An updated review of mesoporous carbon as a novel drug delivery system

Pore engineering of micro/mesoporous nanomaterials for encapsulation, controlled release and variegated applications of essential oils

Essential oils have become increasingly popular in fields of medical, food and agriculture, owing to their strongly antimicrobial, anti-inflammation and antioxidant effects, greatly meeting demand from consumers for healthy and safe natural products. However, the easy volatility and/or chemical instability of active ingredients of essential oils (EAIs) can result in the loss of activity before realizing their functions, which have greatly hindered the widely applications of EAIs. As an emerging trend, micro/mesoporous nanomaterials (MNs) have drawn great attention for encapsulation and controlled release of EAIs, owing to their tunable pore structural characteristics. In this review, we briefly discuss the recent advances of MNs that widely used in the controlled release of EAIs, including zeolites, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), mesoporous silica nanomaterials (MSNs), and provide a comprehensive summary focusing on the pore engineering strategies of MNs that affect their controlled-release or triggered-release for EAIs, including tailorable pore structure properties (e.g., pore size, pore surface area, pore volume, pore geometry, and framework compositions) and surface properties (surface modification and surface functionalization). Finally, the variegated applications and potential challenges are also given for MNs based delivery strategies for EAIs in the fields of healthcare, food and agriculture. These will provide considerable instructions for the rational design of MNs for controlled release of EAIs.

MRI Directed Magnevist Effective to Study Toxicity of Gd-Doped Mesoporous Carbon Nanoparticles in Mice Model

Purpose

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been a valuable and widely used examination technique in clinical diagnosis and prognostic efficacy evaluation. The introduction of MRI contrast agent (CA) improves its sensitivity obviously, particularly with the development of nano-CA, which presents higher contrast enhancement ability. However, systematical evaluation of their toxicity is still limited, hampering their further translation in clinics.

Methods

In this paper, to systematically evaluate the toxicity of nano-CA, Gd-doped mesoporous carbon nanoparticles (Gd-MCNs) prepared by a one-step hard template method were introduced as a model and clinically used MRI CA, Magnevist (Gd-DTPA) as control. Their in vitro blood compatibility, cellular toxicity, DNA damage, oxidative stress, inflammation response as well as in vivo toxicity and MR imaging behaviors were studied and compared.

Results

The experimental results showed that compared with Gd-DTPA, Gd-MCNs displayed negligible influence on the red blood cell shape, aggregation, BSA structure, macrophage morphology and mitochondrial function. Meanwhile, limited ROS and inflammatory cytokine production also illustrated the cellular compatibility of Gd-MCNs. For in vivo toxicity evaluation, Gd-MCNs presented acceptable in vivo biosafety even under 12 times injection for 12 weeks. More importantly, at the same concentration of Gd, Gd-MCNs displayed better contrast enhancement of tumor than Gd-DTPA, mainly coming from its high MRI relaxation rate which is nearly 9 times that of Gd-DTPA.

Conclusion

In this paper, we focus on the toxicity evaluation of MRI nano-CA, Gd-MCNs from different angles. With Gd-DTPA as control, Gd-MCNs appeared to be highly biocompatible and safe nanoparticles that possessed promising potentials for the use of MRI nano-CA. In the future, more research on the long-term genotoxicity and the fate of nanoparticles after being swallowed should be performed.

Amorphization of Ethenzamide and Ethenzamide Cocrystals-A Case Study of Single and Binary Systems Forming Low-Melting Eutectic Phases Loaded on/in Silica Gel

The applicability of different solvent-free approaches leading to the amorphization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) was tested. Ethenzamide (ET), an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug, and two ethenzamide cocrystals with glutaric acid (GLU) and ethyl malonic acid (EMA) as coformers were used as pharmaceutical models. Calcinated and thermally untreated silica gel was applied as an amorphous reagent. Three methods were used to prepare the samples: manual physical mixing, melting, and grinding in a ball mill. The ET:GLU and ET:EMA cocrystals forming low-melting eutectic phases were selected as the best candidates for testing amorphization by thermal treatment. The progress and degree of amorphousness were determined using instrumental techniques: solid-state NMR spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. In each case, the API amorphization was complete and the process was irreversible. A comparative analysis of the dissolution profiles showed that the dissolution kinetics for each sample are significantly different. The nature and mechanism of this distinction are discussed.

Nanosuspension: A Formulation Technology for Tackling the Poor Aqueous Solubility and Bioavailability of Poorly Soluble Drugs

The poor water solubility of numerous novel drug candidates presents significant challenges, particularly in terms of oral administration. This limitation can result in various undesirable clinical implications, such as inter-patient variability, poor bioavailability, difficulties in achieving a safe therapeutic index, increased costs, and potential risks of toxicity or inefficacy. Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) class II drugs face particular hurdles due to their limited solubility in the aqueous media of the gastrointestinal tract. In such cases, parenteral administration is often employed as an alternative strategy. To address these challenges, nanosuspension techniques offer a promising solution for enhancing drug solubility and overcoming oral delivery obstacles. This technique has the potential to bridge the gap between drug discovery and preclinical use by resolving problematic solubility. This literature review has delved into contemporary nanosuspension preparation technologies and the incorporation of stabilizing ingredients within the formulation. Furthermore, the manuscript explores nanosuspension strategies for both oral and parenteral/other delivery routes, and separate discussions have been presented to establish a suitable flow that addresses the challenges and strategies relevant to each administration method.

Ionic liquid-assisted synthesis of mesoporous polymers and carbon materials: the self-assembly mechanism

Soft-templating synthesis has been widely employed to fabricate ordered mesoporous polymer and carbon materials with effectively tuneable pore sizes. However, the commonly used templating agents, block copolymers, are normally decomposed during the process, thus are barely recyclable; this increases the costs and hampers the scale-up feasibility. Therefore, it becomes imperative to seek promising alternatives; amphiphilic ionic liquids (ILs) are excellent candidates due to their good recyclability. This study explored the templating behaviour of IL templates for preparing mesoporous polymers and carbons. In details, the self-assembly of ternary systems (comprising of IL templates, precursors and solvent) were investigated by a combination of coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations, density function theory (DFT) calculations and experimental techniques. The results indicate that the morphologies of IL templates are tuneable not only by the adjustment of water content in the mixture but also by the selection of suitable precursors. Material precursors containing increasing numbers of hydroxyl moieties also induce various precursor-template spatial correlations, resulting in different topological structures of nanomaterials. This work presents a fundamental investigation into the mechanisms of templating synthesis with amphiphilic ILs as recyclable templates and gives insight into the effective design of coveted carbon nanomaterials for targeted applications.

Challenges and opportunities in metastatic breast cancer treatments: Nano-drug combinations delivered preferentially to metastatic cells may enhance therapeutic response

Despite advances in breast cancer treatments and related 5-year survival outcomes, metastatic breast cancer cures remain elusive. The current standard of care includes a combination of surgery, radiation therapy and drug therapy. However, even the most advanced procedures and treatments do not prevent breast cancer recurrence and metastasis. Once metastasis occurs, patient prognosis is poor. Recent elucidation of the spatiotemporal transit of metastatic cancer cells from primary tumor sites to distant sites provide an opportunity to integrate knowledge of drug disposition in our effort to enhance drug localization and exposure in cancer laden tissues . Novel technologies have been developed, but could be further refined to facilitate the distribution of drugs to target cancer cells and tissues. The purpose of this review is to highlight the challenges in metastatic breast cancer treatment and focus on novel drug combination and nanotechnology approaches to overcome the challenges. With improved definition of metastatic tissue target, directed localization and retention of multiple, pharmacologically active drugs to tissues and cells of interest may overcome the limitations in breast cancer treatment that may lead to a cure for breast cancer.

Mesoporous Materials as Elements of Modern Drug Delivery Systems for Anti-Inflammatory Agents: A Review of Recent Achievements

Interest in the use of mesoporous materials as carriers of medicinal substances has been steadily increasing in the last two decades. Mesoporous carriers have application in the preparation of delivery systems for drugs from various therapeutic groups; however, their use as the carriers of anti-inflammatory agents is particularly marked. This review article, with about 170 references, summarizes the achievements in the application of mesoporous materials as the carriers of anti-inflammatory agents in recent years. This article will discuss a variety of mesoporous carriers as well as the characteristics of their porous structure that determine further use of these materials in the field of medical applications. Special attention will be paid to the progress observed in the construction of stimuli-responsive drug carriers and systems providing site-specific drug delivery. Subsequently, a review of the literature devoted to the use of mesoporous matrices as the carriers of anti-inflammatory drugs was carried out.

Exosomes in Parkinson: Revisiting Their Pathologic Role and Potential Applications

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by bradykinesia, rigidity, and tremor. Considerable progress has been made to understand the exact mechanism leading to this disease. Most of what is known comes from the evidence of PD brains' autopsies showing a deposition of Lewy bodies-containing a protein called α-synuclein (α-syn)-as the pathological determinant of PD. α-syn predisposes neurons to neurotoxicity and cell death, while the other associated mechanisms are mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, which are underlying precursors to the death of dopaminergic neurons at the substantia nigra pars compacta leading to disease progression. Several mechanisms have been proposed to unravel the pathological cascade of these diseases; most of them share a particular similarity: cell-to-cell communication through exosomes (EXOs). EXOs are intracellular membrane-based vesicles with diverse compositions involved in biological and pathological processes, which their secretion is driven by the NLR family pyrin domain-containing three proteins (NLRP3) inflammasome. Toxic biological fibrils are transferred to recipient cells, and the disposal of damaged organelles through generating mitochondrial-derived vesicles are suggested mechanisms for developing PD. EXOs carry various biomarkers; thus, they are promising to diagnose different neurological disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs). As nanovesicles, the applications of EXOs are not only restricted as diagnostics but also expanded to treat NDDs as therapeutic carriers and nano-scavengers. Herein, the aim is to highlight the potential incrimination of EXOs in the pathological cascade and progression of PD and their role as biomarkers and therapeutic carriers for diagnosing and treating this neuro-debilitating disorder.