Screening for Ocular Phototoxicity

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 491-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan E. Roberts

Normally light transmission through the eye is benign and serves to direct vision and circadian rhythm. However, with very intense light exposure, or with ambient light exposure to the aged eye and/or young or adult eye in the presence of light-activated (photosensitizing) drugs or dietary supplements, cosmetics, or diagnostic dyes, light can be hazardous, leading to blinding disorders. Light damage to the human eye is avoided because the eye is protected by a very efficient antioxidant system and the chromophores present absorb light and dissipate its energy. After middle age, there is a decrease in the production of antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes and an accumulation of endogenous chromophores that are photo-toxic. The extent to which a particular exogenous photosensitizing substance is capable of producing phototoxic side effects in the eye depends on several parameters, including (1) the chemical structure; (2) the absorption spectra of the drug; (3) binding of the drug to ocular tissue (lens proteins, melanin, DNA); and (4) the ability to cross blood-ocular barriers (amphiphilic or lipophilic). For instance, compounds that have either a tricyclic, heterocyclic, or porphyrin ring structure and are incorporated into ocular tissues are potentially phototoxic agents in the eye. The extent to which these substances might damage the eye (photoefficiency) can be predicted using in vitro and photophysical techniques. With simple, inexpensive testing, compounds can be screened for their potential ocular phototoxicity at the developmental stage. It may be that a portion of the molecule can be modified to reduce phototoxicity while leaving the primary drug effect intact. Preclinical safety testing may prevent ocular side effects that can range from mild, reversible blurred vision to permanent blindness.

Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michy ◽  
Massias ◽  
Bernard ◽  
Vanwonterghem ◽  
Henry ◽  
...  

Advanced ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancer, with a high rate of chemoresistance and relapse. Photodynamic therapy offers new prospects for ovarian cancer treatment, but current photosensitizers lack tumor specificity, resulting in low efficacy and significant side-effects. In the present work, the clinically approved photosensitizer verteporfin was encapsulated within nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) for targeted photodynamic therapy of ovarian cancer. Cellular uptake and phototoxicity of free verteporfin and NLC-verteporfin were studied in vitro in human ovarian cancer cell lines cultured in 2D and 3D-spheroids, and biodistribution and photodynamic therapy were evaluated in vivo in mice. Both molecules were internalized in ovarian cancer cells and strongly inhibited tumor cells viability when exposed to laser light only. In vivo biodistribution and pharmacokinetic studies evidenced a long circulation time of NLC associated with efficient tumor uptake. Administration of 2 mg.kg−1 free verteporfin induced severe phototoxic adverse effects leading to the death of 5 out of 8 mice. In contrast, laser light exposure of tumors after intravenous administration of NLC-verteporfin (8 mg.kg−1) significantly inhibited tumor growth without visible toxicity. NLC-verteporfin thus led to efficient verteporfin vectorization to the tumor site and protection from side-effects, providing promising therapeutic prospects for photodynamic therapy of cancer.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. 508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Fratter ◽  
Damiano Biagi ◽  
Arrigo F. G. Cicero

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid extracted from several seaweeds with ascertained therapeutic activity. With specific reference, astaxanthin is widely used in clinical practice to improve ocular tissue health and skin protection from UV ray damages. Despite its well-documented pleiotropic actions and demonstrated clinical efficacy, its bioavailability in humans is low and limited because of its hydrophobicity and poor dissolution in enteric fluids. Furthermore, astaxanthin is very unstable molecule and very sensitive to light exposure and thermal stress. Taken together, these pharmacological and chemical–physical features strongly limit pharmaceutical and nutraceutical development of astaxanthin-based products and as a consequence its full clinical usage. This work describes the preliminary in vitro investigation of sublingual absorption of astaxanthin through a novel ascorbyl palmitate (ASP) based nanoemulsion.


Author(s):  
Vijaykumar A. R. ◽  
Prabu Daniel Epison ◽  
Kabeera Begum A. ◽  
Abirami V. P. ◽  
Ajmal Hussain ◽  
...  

Several systemic drugs have reported ocular and visual side effects that affect patient management. It is imperative to be familiar with the associated side effects which can be mild or transient and may seriously threaten vision. This article deals briefly with the mechanisms and reasons that account for the impact that systemically administered central nervous system (CNS) drugs can exert on the visual or ocular system. The eye care practitioner can be instrumental in detecting and reporting ocular side effects, advising patients and collaborating with other members of the patient’s healthcare team. One of the difficulties include becoming familiar with the countless systemic medications prescribed to patients. Another is being able to correlate a particular side effect with a suspected drug. Several of the ocular adverse effects such as glaucoma, cataract, blurred vision, color vision, optic neuritis, maculopathy, dry eye, etc., are vision threatening and often patients fail to recognize or describe the symptoms appropriately. Therefore, physicians and paramedical members like staff nurses, clinical pharmacists and other members must make adequate observations while recommending these drugs to patients.


1977 ◽  
Vol 37 (01) ◽  
pp. 154-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A Janik ◽  
S. E Papaioannou

SummaryUrokinase, streptokinase, Brinase, trypsin, and SN 687, a bacterial exoprotease, have been evaluated in an ex vivo assay system. These enzymes were injected into rabbits and the fibrinolytic activity as well as other coagulation parameters were measured by in vitro techniques. Dose-response correlations have been made using the euglobulin lysis time as a measure of fibrinolytic activity and the 50% effective dose has been determined for each enzyme. Loading doses, equal to four times the 50% effective dose, were administered to monitor potential toxicity revealing that Brinase, trypsin, and SN 687 were very toxic at this concentration.Having established the 50% effective dose for each enzyme, further testing was conducted where relevant fibrinolytic and coagulation parameters were measured for up to two days following a 50% effective dose bolus injection of each enzyme. Our results have demonstrated that urokinase and streptokinase are plasminogen activators specifically activating the rabbit fibrinolytic system while Brinase, trypsin and SN 687 increase the general proteolytic activity in vivo.The advantages of this ex vivo assay system for evaluating relative fibrinolytic potencies and side effects for plasminogen activators and fibrinolytic proteases have been discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 1227-1243
Author(s):  
Hina Qamar ◽  
Sumbul Rehman ◽  
D.K. Chauhan

Cancer is the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although chemotherapy and radiotherapy enhance the survival rate of cancerous patients but they have several acute toxic effects. Therefore, there is a need to search for new anticancer agents having better efficacy and lesser side effects. In this regard, herbal treatment is found to be a safe method for treating and preventing cancer. Here, an attempt has been made to screen some less explored medicinal plants like Ammania baccifera, Asclepias curassavica, Azadarichta indica, Butea monosperma, Croton tiglium, Hedera nepalensis, Jatropha curcas, Momordica charantia, Moringa oleifera, Psidium guajava, etc. having potent anticancer activity with minimum cytotoxic value (IC50 >3μM) and lesser or negligible toxicity. They are rich in active phytochemicals with a wide range of drug targets. In this study, these medicinal plants were evaluated for dose-dependent cytotoxicological studies via in vitro MTT assay and in vivo tumor models along with some more plants which are reported to have IC50 value in the range of 0.019-0.528 mg/ml. The findings indicate that these plants inhibit tumor growth by their antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic, anti-metastatic and anti-angiogenic molecular targets. They are widely used because of their easy availability, affordable price and having no or sometimes minimal side effects. This review provides a baseline for the discovery of anticancer drugs from medicinal plants having minimum cytotoxic value with minimal side effects and establishment of their analogues for the welfare of mankind.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akhlesh Kumar Jain ◽  
Hitesh Sahu ◽  
Keerti Mishra ◽  
Suresh Thareja

Aim: To design D-Mannose conjugated 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) loaded Jackfruit seed starch nanoparticles (JFSSNPs) for site specific delivery. Background: Liver cancer is the third leading cause of death in world and fifth most often diagnosed cancer is the major global threat to public health. Treatment of liver cancer with conventional method bears several side effects, thus to undertake these side effects as a formulation challenge, it is necessary to develop novel target specific drug delivery system for the effective and better localization of drug into the proximity of target with restricting the movement of drug in normal tissues. Objective: To optimize and characterize the developed D-Mannose conjugated 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) loaded Jackfruit seed starch nanoparticles (JFSSNPs) for effective treatment of liver cancer. Materials and methods: 5-FU loaded JFSSNPs were prepared and optimized formulation had higher encapsulation efficiency were conjugated with D-Mannose. These formulations were characterized for size, morphology, zeta potential, X-Ray Diffraction, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Potential of NPs were studied using in vitro cytotoxicity assay, in vivo kinetic studies and bio-distribution studies. Result and discussion: 5-Fluorouracil loaded NPs had particle size between 336 to 802nm with drug entrapment efficiency was between 64.2 to 82.3%. In XRD analysis, 5-FU peak was diminished in the diffractogram, which could be attributed to the successful incorporation of drug in amorphous form. DSC study suggests there was no physical interaction between 5- FU and Polymer. NPs showed sustained in vitro 5-FU release up to 2 hours. In vivo, mannose conjugated NPs prolonged the plasma level of 5-FU and assist selective accumulation of 5-FU in the liver (vs other organs spleen, kidney, lungs and heart) compared to unconjugated one and plain drug. Conclusion: In vivo, bio-distribution and plasma profile studies resulted in significantly higher concentration of 5- Fluorouracil liver suggesting that these carriers are efficient, viable, and targeted carrier of 5-FU treatment of liver cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manasi M. Chogale ◽  
Sujay S. Gaikwad ◽  
Savita P. Kulkarni ◽  
Vandana B. Patravale

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be among the leading causes for high mortality among developing countries. Though a seemingly effective treatment regimen against TB is in place, there has been no significant improvement in the therapeutic rates. This is primarily owing to the high drug doses, their associated sideeffects, and prolonged treatment regimen. Discontinuation of therapy due to the severe side effects of the drugs results in the progression of the infection to the more severe drug-resistant TB. Objectives: Reformulation of the current existing anti TB drugs into more efficient dosage forms could be an ideal way out. Nanoformulations have been known to mitigate the side effects of toxic, high-dose drugs. Hence, the current research work involves the formulation of Isoniazid (INH; a first-line anti TB molecule) loaded chitosan nanoparticles for pulmonary administration. Methods: INH loaded chitosan nanoparticles were prepared by ionic gelation method using an anionic crosslinker. Drugexcipient compatibility was evaluated using DSC and FT-IR. The formulation was optimized on the principles of Qualityby-Design using a full factorial design. Results: The obtained nanoparticles were spherical in shape having an average size of 620±10.97 nm and zeta potential +16.87±0.79 mV. Solid state characterization revealed partial encapsulation and amorphization of INH into the nanoparticulate system. In vitro release study confirmed an extended release of INH from the system. In vitro cell line based safety and efficacy studies revealed satisfactory results. Conclusion: The developed nanosystem is thus an efficient approach for antitubercular therapy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 700-708
Author(s):  
Mitra Korani ◽  
Sara Nikoofal-Sahlabadi ◽  
Amin R. Nikpoor ◽  
Solmaz Ghaffari ◽  
Hossein Attar ◽  
...  

Aims: Here, three liposomal formulations of DPPC/DPPG/Chol/DSPE-mPEG2000 (F1), DPPC/DPPG/Chol (F2) and HSPC/DPPG/Chol/DSPE-mPEG2000 (F3) encapsulating BTZ were prepared and characterized in terms of their size, surface charge, drug loading, and release profile. Mannitol was used as a trapping agent to entrap the BTZ inside the liposomal core. The cytotoxicity and anti-tumor activity of formulations were investigated in vitro and in vivo in mice bearing tumor. Background: Bortezomib (BTZ) is an FDA approved proteasome inhibitor for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma. The low solubility of BTZ has been responsible for the several side effects and low therapeutic efficacy of the drug. Encapsulating BTZ in a nano drug delivery system; helps overcome such issues. Among NDDSs, liposomes are promising diagnostic and therapeutic delivery vehicles in cancer treatment. Objective: Evaluating anti-tumor activity of bortezomib liposomal formulations. Methods: Data prompted us to design and develop three different liposomal formulations of BTZ based on Tm parameter, which determines liposomal stiffness. DPPC (Tm 41°C) and HSPC (Tm 55°C) lipids were chosen as variables associated with liposome rigidity. In vitro cytotoxicity assay was then carried out for the three designed liposomal formulations on C26 and B16F0, which are the colon and melanoma cancer mouse-cell lines, respectively. NIH 3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblast cell line was also used as a normal cell line. The therapeutic efficacy of these formulations was further assessed in mice tumor models. Result: MBTZ were successfully encapsulated into all the three liposomal formulations with a high entrapment efficacy of 60, 64, and 84% for F1, F2, and F3, respectively. The findings showed that liposomes mean particle diameter ranged from 103.4 to 146.8nm. In vitro cytotoxicity studies showed that liposomal-BTZ formulations had higher IC50 value in comparison to free BTZ. F2-liposomes with DPPC, having lower Tm of 41°C, showed much higher anti-tumor efficacy in mice models of C26 and B16F0 tumors compared to F3-HSPC liposomes with a Tm of 55°C. F2 formulation also enhanced mice survival compared with untreated groups, either in BALB/c or in C57BL/6 mice. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that F2-DPPC-liposomal formulations prepared with Tm close to body temperature seem to be effective in reducing the side effects and increasing the therapeutic efficacy of BTZ and merits further investigation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 495-510
Author(s):  
Manoj Kumar ◽  
Garima Sharma ◽  
Dinesh Singla ◽  
Sukhjeet Singh ◽  
Vandita Kakkar ◽  
...  

Background:: All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is widely employed in the treatment of various proliferative and inflammatory diseases. However, its therapeutic efficacy is imperiled due to its poor solubility and stability. Latter was surmounted by its incorporation into a solid matrix of lipidic nanoparticles (SLNs). Methods:: ATRA loaded SLNs (ATRA-SLNs) were prepared using a novel microemulsification technique (USPTO 9907758) and an optimal composition and were characterized in terms of morphology, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and powder X-ray diffraction studies (PXRD). In vitro release, oral plasma pharmacokinetics (in rats) and stability studies were also done. Results:: Rod-shaped ATRA-SLNs could successfully incorporate 3.7 mg/mL of ATRA, increasing its solubility (from 4.7 μg/mL) by 787 times, having an average particle size of 131.30 ± 5.0 nm and polydispersibility of 0.283. PXRD, DSC, and FTIR studies confirmed the formation of SLNs. Assay/total drug content and entrapment efficiency of ATRA-SLNs was 92.50 ± 2.10% and 84.60 ± 3.20% (n=6), respectively, which was maintained even on storage for one year under refrigerated conditions as an aqueous dispersion. In vitro release in 0.01 M phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) with 3% tween 80 was extended 12 times from 2h for free ATRA to 24 h for ATRA-SLNs depicting Korsmeyer Peppas release. Oral administration in rats showed 35.03 times enhanced bioavailability for ATRA-SLNs. Conclusion:: Present work reports preparation and evaluation of bioenhanced ATRA-SLNs containing a high concentration of ATRA (>15 times than that reported by others). Latter is attributed to the novel preparation process and intelligent selection of components. Lay Summary: All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) shows an array of pharmacological activities but its efficacy is limited due to poor solubility, stability and side effects. In present study its solubility and efficacy is improved by 787 and 35.5 times, respectively upon incorporation into solid lipid nanoparticles (ATRA-SLNs). Latter extended its release by 12 times and provided stability for at least a year under refrigeration. A controlled and sustained release will reduce dose related side effects. ATRA-SLNs reported presently can thus be used in treatment /prophylaxis of disorders like cancers, tuberculosis, age related macular degeneration and acne and as an immune-booster.


2008 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Hussain ◽  
Muhammad Malik ◽  
Lanbo Shi ◽  
Maria Laura Gennaro ◽  
Karl Drlica

ABSTRACT An in vitro model of mycobacterial growth arrest was developed using Mycobacterium bovis BCG. When an exponentially growing culture was transferred to an evacuated tube, growth continued; treatment with a source of nitric oxide (diethylenetriamine-nitric oxide adduct [DETA-NO] at 50 μM) halted growth immediately, and aeration restored growth. When the period of growth arrest exceeded 4 h, a time lag occurred before aeration could restore growth. The lag time was maximal (24 h) after 16 h of growth arrest. These time lags indicated that one transition period was required for cells to achieve full arrest of growth and another for them to recover fully from growth arrest. DETA-NO-induced growth arrest failed to protect from the lethal effects of anaerobic shock, which caused rapid lysis of both growing and growth-arrested cells. While growth arrest had little effect on the lethal action of rifampin, it eliminated isoniazid lethality. Growth arrest reduced but did not eliminate fluoroquinolone lethality. Two fluoroquinolones, moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin, were equally lethal to exponentially growing cells, but moxifloxacin was more active during growth arrest. This difference is attributed to the fluoroquinolone C-7 ring structure, the only difference between the compounds. Collectively these data characterize a new system for halting mycobacterial growth that may be useful for evaluating new antituberculosis agents.


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