Drug delivery to the brain: In situ gelling formulation enhances carbamazepine diffusion through nasal mucosa models with mucin

The objective of this work was to optimize a thermosensitive in situ gelling formulation to improve intranasal and nose-to-brain delivery of the antiepileptic drug carbamazepine (CBZ). A preliminary procedure of vehicles obtained just mixing different fractions of poloxamer 407 (P407) and poloxamer 188 (P188) revealed preparations with phase transition temperatures, times to gelation and pH values suitable for nasal delivery. Subsequently, the mucoadhesive properties of the most promising formulations were tuned by adding hydroxypropylmethylcellulose types of different viscosity grades, and the effect of the adhesive polymers was evaluated by testing in vitro time and strength of mucoadhesion on specimens of sheep nasal mucosa. The formulation that showed the greatest mucoadhesive potential in vitro, with a time and force of mucoadhesion equal to 1746,75 s and 3.66 × 10-4 N, respectively, was that composed of 22% P407, 5% P188 and 0.8% HPMC low-viscous and it was further investigated for its ability to increase drug solubility and to control the release of the drug. Lastly, the capability of the candidate vehicle to ensure drug permeation across the biomimetic membrane Permeapad®, an artificial phospholipid-based barrier with a stratified architecture, and the same barrier enriched with a mucin layer was verified. The final formulation was characterized by a pH value of 6.0, underwent gelation at 32.33°C in 37.85 s, thus showing all the features required by in situ gelling thermosensitive preparations designed for nasal delivery and, more notably, it conserved the ability to favor drug permeation in the presence of mucin. These findings suggest that the optimized gelling system could be a promising and easy to realize strategy to improve CBZ delivery to the brain exploiting both a direct and indirect pathway.

Solidification of hydatid cyst fluid with an injectable chitosan/carboxymethylcellulose/β-glycerophosphate hydrogel for effective control of spillage during aspiration of hydatid cysts

Cystic echinococcosis (CE)/hydatid cyst is one of the most important helminthic diseases in the world. The treatment of hydatid cyst ranges from surgical intervention to chemotherapy, although the efficacy of chemotherapy is still unclear. Postoperative complication which results from the spillage of cysts during surgical operation is one of the most important concerns in surgical treatment of hydatid cyst. The aim of the current study was to solidify the hydatid cyst fluid (HCF) with an injectable and thermosensitive chitosan (CS)/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)/β-glycerol phosphate (BGP) hydrogel for effective control of spillage during the aspiration of hydatid cysts. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), water uptake, rheological analysis, and Alamar Blue cytotoxicity assay were employed to characterize the hydrogel. A five level with three times replication at the central point using a central composite design (CCD), which is a response surface methodology (RSM), was used to optimize the experimental conditions. Assessment of the produced hydrogel showed that the intermolecular interactions of amino groups of chitosan and hydrogen groups of CMC were correctively established and appreciable swelling with a good strength was obtained. Hydrogels morphology had a porous structure. Rheological analysis showed that CS/CMC/BGP blends had a phase transition (32-35 °C) of sol-gel close to the body temperature. Alamar Blue cytotoxicity assay showed that CS (1.75%)/CMC (1.4%)/BGP (2.9%) had IC50 values of 0.598, 0.235 and 0.138 (µg/µL) for 24, 48 and 72 h, which indicated that the produced polymer solution had no significant cytotoxic effect for human fibroblast cell line. In vitro injection of the polymer solution of CS/CMC/BGP with CS/CMC ratio of 1.75/1.4 was done on HCF (1 mL polymer solution to 3 mL of HCF) at 37 °C with a final concentration of 2.9% for BGP resulting in solidification of HCF in less than 45 min.