Colonic budesonide delivery by multistimuli alginate/Eudragit® FS 30D/inulin-based microspheres as a paediatric formulation

Saudi consensus guidance for the diagnosis and management of inflammatory bowel disease in children and adolescents

ABSTRACT

The management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children and adolescents is challenging. Clear evidence-based guidelines are required for this population. This article provides recommendations for managing IBD in Saudi children and adolescents aged 6-19 years, developed by the Saudi Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Saudi Society of Clinical Pharmacy and the Saudi Gastroenterology Association. All 57 guideline statements are based on the most up-to-date information for the diagnosis and management of pediatric IBD.

Innovative Pharmaceutical Techniques for Paediatric Dosage Forms: A Systematic Review on 3D Printing, Prilling/Vibration and Microfluidic Platform

The production of paediatric pharmaceutical forms represents a unique challenge within the pharmaceutical industry. The primary goal of these formulations is to ensure therapeutic efficacy, safety, and tolerability in paediatric patients, who have specific physiological needs and characteristics. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in attention towards this area, driven by the need to improve drug administration to children and ensure optimal and specific treatments. Technological innovation has played a crucial role in meeting these requirements, opening new frontiers in the design and production of paediatric pharmaceutical forms. In particular, three emerging technologies have garnered considerable interest and attention within the scientific and industrial community: 3D printing, prilling/vibration, and microfluidics. These technologies offer advanced approaches for the design, production, and customization of paediatric pharmaceutical forms, allowing for more precise dosage modulation, improved solubility, and greater drug acceptability. In this review, we delve into these cutting-edge technologies and their impact on the production of paediatric pharmaceutical forms. We analyse their potential, associated challenges, and recent developments, providing a comprehensive overview of the opportunities that these innovative methodologies offer to the pharmaceutical sector. We examine different pharmaceutical forms generated using these techniques, evaluating their advantages and disadvantages.

Preparation of Eudragit S100-pullulan/hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin complex-Eudragit S100 multilayer nanofiber film for resveratrol colon delivery

Cyclodextrin-based electrospun nanofibers are promising for encapsulating and preserving unstable compounds, but quick dissolution of certain nanofibers hinders their delivery application. In this study, hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) was used as an effective carrier of resveratrol (RSV) to obtain the RSV/HPβCD inclusion complex (HPIC), which was then incorporated into pullulan nanofibers. For enhancement of RSV release toward colon target, multilayer structure with a pullulan/HPIC film sandwiched between two layers of hydrophobic Eudragit S100 (ES100) nanofibers was employed. The relationship between the superiority of the ES100-pullulan/HPIC-ES100 film and its multilayer structure was verified. The intimate interactions of hydrogen bonds between two adjacent layers enhanced thermal stability, and the hydrophobic outer layers improved water contact resistance. According to release results, multilayer films also showed excellent colon-targeted delivery property and approximately 78.58 % of RSV was observed to release in colon stage. In terms of release mechanism, complex mechanism best described RSV colonic release. Additionally, ES100-pullulan/HPIC-ES100 multilayer films performed higher encapsulation efficiency when compared to the structures without HPIC, which further increased the antioxidant activity and total release amount of RSV. These results suggest a promising strategy for designing safe colonic delivery systems based on multilayer and HPIC structures with superior preservation for RSV.

Aerogels as Carriers for Oral Administration of Drugs: An Approach towards Colonic Delivery

Polysaccharide aerogels have emerged as a highly promising technology in the field of oral drug delivery. These nanoporous, ultralight materials, derived from natural polysaccharides such as cellulose, starch, or chitin, have significant potential in colonic drug delivery due to their unique properties. The particular degradability of polysaccharide-based materials by the colonic microbiota makes them attractive to produce systems to load, protect, and release drugs in a controlled manner, with the capability to precisely target the colon. This would allow the local treatment of gastrointestinal pathologies such as colon cancer or inflammatory bowel diseases. Despite their great potential, these applications of polysaccharide aerogels have not been widely explored. This review aims to consolidate the available knowledge on the use of polysaccharides for oral drug delivery and their performance, the production methods for polysaccharide-based aerogels, the drug loading possibilities, and the capacity of these nanostructured systems to target colonic regions.

Direct cyclodextrin based powder extrusion 3D printing of budesonide loaded mini-tablets for the treatment of eosinophilic colitis in paediatric patients

The purpose of this study was to combine direct powder extrusion (DPE) 3D printing and fluid bed coating techniques to create a budesonide (BD) loaded solid oral formulations for the treatment of eosinophilic colitis (EC) in paediatric patients. The preferred medication for EC treatment is BD, which has drawbacks due to its poor water solubility and low absorption. Additionally, since commercially available medications for EC treatment are created and approved for adult patients, administering them to children sometimes requires an off-label use and an impromptu handling, which can result in therapeutic ineffectiveness. The DPE 3D approach was investigated to create Mini-Tablets (MTs) to suit the swallowing, palatability, and dose flexibility control requirements needed by paediatric patients. Additionally, DPE 3D and the inclusion of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin in the initial powder mixture allowed for an improvement in the solubility and rate of BD dissolution in aqueous medium. Then, to accomplish a site-specific drug release at the intestinal level, MTs were coated with a layer of Eudragit FS 30D, an enteric polymer responsive at pH > 7.0 values. In vitro release experiments showed that film-coated MTs were suitable in terms of size and dose, enabling potential therapeutic customization and targeted delivery of BD to the colon.