Computer-Aided Design of Nanoparticles for Transdermal Drug Delivery

Bacterial cellulose nanocrystal as drug delivery system for overcoming the biological barrier of cyano-phycocyanin: a biomedical application of microbial product

Phycocyanin, produced by Spirulina platensis, has been reported as an anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperalgesia, antioxidant, anti-tumor, and anti-cancer agent. However, the ingestion of phycocyanin in the body is often hindered by its instability against gastric pH conditions. The nano-drug delivery system has developed as a promising platform for efficient drug delivery and improvement as well as drug efficacy. Bacterial cellulose nanocrystal (BCNC) has it superiority as DDS due to its inherent properties such as nanoscale dimension, large surface area, - biocompatibility, and non-toxic. To improve its mechanical properties, BCNC was crosslinked with glutaraldehyde and was analyzed as a potential candidate for DDS. The Fourier transform infrared analysis of the BCNC suggested that hydrolysis did not alter the chemical composition. The index of crystallinity of the BCNC was 18.31% higher than that of the original BC, suggesting that crystalline BC has been successfully isolated. The BCNC particle also showed a needle-like morphology which is 25 ± 10 nm in diameter and a mean length of 626 ± 172 nm. Crosslinked BCNC also had larger pores than the original BCNC along with higher thermal stability. Optimum phycocyanin adsorption on crosslinked BCNC reached 65.3% in 3 h. The release study shows that the crosslinked BCNC can protect the phycocyanin retardation by gastric fluid until phycocyanin reaches the targeted sites. This study provides an alternative potential DDS derived from natural bioresources with less expenses and better properties to promote the application of BCNC as functional nanomaterials in biomedical science.

The Optimized Delivery of Triterpenes by Liposomal Nanoformulations: Overcoming the Challenges

The last decade has witnessed a sustained increase in the research development of modern-day chemo-therapeutics, especially for those used for high mortality rate pathologies. However, the therapeutic landscape is continuously changing as a result of the currently existing toxic side effects induced by a substantial range of drug classes. One growing research direction driven to mitigate such inconveniences has converged towards the study of natural molecules for their promising therapeutic potential. Triterpenes are one such class of compounds, intensively investigated for their therapeutic versatility. Although the pharmacological effects reported for several representatives of this class has come as a well-deserved encouragement, the pharmacokinetic profile of these molecules has turned out to be an unwelcomed disappointment. Nevertheless, the light at the end of the tunnel arrived with the development of nanotechnology, more specifically, the use of liposomes as drug delivery systems. Liposomes are easily synthesizable phospholipid-based vesicles, with highly tunable surfaces, that have the ability to transport both hydrophilic and lipophilic structures ensuring superior drug bioavailability at the action site as well as an increased selectivity. This study aims to report the results related to the development of different types of liposomes, used as targeted vectors for the delivery of various triterpenes of high pharmacological interest.