Fabrication of Forcespinning® nanofibers incorporating nopal extract

Leveraging artificial intelligence for better translation of fibre-based pharmaceutical systems into real-world benefits

The increasing prominence of biologics in the pharmaceutical market requires more advanced delivery systems to deliver these delicate and complex drug molecules for better therapeutic outcomes. Fibre technology has emerged as a promising approach for creating controlled and targeted drug delivery systems. Fibre-based drug delivery systems offer unprecedented opportunities for improving drug administration, fine-tuning release profiles, and advancing the realm of personalized medicine. These applications range from localized delivery at specific tissue sites to systemic drug administration while safeguarding the stability and integrity of delicate therapeutic compounds. Notwithstanding the promise of fibre-based drug delivery, several challenges such as non-scalability impede cost-effectiveness in the mass production of fibre systems. Biocompatibility and toxicity concerns must also be addressed. Furthermore, issues relating to stability, in-vitro in-vivo correlations, degradation rates, and by-product safety present additional hurdles. Pharmacoinformatics shows the impact of technologies in pharmaceutical processes. Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) are a transformative force, progressively being applied to enhance various facets of pharmacy, medication development, and clinical healthcare support. However, there is a dearth of studies about the integration of AI in facilitating the translation of predominantly lab-scale pharmaceutical technologies into real-world healthcare interventions. This article explores the application of AI in fibre technology, its potential, challenges, and practical applications within the pharmaceutical field. Through a comprehensive analysis, it presents how the immense capabilities of AI can be leveraged with existing fibre technologies to revolutionize drug delivery and shape the future of therapeutic interventions by enhancing scalability, material integrity, synthesis, and development.

Advances in Light-Responsive Smart Multifunctional Nanofibers: Implications for Targeted Drug Delivery and Cancer Therapy

Over the last decade, scientists have shifted their focus to the development of smart carriers for the delivery of chemotherapeutics in order to overcome the problems associated with traditional chemotherapy, such as poor aqueous solubility and bioavailability, low selectivity and targeting specificity, off-target drug side effects, and damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Nanofiber-based drug delivery systems have recently emerged as a promising drug delivery system in cancer therapy owing to their unique structural and functional properties, including tunable interconnected porosity, a high surface-to-volume ratio associated with high entrapment efficiency and drug loading capacity, and high mass transport properties, which allow for controlled and targeted drug delivery. In addition, they are biocompatible, biodegradable, and capable of surface functionalization, allowing for target-specific delivery and drug release. One of the most common fiber production methods is electrospinning, even though the relatively two-dimensional (2D) tightly packed fiber structures and low production rates have limited its performance. Forcespinning is an alternative spinning technology that generates high-throughput, continuous polymeric nanofibers with 3D structures. Unlike electrospinning, forcespinning generates fibers by centrifugal forces rather than electrostatic forces, resulting in significantly higher fiber production. The functionalization of nanocarriers on nanofibers can result in smart nanofibers with anticancer capabilities that can be activated by external stimuli, such as light. This review addresses current trends and potential applications of light-responsive and dual-stimuli-responsive electro- and forcespun smart nanofibers in cancer therapy, with a particular emphasis on functionalizing nanofiber surfaces and developing nano-in-nanofiber emerging delivery systems for dual-controlled drug release and high-precision tumor targeting. In addition, the progress and prospective diagnostic and therapeutic applications of light-responsive and dual-stimuli-responsive smart nanofibers are discussed in the context of combination cancer therapy.

Recent Progress of Electrospun Herbal Medicine Nanofibers

Herbal medicine has a long history of medical efficacy with low toxicity, side effects and good biocompatibility. However, the bioavailability of the extract of raw herbs and bioactive compounds is poor because of their low water solubility. In order to overcome the solubility issues, electrospinning technology can offer a delivery alternative to resolve them. The electrospun fibers have the advantages of high specific surface area, high porosity, excellent mechanical strength and flexible structures. At the same time, various natural and synthetic polymer-bound fibers can mimic extracellular matrix applications in different medical fields. In this paper, the development of electrospinning technology and polymers used for incorporating herbal medicine into electrospun nanofibers are reviewed. Finally, the recent progress of the applications of these herbal medicine nanofibers in biomedical (drug delivery, wound dressing, tissue engineering) and food fields along with their future prospects is discussed.

Engineering and Evaluation of Forcespun Gelatin Nanofibers as an Isorhamnetin Glycosides Delivery System

Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill (OFI) is considered a natural source of bioactive phytochemicals, mainly isorhamnetin glycosides (IRGs). These compounds have demonstrated antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities, among others. The development of a suitable delivery system for these compounds is needed to improve their chemical and biological stability. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of fabrication and characterization of IRG-loaded gelatin (GL) forcespun fibers and crosslinking with glutaraldehyde (GTA). Two different percentages (25% and 30% w/v) of GL were evaluated with 12% (w/v) OFI flour to obtain nanofibers GL/OFI1 and GL/OFI2, respectively. The morphology and physicochemical properties of the fibers were investigated. The results indicated that the diameters of the fibers were on the nanoscale. The amount of IRGs was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The IRGs release and the cytocompatibility of the nanofibers were also evaluated. GL concentration significantly affected the IRG release. Among both nanofibers, the GL/OFI2 nanofiber achieved a cumulative IRGs release of 63% after 72 h. Both fibers were shown to be biocompatible with human skin/fibroblast cells. Specifically, GL/OFI1 nanofibers exhibited favorable features for their application as an extract-coupled release system. The IRGs-embedded GL nanofiber mats may become a good alternative for the delivery of phytochemicals for the health sector and biomedical applications.

Nanofiber Systems as Herbal Bioactive Compounds Carriers: Current Applications in Healthcare

Nanofibers have emerged as a potential novel platform due to their physicochemical properties for healthcare applications. Nanofibers’ advantages rely on their high specific surface-area-to-volume and highly porous mesh. Their peculiar assembly allows cell accommodation, nutrient infiltration, gas exchange, waste excretion, high drug release rate, and stable structure. This review provided comprehensive information on the design and development of natural-based polymer nanofibers with the incorporation of herbal medicines for the treatment of common diseases and their in vivo studies. Natural and synthetic polymers have been widely used for the fabrication of nanofibers capable of mimicking extracellular matrix structure. Among them, natural polymers are preferred because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and similarity with extracellular matrix proteins. Herbal bioactive compounds from natural extracts have raised special interest due to their prominent beneficial properties in healthcare. Nanofiber properties allow these systems to serve as bioactive compound carriers to generate functional matrices with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiseptic, anti-viral, and other properties which have been studied in vitro and in vivo, mostly to prove their wound healing capacity and anti-inflammation properties.

Cell proliferative properties of Forcespinning® nopal composite nanofibers

In this study, Forcespinning® was used to produce nanofibers composed of Opuntia cochenillifera, “nopal,” mucilage (N) extract, chitosan (CH), and pullulan (PL) (N/CH/PL). These nopal-incorporating nanofibers were examined for their ability to sustain adhesion and proliferation of mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH 3T3) cells. After a 6-day incubation period, N/CH/PL nanofibers displayed robust cell proliferation, with continued cell growth after an extended incubation period of 14 days. These results demonstrate that natural bioactive compounds can be combined with biodegradable polymers to provide an enhanced environment for cell growth, suggesting potential natural active ingredients as alternatives in wound dressings.