Development of fast-dissolving dosage forms of curcuminoids by electrospinning for potential tumor therapy application

Advanced applications of smart electrospun nanofibers in cancer therapy: With insight into material capabilities and electrospinning parameters

Cancer remains a major global health challenge, and despite available treatments, its prognosis remains poor. Recently, researchers have turned their attention to intelligent nanofibers for cancer drug delivery. These nanofibers exhibit remarkable capabilities in targeted and controlled drug release. Their inherent characteristics, such as a high surface area-to-volume ratio, make them attractive candidates for drug delivery applications. Smart nanofibers can release drugs in response to specific stimuli, including pH, temperature, magnetic fields, and light. This unique feature not only reduces side effects but also enhances the overall efficiency of drug delivery systems. Electrospinning, a widely used method, allows the precision fabrication of smart nanofibers. Its advantages include high efficiency, user-friendliness, and the ability to control various manufacturing parameters. In this review, we explore the latest developments in producing smart electrospun nanofibers for cancer treatment. Additionally, we discuss the materials used in manufacturing these nanofibers and the critical parameters involved in the electrospinning process.

Hybrid Metal Oxide (Ag-ZnO) Impregnated Biocomposite in the Development of an Eco-Friendly Sustainable Film

Nanotechnology offers an innovative application as an eco-friendly food packaging film fabricated along with a degradable active mixture (AM). The AM is an assortment of alloyed metal oxide nanoparticles (Ag-ZnO), citron powder (AA), and Curcuma peel powder (CPP). Alloyed nanoparticles (NPs) were observed to exhibit a hexagonal structure from the experimental X-ray diffraction. Compositional and morphological study of the NPs (22.69 nm) and AM (32 nm) was done using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and ζ- potential was observed to be -14.7 mV, indicating the stability of NPs. The prepared film was observed to be more effective with antibacterial analysis against Escherichia coli, exhibiting 72% of inhibition and antioxidant activity with IC50: 51.56% using the 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Film 1, Film 2, Film 3, and Film 4 were fabricated with the AM and observed to be perfectly encapsulated by PVA using XRD. FESEM images of the film exhibit the aggregation of NPs with biocomposites in perfect distribution. The mechanical properties such as Young's modulus, elongation at break, tensile strength, and ultimate tensile strength (UTS- 5.37 MPa) were experimented for the films. The degradation rate was observed to be 6.12% for film 1 using the soil burial method. The study emphasizes that NPs along with biocomposite upgrade the sustainability of the packaging film with improved mechanical and physicochemical properties. The synthesized film with biomaterials could be used as a "green" food package to store fruits, vegetables, and sweets in the food industry.

Stimuli-responsive electrospun nanofibers for drug delivery, cancer therapy, wound dressing, and tissue engineering

The stimuli-responsive nanofibers prepared by electrospinning have become an ideal stimuli-responsive material due to their large specific surface area and porosity, which can respond extremely quickly to external environmental incitement. As an intelligent drug delivery platform, stimuli-responsive nanofibers can efficiently load drugs and then be stimulated by specific conditions (light, temperature, magnetic field, ultrasound, pH or ROS, etc.) to achieve slow, on-demand or targeted release, showing great potential in areas such as drug delivery, tumor therapy, wound dressing, and tissue engineering. Therefore, this paper reviews the recent trends of stimuli-responsive electrospun nanofibers as intelligent drug delivery platforms in the field of biomedicine.

Electrospun polycaprolactone nanofibers functionalized with Achillea millefolium extract yield biomaterial with antibacterial, antioxidant and improved mechanical properties

In this study, polycaprolactone (PCL), as a biocompatible polymer was functionalized by addition of medicinal plant extract- Achillea millefolium L. (yarrow). Nanofiber mats were fabricated from PCL solutions containing dry yarrow extract in four concentrations (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% relative to the weight of the polymer) by using blend electrospinning method. The nanofibers were characterized for their biological, mechanical and drug release behavior. In vitro release of yarrow polyphenols from the electrospun PCL nanofibers over a period of 5 days showed the release of up to 98% of the total loaded polyphenols. The released polyphenols retained its antioxidant activity, which was determined by DPPH assay. Electrospun PCL/yarrow nanofiber mats exhibited the antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus, but had no effect on the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All PCL/yarrow nanofiber mats had improved mechanical properties compared to the neat PCL nanofibers, as evident by an increase in Young's modulus of elasticity (up to 5.7 times), the tensile strength (up to 5.5 times), and the strain at break (up to 1.45 times). Based on our results, yarrow-loaded PCL nanofiber mats appeared to be multi-functional biomaterials suitable for the production of catheter-coating materials, patches, or gauzes with antibacterial and antioxidant properties.

Curcumin-loaded hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex with enhanced dissolution and oral bioavailability for epilepsy treatment

Curcumin, the main bioactive component of turmeric, has a wild range of beneficial effects on central nervous diseases, including anti-Alzheimer's disease, antioxidant stress, and anti-inflammation. Currently, it has been demonstrated the anti-epileptic potential. However, curcumin has poor water solubility, high sensitivity to light and heat, and low absorption, which results in low bioavailability and greatly limits the clinical application of curcumin, as well as the elusive effects in anti-epileptic treatment.This study aimed to develop a curcumin hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex (CUR-HP-β-CD) to improve its bioavailability and facilitate its potential development as an anti-epileptic drug. The CUR-HP-β-CD was generated by the solvent evaporation method, which has efficient entrapment, high solubility, and facilitated bioavailability and brain distribution.The solubility of the CUR-HP-β-CD was 63.5, 60.1, and 52.9 times that of the unformulated curcumin in H₂O, HCl (pH 1.2), and PBS (pH 6.8), respectively. The bioavailability of CUR-HP-β-CD is improved 2.8 times and 38.7 folds higher brain concentrations. Moreover, the therapeutic anti-epileptic effects of CUR-HP-β-CD were much more effective in pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced zebrafish and mouse models.This study showed a simple and reproducible strategy to effectively improve the bioavailability and therapeutic effects of curcumin, which could be potentially used in epilepsy treatment.

Electrospun Hybrid Films for Fast and Convenient Delivery of Active Herb Extracts

Herb medicines are popular for safe application due to being a source of natural herbs. However, how to deliver them in an efficacious and convenient manner poses a big challenge to researchers. In this study, a new concept is demonstrated that the electrospun polymer-based hybrid films can be a platform for promoting the delivery of a mixture of active herb extract, i.e., Lianhua Qingwen Keli (LQK), also a commercial traditional Chinese patent medicine. The LQK can be co-dissolved with the filament-forming polymeric polyvinylpyrrolidone K60 and a sweeter sucralose to prepare an electrospinnable solution. A handheld electrospinning apparatus was explored to transfer the solution into solid nanofibers, i.e., the LQK-loaded medicated films. These films were demonstrated to be composed of linear nanofibers. A puncher was utilized to transfer the mat into circular membrane a diameter of 15 mm. Two self-created methods were developed for disclosing the dissolution performances of the electrospun mats. Both the water droplet experiments and the wet paper (mimic tongue) experiments verified that the hybrid films can rapidly disintegrate when they encounter water and release the loaded LQK in an immediate manner. Based on the reasonable selections of polymeric excipients, the present protocols pave a way for delivering many types of active herb extracts in an effective and convenient manner.