scholarly journals Medicinal Activities and Nanomedicine Delivery Strategies for Brucea javanica Oil and Its Molecular Components

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (22) ◽  
pp. 5414
Author(s):  
Bo Kyeong Yoon ◽  
Zheng Yi Lim ◽  
Won-Yong Jeon ◽  
Nam-Joon Cho ◽  
Jeong Hoon Kim ◽  
...  

Brucea javanica oil (BJO) is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat various types of cancer and inflammatory diseases. There is significant interest in understanding the medicinal activities of BJO and its molecular components, especially quassinoids, and in exploring how they can be incorporated into nanomedicine delivery strategies for improved application prospects. Herein, we cover the latest progress in developing different classes of drug delivery vehicles, including nanoemulsions, liposomes, nanostructured lipid carriers, and spongosomes, to encapsulate BJO and purified quassinoids. An introduction to the composition and medicinal activities of BJO and its molecular components, including quassinoids and fatty acids, is first provided. Application examples involving each type of drug delivery vehicle are then critically presented. Future opportunities for nanomedicine delivery strategies in the field are also discussed and considered within the context of translational medicine needs and drug development processes.

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (24) ◽  
pp. 5952
Author(s):  
Bwalya A. Witika ◽  
Pedzisai A. Makoni ◽  
Larry L. Mweetwa ◽  
Pascal V. Ntemi ◽  
Melissa T. R. Chikukwa ◽  
...  

The current COVID-19 pandemic has tested the resolve of the global community with more than 35 million infections worldwide and numbers increasing with no cure or vaccine available to date. Nanomedicines have an advantage of providing enhanced permeability and retention and have been extensively studied as targeted drug delivery strategies for the treatment of different disease. The role of monocytes, erythrocytes, thrombocytes, and macrophages in diseases, including infectious and inflammatory diseases, cancer, and atherosclerosis, are better understood and have resulted in improved strategies for targeting and in some instances mimicking these cell types to improve therapeutic outcomes. Consequently, these primary cell types can be exploited for the purposes of serving as a “Trojan horse” for targeted delivery to identified organs and sites of inflammation. State of the art and potential utilization of nanocarriers such as nanospheres/nanocapsules, nanocrystals, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles/nano-structured lipid carriers, dendrimers, and nanosponges for biomimicry and/or targeted delivery of bioactives to cells are reported herein and their potential use in the treatment of COVID-19 infections discussed. Physicochemical properties, viz., hydrophilicity, particle shape, surface charge, composition, concentration, the use of different target-specific ligands on the surface of carriers, and the impact on carrier efficacy and specificity are also discussed.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1407
Author(s):  
Courtney van Ballegooie ◽  
Alice Man ◽  
Alessia Pallaoro ◽  
Marcel Bally ◽  
Byron D. Gates ◽  
...  

Drug-delivery vehicles have been used extensively to modulate the biodistribution of drugs for the purpose of maximizing their therapeutic effects while minimizing systemic toxicity. The release characteristics of the vehicle must be balanced with its encapsulation properties to achieve optimal delivery of the drug. An alternative approach is to design a delivery vehicle that preferentially releases its contents under specific endogenous (e.g., tissue pH) or exogenous (e.g., applied temperature) stimuli. In the present manuscript, we report on a novel delivery system with potential for triggered release using external beam radiation. Our group evaluated Zein protein as the basis for the delivery vehicle and used radiation as the exogenous stimulus. Proteins are known to react with free radicals, produced during irradiation in aqueous suspensions, leading to aggregation, fragmentation, amino acid modification, and proteolytic susceptibility. Additionally, we incorporated gold particles into the Zein protein matrix to create hybrid Zein–gold nanoparticles (ZAuNPs). Zein-only nanoparticles (ZNPs) and ZAuNPs were subsequently exposed to kVp radiation (single dose ranging from 2 to 80 Gy; fractionated doses of 2 Gy delivered 10 times) and characterized before and after irradiation. Our data indicated that the presence of gold particles within Zein particles was correlated with significantly higher levels of alterations to the protein, and was associated with higher rates of release of the encapsulated drug compound, Irinotecan. The aggregate results demonstrated a proof-of-principle that radiation can be used with gold nanoparticles to modulate the release rates of protein-based drug-delivery vehicles, such as ZNPs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Arthi Jayaraman ◽  
Christopher Price ◽  
Millicent O. Sullivan ◽  
Kristi L. Kiick

Collagen-targeting strategies have proven to be an effective method for targeting drugs to pathological tissues for treatment of disease. The use of collagen-like peptides for controlling the assembly of drug delivery vehicles, as well as their integration into collagen-containing matrices, offers significant advantages for tuning the morphologies of assembled structures, their thermoresponsiveness, and the loading and release of both small-molecule and macro-molecular cargo. In this contribution, we summarize the design and development of collagen-peptide-based drug delivery systems introduced by the Kiick group and detail the expansion of our understanding and the application of these unique molecules through collaborations with experts in computational simulations (Jayaraman), osteoarthritis (Price), and gene delivery (Sullivan). Kiick was inducted as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2019 and was to deliver an address describing the innovations of her research. Given the cancellation of the NAI Annual Meeting as a result of coronavirus travel restrictions, her work based on collagen-peptide-mediated assembly is instead summarized in this contribution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 299-316
Author(s):  
T. K. Mandal ◽  
V. Patait

The present investigation deals with the fundamentals of nanorobots, its fabrication, and possible utilization in a different target-oriented drug delivery vehicles. Details of various types of nanorobots and their specific applications are studied in this research. The use of nanorobots in cancer treatment, target-oriented drug delivery, medical imaging, and in new health sensing devices has also been studied. The mechanism of action of nanorobots for the treatment of cancerous cells as well as the formulation and working functions of some recently studied nanorobots are investigated in this work. This paper reviews the research in finding the suitable nanorobotic materials, different fabrication processes of nanorobots, and the current status of application of nanorobots in biomedical, especially in the treatment of cancers. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have been observed to be used as novel drug delivery vehicle materials. The future perspectives of nanorobots for the utilization in drug delivery are also addressed herewith.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (42) ◽  
pp. 5533-5545
Author(s):  
Saeideh Nozohouri ◽  
Bhuvaneshwar Vaidya ◽  
Thomas J. Abbruscato

Ischemic stroke, a leading cause of mortality, results in severe neurological outcomes in the patients. Effective stroke therapies may significantly decrease the extent of injury. For this purpose, novel and efficient drug delivery strategies need to be developed. Among a myriad of therapeutic and drug delivery techniques, exosomes have shown promising results in ischemic stroke either by their intrinsic therapeutic characteristics, which can result in angiogenesis and neurogenesis or by acting as competent, biocompatible drug delivery vehicles to transport neurotherapeutic agents into the brain. In this review, we have discussed different methods of exosome isolation and cargo loading techniques, advantages and disadvantages of using exosomes as a drug delivery carrier and the therapeutic applications of exosomes with a focus on ischemic stroke therapy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 439-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merina Mariyam ◽  
Kajal Ghosal ◽  
Sabu Thomas ◽  
Nandakumar Kalarikkal ◽  
Mahima S. Latha

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-245
Author(s):  
Gang Wang ◽  
Junjie Wang ◽  
Rui Guan

Background: Owing to the rich anticancer properties of flavonoids, there is a need for their incorporation into drug delivery vehicles like nanomicelles for safe delivery of the drug into the brain tumor microenvironment. Objective: This study, therefore, aimed to prepare the phospholipid-based Labrasol/Pluronic F68 modified nano micelles loaded with flavonoids (Nano-flavonoids) for the delivery of the drug to the target brain tumor. Methods: Myricetin, quercetin and fisetin were selected as the initial drugs to evaluate the biodistribution and acute toxicity of the drug delivery vehicles in rats with implanted C6 glioma tumors after oral administration, while the uptake, retention, release in human intestinal Caco-2 cells and the effect on the brain endothelial barrier were investigated in Human Brain Microvascular Endothelial Cells (HBMECs). Results: The results demonstrated that nano-flavonoids loaded with myricetin showed more evenly distributed targeting tissues and enhanced anti-tumor efficiency in vivo without significant cytotoxicity to Caco-2 cells and alteration in the Trans Epithelial Electric Resistance (TEER). There was no pathological evidence of renal, hepatic or other organs dysfunction after the administration of nanoflavonoids, which showed no significant influence on cytotoxicity to Caco-2 cells. Conclusion: In conclusion, Labrasol/F68-NMs loaded with MYR and quercetin could enhance antiglioma effect in vitro and in vivo, which may be better tools for medical therapy, while the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of nano-flavonoids may ensure optimal therapeutic benefits.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 427
Author(s):  
Amin Mirzaaghasi ◽  
Yunho Han ◽  
So-Hee Ahn ◽  
Chulhee Choi ◽  
Ji-Ho Park

Exosomes have attracted considerable attention as drug delivery vehicles because their biological properties can be utilized for selective delivery of therapeutic cargoes to disease sites. In this context, analysis of the in vivo behaviors of exosomes in a diseased state is required to maximize their therapeutic potential as drug delivery vehicles. In this study, we investigated biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of HEK293T cell-derived exosomes and PEGylated liposomes, their synthetic counterparts, into healthy and sepsis mice. We found that biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of exosomes were significantly affected by pathophysiological conditions of sepsis compared to those of liposomes. In the sepsis mice, a substantial number of exosomes were found in the lung after intravenous injection, and their prolonged blood residence was observed due to the liver dysfunction. However, liposomes did not show such sepsis-specific effects significantly. These results demonstrate that exosome-based therapeutics can be developed to manage sepsis and septic shock by virtue of their sepsis-specific in vivo behaviors.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 3589
Author(s):  
Rui Liu ◽  
Alessandro Poma

Despite the tremendous efforts made in the past decades, severe side/toxic effects and poor bioavailability still represent the main challenges that hinder the clinical translation of drug molecules. This has turned the attention of investigators towards drug delivery vehicles that provide a localized and controlled drug delivery. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as novel and versatile drug delivery vehicles have been widely studied in recent years due to the advantages of selective recognition, enhanced drug loading, sustained release, and robustness in harsh conditions. This review highlights the design and development of strategies undertaken for MIPs used as drug delivery vehicles involving different drug delivery mechanisms, such as rate-programmed, stimuli-responsive and active targeting, published during the course of the past five years.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document