Design of a multimodal colloidal polymeric drug delivery vesicle: A detailed pharmaceutical study

Berberine-Albumin Nanoparticles: Preparation, Thermodynamic Study and Evaluation Their Protective Effects Against Oxidative Stress in Primary Neuronal Cells as a Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Berberine has shown an outstanding antioxidant activity, however the low bioavailability limits its applications in pharmaceutical platforms. Therefore, in this paper, after fabrication of the berberine-HSA nanoparticles by desolvation method, they were well characterized by TEM, SEM, DLS, and FTIR techniques. Afterwards the interaction of HSA and the berberine was evaluated by molecular docking analysis. Finally, the antioxidant activity of the berberine-HSA nanoparticles against H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress in cultured neurons as a model of AD was evaluated by cellular assays. The results showed that the prepared berberine-HSA nanoparticles have a spherical-shaped morphology with a size of around 100 nm and zeta potential value of -31.84 mV. The solubility value of nanoparticles was calculated to be 40.27%, with a berberine loading of 19.37%, berberine entrapment efficiency of 70.34%, and nanoparticles yield of 88.91%. Also, it was shown that the berberine is not significantly released from HSA nanoparticles within 24 hours. Afterwards, molecular docking investigation revealed that berberine spontaneously interacts with HSA through electrostatic interaction. Finally, cellular assays disclosed that the pretreatment of neuronal cultures with berberine-HSA nanoparticles decreased the H₂O₂-stimulated cytotoxicity and relevant morphological changes and enhanced the CAT activity. In conclusion, it can be indicated that the nanoformulation of the berberine can be used as a promising platform for inhibition of oxidative damage-induced Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Recent advances in celluloses and their hybrids for stimuli-responsive drug delivery

The limitations of existing drug delivery systems (DDS) such as non-specific bio-distribution and poor selectivity have led to the exploration of a variety of carrier platforms to facilitate highly desirable and efficient drug delivery. Stimuli-responsive DDS are one of the most versatile and innovative approach to steer the compounds to the intended sites by exploiting their responsiveness to a range of various triggers. Preparation of stimuli-responsive DDS using celluloses and their derivatives offer a remarkable advantage over conventional polymer materials. In this review, we highlight on state-of-art progress in developing cellulose/cellulose hybrid stimuli-responsive DDS, which covers the preparation techniques, physicochemical properties, basic principles and, mechanisms of stimuli effect on drug release from various types of cellulose based carriers, through recent innovative investigations. Attention has been paid to endogenous stimuli (pH, temperature, redox gradient and ionic-strength) responsive DDS and exogenous stimuli (light, magnetic field and electric field) responsive DDS, where the cellulose-based materials have been extensively employed. Furthermore, the current challenges and future prospects of these DDS are also discussed at the end.

Graphenic Materials for Biomedical Applications

Graphene-based nanomaterials have been intensively studied for their properties, modifications, and application potential. Biomedical applications are one of the main directions of research in this field. This review summarizes the research results which were obtained in the last two years (2017-2019), especially those related to drug/gene/protein delivery systems and materials with antimicrobial properties. Due to the large number of studies in the area of carbon nanomaterials, attention here is focused only on 2D structures, i.e. graphene, graphene oxide, and reduced graphene oxide.