymer-, peptide-, nucleic acid-, lipid-, carbon-based DDS, and gold nanoparticles.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate Cola acuminata gum (CAG) for the formulation of mucoadhesive sustained-release matrix tablets of diclofenac sodium. Methods: Different batches of granules containing CAG and 100 mg of DS in ratios 0.5:1, 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 were prepared, compressed into tablets, and evaluated for mucoadhesive strength, swelling index, and drug release in SGF (pH 1.2) and SIF (pH 7.4). Results: Swelling indices and mucoadhesive strengths of the tablets were pH-dependent. Swelling indices of 56 ± 2.03 to 121 ± 2.19% and mucoadhesive strengths of 7.25 ± 1.45 to 15.43 ± 2.71 g/cm² obtained at pH 7.4 were significantly higher (p<0.05) than swelling indices of 25 ± 2.43 to 47 ± 3.15% and mucoadhesive strengths of 5.52 ± 0.76 to 9.22 ± 1.95 g/cm² obtained at pH 1.2. The percentage release of DS from the matrix tablets at pH 1.2 after 2 h (T2h) was insignificant. However, the percentage of drug release at pH 7.4 was significant for all the batches and dependent on the CAG concentration. The drug release was in the order of batches containing 3 g (80.44 ± 7.75) < 2 g (86.35 ± 5.65) < 1 g (90.08 ± 6.14) < 0.5 g (99.70 ± 3.90). The time for maximum drug release was 7 h (T7h) for CAG containing 0.5 g and 10 h (T10h) for other batches. Conclusion: This study showed that CAG could be useful for mucoadhesive sustained drug delivery.

Background: The main objective of the current research work is to improve the absorption of Nitrofurantoin (NFT) by minimizing gastrointestinal (GI) intolerance and variations in its absorption by formulating the drug into a nanoemulsion (NE). Method: Based on the highest saturation solubility of NFT, soybean oil, transcutol HP, and labrafil M1944CS were selected as oil, co-surfactant, and surfactant, and a Smix ratio of 1:2 was selected based on pseudoternary phase diagrams. The formulation prepared with an equal ratio of oil and Smix exhibited the lowest globule size, highest zeta potential, and higher drug release and hence was selected for further evaluation. Result: Optimized formulation (NF5) showed improved membrane permeability against pure drug suspension (2.30 times) and marketed suspension formulation (1.43 times). NF5 exhibited similar % cell viability and % cell toxicity in Caco-2 cell lines compared to the marketed suspension. The relative bioavailability of NFT-NE was enhanced by 1.10 and 1.17 times compared to the marketed and pure drug suspension, respectively. Conclusion: Thus, it can be concluded that the optimized nanoemulsion formulation of NFT exhibited improved membrane permeability, comparable cell viability, and increased relative bioavailability. These findings suggest the potential of the nanoemulsion approach as a strategy to overcome the variability of oral absorption and GI intolerance of NFT.