Nanoemulsions as novel nanocarrieres for drug delivery across the skin: In-vitro, in-vivo evaluation of miconazole nanoemulsions for treatment of Candidiasis albicans

Formulation and Evaluation of Turmeric- and Neem-Based Topical Nanoemulgel against Microbial Infection

The combination of nanoemulgel and phytochemistry has resulted in several recent discoveries in the field of topical delivery systems. The present study aimed to prepare nanoemulgel based on turmeric (Curcuma longa) and neem (Azadirachta indica) against microbial infection as topical drug delivery. Olive oil (oil phase), Tween 80 (surfactant), and PEG600 (co-surfactant) were used for the preparation of nanoemulsion. Carbopol 934 was used as a gelling agent to convert the nanoemulsion to nanoemulgel and promote the control of the release of biological properties of turmeric and neem. The nanoemulsion was characterized based on particle size distribution, PDI values, and compatibility using FTIR analysis. In contrast, the nanoemulgel was evaluated based on pH, viscosity, spreadability, plant extract and excipient compatibility or physical state, in vitro study, ex vivo mucoadhesive study, antimicrobial properties, and stability. The resulting nanoemulsion was homogeneous and stable during the centrifugation process, with the smallest droplets and low PDI values. FTIR analysis also confirmed good compatibility and absence of phase separation between the oil substance, surfactant, and co-surfactant with both plant extracts. The improved nanoemulgel also demonstrated a smooth texture, good consistency, good pH, desired viscosity, ex vivo mucoadhesive strength with the highest spreadability, and 18 h in vitro drug release. Additionally, it exhibited better antimicrobial properties against different microbial strains. Stability studies also revealed that the product had good rheological properties and physicochemical state for a period of over 3 months. The present study affirmed that turmeric- and neem-based nanoemulgel is a promising alternative for microbial infection particularly associated with microorganisms via topical application.

Developing fish oil emulsion gel enriched with Lentinula edodes single cell protein and its effect on controlling the growth of Acinetobacter baumannii

In this study, the characterization of fish oil (FO) emulsion gel (EGEL) containing single cell protein (SCP) produced from Lentinula edodes (L. edodes) and its potential inhibition against Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) were investigated. Oil extracted from the fish liver was emulsified with tween 80 and water, and then gelled using gelatin with the assistance of an ultrasonic homogenizer. The characteristics and surface analysis of SCP-EGEL were examined using FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy) and SEM (Scanning electron microscope). The particle size distribution and zeta potential of SCP-EGEL were measured using a Malvern Zetasizer. When SCP-EGEL was applied to the surface of the medium inoculated with A. baumannii, the inhibition zone (IZ) was 8.2 mm. An expansion of the IZ was observed (10.2 mm) when SCP-EGEL was applied to a fish skin (FS) surface prepared in the shape of a 6-mm diameter disc. In the SEM images, when SCP was added to lipo gel, the gel structure appeared flattened or swollen in some areas. The appearance of SCP cells being covered with gel gave the impression that they have a secondary wall. Therefore, the resulting complex can potentially be used as an additive in animal and human nutrition, in functional food coatings to suppress A. baumannii, and in fish feed to enrich it with protein.

Oil/water (O/W) nanoemulsions developed from essential oil extracted from wildly growing Calotropis gigantea (Linn.) Aiton F.: synthesis, characterization, stability and evaluation of anti-cancerous, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic activities

Calotropis gigantea essential oil is utilized in outmoded medicine, therapeutics, and the cosmetic industries. However, the extreme volatility, oxidation susceptibility, and instability of this oil restricts its application. Thus, encapsulation is a more effective method of shielding this oil from unfavorable circumstances. The creation of oil/water (O/W) nanoemulsions based on Calotropis gigantea essential oil (CEO), known as CNE (Calotropis gigantea essential oil nanoemulsions), and an assessment of its biological potential were the goals of this work. UV, fluorescence, and FT-IR methods were used for physiological characterization. Biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-cancer effects. Studies on the pharmacokinetics of CNE were conducted. CNEs encapsulation efficiency was found to be 92%. The CNE nanoemulsions had a spherical shape with polydispersity index of 0.531, size of 200 nm, and a zeta potential of -35.9 mV. Even after being stored at various temperatures for 50 days, CNE nanoemulsions remained stable. Numerous tests were used to determine the antioxidant capacity of CNE, and the following IC50 values (µl/mL) were found: iron chelating assay: 18, hydroxyl radical scavenging: 37, and nitric oxide radical scavenging activity: 58. The percentage of HeLa cells that remained viable after being treated with CNE was 41% at a higher dose of 1 µl. CNE inhibited α-amylase in a dose-dependent manner, with 72% inhibition at its higher dose of 250 µL. Research on the kinetics of drugs showed that nanoemulsions showed Higuchi pattern. This research showed potential use of Calotropis gigantea oil-based nanoemulsions in the food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries.

Inhibition performance of almond shell hydrochar-based fish oil emulsion gel on Klebsiella pneumonia inoculated fish skin and its characteristics

In this study, the inhibition potential against Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) and the characterization of fish oil (FO) emulsion gel (EGE) containing almond shell hydrochar (AH) were investigated. Oily water of mullet liver was emulsified using tween 80, then gelled using gelatin and finally immobilized into hydrochar using an ultrasonic homogenizer. Characteristics and surface analysis of hydrochar-based emulsion gel (HEGE) were examined using FTIR and SEM. Stability, particle size distribution and zeta potential of HEGE were measured. In this study, a zeta potential of -18.46 indicated that HEGE was more stable than EGE (35.7 mV). The addition of hydrochar to the emulsion gel containing micro-droplets enabled the structure to become fully layered and stable. Time-dependent inactivation of K. pneumoniae exposed to HEGE and fixed in 6 mm-fish skin was evaluated for the first time in this study. While the highest log reduction and percent reduction in the bacterial count were achieved within 5 min with 0.87 CFU/cm2 and 86.60% with EGE, the lowest log reduction and percent reduction were achieved with 0.003 CFU/cm2 and 0.082% with HEGE in 30 min. In conclusion, the almond shell hydrochar-immobilized emulsion gel is a functional adsorbent that can inhibit K. pneumonia, and its stability and performance make it a unique candidate for further studies in this field.

Exploring Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles as a Nanocarrier in the Delivery of Foot-And-Mouth Disease Virus-like Particle Vaccines

Virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine is considered to be the most promising candidate alternative to the traditional inactivated vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). To elicit a desired immune response, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) have been synthesized and utilized as a nanocarrier for FMD VLP vaccine delivery. The as-prepared HMSNs displayed a relatively small particle size (∼260 nm), large cavity (∼150 nm), and thin wall (∼55 nm). The inherent structural superiorities make them ideal nanocarriers for the FMD VLP vaccine, which exhibited good biocompatibility, great protein-loading capacity, high antibody-response level, and protective efficiency, even comparable to commercial adjuvant ISA 206. All the results suggested that HMSNs may be a valid nanocarrier in VLP-based vaccines.

Development and Characterization of New Miconazole-Based Microemulsions for Buccal Delivery by Implementing a Full Factorial Design Modeling

This research aimed to develop miconazole-based microemulsions using oleic acid as a natural lipophilic phase and a stabilizer mixture comprising Tween 20 and PEG 400 to solubilize miconazole as an antifungal agent known for its activity in oral candidiasis and to improve its bioavailability. The formulation and preparation process was combined with a mathematical approach using a 23-full factorial plan. Fluid and gel-like microemulsions were obtained and analyzed considering pH, conductivity, and refractive index, followed by extensive analyses focused on droplet size, zeta potential, rheological behavior, and goniometry. In vitro release tests were performed to assess their biopharmaceutical characteristics. Independent variables coded X1-Oleic acid (%, w/w), X2-Tween 20 (%, w/w), and X3-PEG 400 (%, w/w) were analyzed in relationship with three main outputs like mean droplet size, work of adhesion, and diffusion coefficient by combining statistical tools with response surface methodology. The microemulsion containing miconazole base-2%, oleic acid-5%, Tween 20-40%, PEG 400-20%, and water-33% exhibited a mean droplet size of 119.6 nm, a work of adhesion of 71.98 mN/m, a diffusion coefficient of 2.11·10-5 cm2/s, and together with remarked attributes of two gel-like systems formulated with higher oil concentrations, modeled the final optimization step of microemulsions as potential systems for buccal delivery.

Nanoemulsions (O/W) prepared from essential oil extracted from Melaleuca alternifolia: synthesis, characterization, stability and evaluation of anticancerous, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic activities

Essential oil from Melaleuca alternifolia (also known as Tea tree essential oil, TTO) is used as traditional medicine and used as therapeutic in medicine, food and cosmetic sectors. However, this oil is highly unstable, volatile and prone to oxidation which limits its practical use. The objective of this study was synthesis of tea tree oil based O/W (oil/water) nanoemulsions (tea tree essential oil nanoemulsions, TNE) and evaluation of its biological potential. Physiological characterization was carried out using UV, fluorescent, and FT-IR techniques. Various biological activities such as anticancerous, antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory were also estimated. Pharmacokinetics study on TNE was carried out. Encapsulation efficiency of nanoemulsions was found to be 83%. Nanoemulsions were spherical in shape with globule size 308 nm, zeta potential -9.42 and polydispersity index was 0.31. Nanoemulsions were stable even after 50 days of storage at different temperatures. Anti-oxidant potential of TNE was conducted by various assays and IC50 were: Nitric oxide radical scavenging activity:225.1, DPPH radical scavenging activity:30.66, Iron chelating assay:38.73, and Iron reducing assay:39.36. Notable anticancer activity was observed with the percent cell viability of HeLa cells after treatment with 1, 2 and 5 µl of TNE was 82%, 41% and 24%, respectively. Antidiabetic study revealed that TNE inhibited -amylase in a dose-dependent manner, with 88% inhibition at its higher volume of 250 µl. Drug kinetic study revealed that nanoemulsions exhibited first-order model. Based on this, the possible role of M. alternifolia oil-based nanoemulsions in cosmetic, food, and pharma sectors has been discussed.

New Insights in Topical Drug Delivery for Skin Disorders: From a Nanotechnological Perspective

Skin, the largest organ in humans, is an efficient route for the delivery of drugs as it circumvents several disadvantages of the oral and parenteral routes. These advantages of skin have fascinated researchers in recent decades. Drug delivery via a topical route includes moving the drug from a topical product to a locally targeted region with dermal circulation throughout the body and deeper tissues. Still, due to the skin's barrier function, delivery through the skin can be difficult. Drug delivery to the skin using conventional formulations with micronized active components, for instance, lotions, gels, ointments, and creams, results in poor penetration. The use of nanoparticulate carriers is one of the promising strategies, as it provides efficient delivery of drugs through the skin and overcomes the disadvantage of traditional formulations. Nanoformulations with smaller particle sizes contribute to improved permeability of therapeutic agents, targeting, stability, and retention, making nanoformulations ideal for drug delivery through a topical route. Achieving sustained release and preserving a localized effect utilizing nanocarriers can result in the effective treatment of numerous infections or skin disorders. This article aims to evaluate and discuss the most recent developments of nanocarriers as therapeutic agent vehicles for skin conditions with patent technology and a market overview that will give future directions for research. As topical drug delivery systems have shown great preclinical results for skin problems, for future research directions, we anticipate including in-depth studies of nanocarrier behavior in various customized treatments to take into account the phenotypic variability of the disease.

Preparation and Characterization of Curcumin Nanoemulgel Utilizing Ultrasonication Technique for Wound Healing: In Vitro, Ex Vivo, and In Vivo Evaluation

Hydrogels being a drug delivery system has great significance particularly for topical application in cutaneous open wound. Its specific physicochemical properties such as non-adhesiveness, moisture retention, exudate absorption, and gas permeability make them ideal as a drug delivery vehicle for wound healing application. Further, curcumin (a natural bioactive) was selected as a therapeutic agent to incorporate into the hydrogel system to design and develop nanogel pharmaceutical products for wound healing. Although, curcumin possesses remarkable anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-infective activity along with hastening the healing process by acting over the different stages of the wound healing process, but its poor biopharmaceutical (low aqueous solubility and skin penetrability) attributes hamper their therapeutic efficacy for skin applications. The current investigation aimed to develop the curcumin-loaded nanogel system and evaluated to check the improvement in the therapeutic efficacy of curcumin through a nanomedicine-based approach for wound healing activity in Wistar rats. The curcumin was enclosed inside the nanoemulsion system prepared through a high-energy ultrasonic emulsification technique at a minimum concentration of surfactant required to nanoemulsify the curcumin-loaded oil system (Labrafac PG) having droplet size 56.25 ± 0.69 nm with polydispersity index 0.05 ± 0.01 and negatively surface charge with zeta potential −20.26 ± 0.65 mV. It was observed that the impact of Smix (surfactant/co-surfactant mixture) ratio on droplet size of generated nanoemulsion is more pronounced at lower Smix concentration (25%) compared to the higher Smix concentration (30%). The optimized curcumin-loaded nanoemulsion was incorporated into a 0.5% Carbopol^® 940 hydrogel system for topical application. The developed curcumin nanoemulgel exhibited thixotropic rheological behavior and a significant (p < 0.05) increase in skin penetrability characteristics compared to curcumin dispersed in conventional hydrogel system. The in vivo wound healing efficacy study and histological examination of healed tissue specimen further signify the role of the nanomedicine-based approach to improve the biopharmaceutical attributes of curcumin.