scholarly journals Transdermal Film Loaded with Garlic Oil-Acyclovir Nanoemulsion to Overcome Barriers for Its Use in Alleviating Cold Sore Conditions

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 669
Author(s):  
Alshaimaa M. Almehmady ◽  
Sarah A. Ali

The exponentially mounting cases of herpes simplex virus infection or cold sores have become a serious global concern. Acyclovir (ACV) and garlic oil (GO)-loaded lipid nanocarrier could be a promising therapeutic approach in alleviating cold sores, as well as limiting the biopharmaceutical constraints associated with ACV absorption and therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, the objective of the current research study was to formulate an ACV-GO self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (ACV-GO-SNEDDS) as transdermal films. The prepared SNEDDS was optimized using an experimental mixture design. The optimized ACV-GO SNEDDS was loaded in transdermal film and was evaluated for ex vivo skin permeation and in vivo pharmacokinetic prospects. An optimized ACV-GO SNEDDs formulation constituted of 10.4% (w/w) of GO, 64.8% (w/w) of surfactant mixture (Tween 20®-Span 20®); 24.8%(w/w) of co-surfactant (Propylene glycol®), and 200mg of ACV, respectively, were prepared and characterized for particle size (Y). The observed globule size of the optimized ACV-GO SNEDDS is 170 ± 13.45 nm. The results of stability studies indicated that the stability index of optimized ACV-GO-SNEDDS was more than 92 ± 3%. This optimized ACV-GO SNEDDS was loaded in hydroxypropyl cellulose transdermal film. The outcome of the ex vivo skin permeation study demonstrated a 2.3-fold augmented permeation of ACV from the optimized ACV-GO SNEDDS HPC transdermal film in comparison to the raw ACV transdermal film. There was a 3-fold increase in the relative bioavailability of the optimized ACV-GO SNEDDS transdermal film compared to the raw ACV-HPC film. The study findings confirmed that the ACV-GO SNEDDS transdermal film exhibited excellent potential to enhance the bioavailability of ACV.

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iman S. Ahmed ◽  
Osama S. Elnahas ◽  
Nouran H. Assar ◽  
Amany M. Gad ◽  
Rania El Hosary

With the alarming rise in incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the scarcity of newly developed antibiotics, it is imperative that we design more effective formulations for already marketed antimicrobial agents. Fusidic acid (FA), one of the most widely used antibiotics in the topical treatment of several skin and eye infections, suffers from poor water-solubility, sub-optimal therapeutic efficacy, and a significant rise in FA-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (FRSA). In this work, the physico-chemical characteristics of FA were modified by nanocrystallization and lyophilization to improve its therapeutic efficacy through the dermal route. FA-nanocrystals (NC) were prepared using a modified nanoprecipitation technique and the influence of several formulation/process variables on the prepared FA-NC characteristics were optimized using full factorial statistical design. The optimized FA-NC formulation was evaluated before and after lyophilization by several in-vitro, ex-vivo, and microbiological tests. Furthermore, the lyophilized FA-NC formulation was incorporated into a cream product and its topical antibacterial efficacy was assessed in vivo using a rat excision wound infection model. Surface morphology of optimized FA-NC showed spherical particles with a mean particle size of 115 nm, span value of 1.6 and zeta potential of −11.6 mV. Differential scanning calorimetry and powder X-ray diffractometry confirmed the crystallinity of FA following nanocrystallization and lyophilization. In-vitro results showed a 10-fold increase in the saturation solubility of FA-NC while ex-vivo skin permeation studies showed a 2-fold increase in FA dermal deposition from FA-NC compared to coarse FA. Microbiological studies revealed a 4-fofd decrease in the MIC against S. aureus and S. epidermidis from FA-NC cream compared to commercial Fucidin cream. In-vivo results showed that FA-NC cream improved FA distribution and enhanced bacterial exposure in the infected wound, resulting in increased therapeutic efficacy when compared to coarse FA marketed as Fucidin cream.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2150
Author(s):  
Waleed Y. Rizg ◽  
Khaled M. Hosny ◽  
Samar S. Elgebaly ◽  
Abdulmohsin J. Alamoudi ◽  
Raed I. Felimban ◽  
...  

Alopecia areata is a scarless, localized hair loss disorder that is typically treated with topical formulations that ultimately only further irritate the condition. Hence, the goal of this study was to develop a nanoemulsion with a base of garlic oil (GO) and apple cider vinegar (APCV) and loaded with minoxidil (MX) in order to enhance drug solubilization and permeation through skin. A distance coordinate exchange quadratic mixture design was used to optimize the proposed nanoemulsion. Span 20 and Tween 20 mixtures were used as the surfactant, and Transcutol was used as the co-surfactant. The developed formulations were characterized for their droplet size, minoxidil steady-state flux (MX Jss) and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against Propionibacterium acnes. The optimized MX-GO-APCV nanoemulsion had a droplet size of 110 nm, MX Jss of 3 μg/cm2 h, and MIC of 0.275 μg/mL. The optimized formulation acquired the highest ex vivo skin permeation parameters compared to MX aqueous dispersion, and varying formulations lacked one or more components of the proposed nanoemulsion. GO and APCV in the optimized formulation had a synergistic, enhancing activity on the MX permeation across the skin membrane, and the percent permeated increased from 12.7% to 41.6%. Finally, the MX-GO-APCV nanoemulsion followed the Korsmeyer–Peppas model of diffusion, and the value of the release exponent (n) obtained for the formulations was found to be 1.0124, implying that the MX permeation followed Super case II transport. These results demonstrate that the MX-GO-APCV nanoemulsion formulation could be useful in promoting MX activity in treating alopecia areata.


Author(s):  
Y Madhusudan Rao ◽  
Gayatri P ◽  
Ajitha M ◽  
P. Pavan Kumar ◽  
Kiran kumar

Present investigation comprises the study of ex-vivo skin flux and in-vivo pharmacokinetics of Thiocolchicoside (THC) from transdermal films. The films were fabricated by solvent casting technique employing combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymers. A flux of 18.08 µg/cm2h and 13.37µg/cm2h was achieved for optimized formulations containing 1, 8-cineole and oleic acid respectively as permeation enhancers. The observed flux values were higher when compared to passive control (8.66 µg/cm2h). Highest skin permeation was observed when 1,8-cineole was used as chemical permeation enhancer and it considerably (2-2.5 fold) improved the THC transport across the rat skin. In vivo studies were performed in rabbits and samples were analysed by LC-MS-MS. The mean area under the curve (AUC) values of transdermal film showed about 2.35 times statistically significant (p<0.05) improvement in bioavailability when compared with the oral administration of THC solution. The developed transdermal therapeutic systems using chemical permeation enhancers were suitable for drugs like THC in effective management of muscular pain.    


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divya Thakur ◽  
Gurpreet Kaur ◽  
Sheetu Wadhwa ◽  
Ashana Puri

Background: Metronidazole (MTZ) is an anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory agent with beneficial therapeutic properties. The hydrophilic nature of molecule limits its penetration across the skin. Existing commercial formulations have limitations of inadequate drug concentration present at target site, which requires frequent administration and poor patient compliance. Objective: The aim of current study was to develop and evaluate water in oil microemulsion of Metronidazole with higher skin retention for treatment of inflammatory skin disorders. Methods: Pseudo ternary phase diagrams were used in order to select the appropriate ratio of surfactant and co-surfactant and identify the microemulsion area. The selected formulation consisted of Capmul MCM as oil, Tween 20 and Span 20 as surfactant and co-surfactant, respectively, and water. The formulation was characterized and evaluated for stability, Ex vivo permeation studies and in vivo anti-inflammatory effect (carrageenan induced rat paw edema, air pouch model), anti-psoriatic activity (mouse-tail test). Results: The particle size analyses revealed average diameter and polydispersity index of selected formulation to be 16 nm and 0.373, respectively. The results of ex vivo permeation studies showed statistically higher mean cumulative amount of MTZ retained in rat skin from microemulsion i.e. 21.90 ± 1.92 μg/cm2 which was 6.65 times higher as compared to Marketed gel (Metrogyl gel®) with 3.29 ± 0.11 μg/cm2 (p<0.05). The results of in vivo studies suggested the microemulsion based formulation of MTZ to be similar in efficacy to Metrogyl gel®. Conclusion: Research suggests efficacy of the developed MTZ loaded microemulsion in treatment of chronic skin inflammatory disorders.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
JL Reading ◽  
VD Roobrouck ◽  
CM Hull ◽  
PD Becker ◽  
J Beyens ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent clinical experience has demonstrated that adoptive regulatory T cell therapy is a safe and feasible strategy to suppress immunopathology via induction of host tolerance to allo- and autoantigens. However, clinical trials continue to be compromised due to an inability to manufacture a sufficient Treg cell dose. Multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCⓇ) promote regulatory T cell differentiation in vitro, suggesting they may be repurposed to enhance ex vivo expansion of Tregs for adoptive cellular therapy. Here, we use a GMP compatible Treg expansion platform to demonstrate that MAPC cell-co-cultured Tregs (MulTreg) exhibit a log-fold increase in yield across two independent cohorts, reducing time to target dose by an average of 30%. Enhanced expansion is linked with a distinct Treg cell-intrinsic transcriptional program, characterized by diminished levels of core exhaustion (BATF, ID2, PRDM1, LAYN, DUSP1), and quiescence (TOB1, TSC22D3) related genes, coupled to elevated expression of cell-cycle and proliferation loci (MKI67, CDK1, AURKA, AURKB). In addition, MulTreg display a unique gut homing (CCR7lo β7hi) phenotype and importantly, are more readily expanded from patients with autoimmune disease compared to matched Treg lines, suggesting clinical utility in gut and/or Th1-driven pathology associated with autoimmunity or transplantation. Relative to expanded Tregs, MulTreg retain equivalent and robust purity, FoxP3 TSDR demethylation, nominal effector cytokine production and potent suppression of Th1-driven antigen specific and polyclonal responses in vitro and xeno graft vs host disease (xGvHD) in vivo. These data support the use of MAPC cell co-culture in adoptive Treg therapy platforms as a means to rescue expansion failure and reduce the time required to manufacture a stable, potently suppressive product.


Antioxidants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Chool Boo

Controlling unwanted hyperpigmentation is a major challenge in dermatology and cosmetology, and safe and efficacious antimelanogenic agents are deemed useful for this purpose. p-Coumaric acid is a natural metabolite contained in many edible plants, and its antioxidant activities in reducing oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions have been demonstrated in various experimental models. p-Coumaric acid has the optimal structure to be a competitive inhibitor of tyrosinase that catalyzes key reactions in the melanin biosynthetic pathway. Experimental evidence supports this notion as it was found to be a more potent inhibitor of tyrosinase, especially toward human enzymes, than other well-known tyrosinase inhibitors such as arbutin and kojic acid. p-Coumaric acid inhibited melanin synthesis in murine melanoma cells, human epidermal melanocytes, and reconstituted three-dimensional human skin models. Ex-vivo skin permeation experiments and in-vivo efficacy tests for p-coumaric acid confirmed its efficient transdermal delivery and functional efficacy in reducing erythema development and skin pigmentation due to ultraviolet radiation exposure. Human studies further supported its effectiveness in hypopigmentation and depigmentation. These findings suggest that p-coumaric acid has good potential to be used as a skin-lightening active ingredient in cosmetics. Future studies are needed to extensively examine its safety and efficacy and to develop an optimized cosmetic formulation for the best performance in skin lightening.


Dose-Response ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 155932582092385
Author(s):  
Tarek A. Ahmed ◽  
Asmaa M. S. Alay ◽  
Solomon Z. Okbazghi ◽  
Nabil A. Alhakamy

Dapoxetine (DPX) is an orally administered drug for the treatment of premature ejaculation (PE). One of the challenges of administering DPX orally as a tablet is its poor bioavailability (ie, 42%) due to extensive first-pass metabolism. Thus, it is vital to develop a new formulation and mode of delivery to achieve the unmet needs of PE treatment. In this study, an optimized DPX polymeric nanoparticle (PNP) was developed and subsequently loaded into a transdermal film. The Box–Behnken design was utilized to optimize 3 formulation factors affecting the particle size and entrapment efficiency (EE) of chitosan (CS)-alginate (ALG) PNPs. A 3-level factorial design was used to study the effect of 2 variables affecting DPX cumulative percent released and percent elongation from transdermal films loaded with DPX-PNPs. Permeation parameters were calculated following ex vivo permeation study through rat skin. Transport of the PNPs across the skin layers was investigated using a fluorescence laser microscope. Results revealed that an optimized PNPs formulation was developed with a particle size 415.94 nm and EE 37.31%. Dapoxetine was successfully entrapped in the polymeric matrix. Chitosan and ALG interacted electrostatically with the studied cross-linking agents to form a polyelectrolyte complex. The ex vivo study illustrated a sustained release profile of DPX with enhanced skin permeation from the film loaded PNPs. Moreover, the PNPs was able to penetrate deeper into skin layers. Therefore, DPX transdermal film developed in this work could be considered as a successful drug delivery with better patient compliance for the treatment of PE.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 814
Author(s):  
Momoko Kitaoka ◽  
Atsushi Oka ◽  
Masahiro Goto

An increasing number of protein vaccines have been researched for cancer, inflammation, and allergy therapies. Most of the protein therapeutics are administered through injection because orally-administered proteins are metabolized by the digestive system. Although transdermal administration has received increasing attention, the natural barrier formed by the skin is an obstacle. Monoolein is a common skin penetration enhancer that facilitates topical and transdermal drug delivery. Conventionally, it has been used in an aqueous vehicle, often with polyhydric alcohols. In the current study, monoolein was dissolved in an oil vehicle, isopropyl myristate, to facilitate the skin permeation of powder proteins. The skin permeabilities of the proteins were examined in-vivo and ex-vivo. Monoolein concentration-dependently enhanced the skin permeation of proteins. The protein permeability correlated with the zeta potential of the macromolecules. Dehydration of the stratum corneum (SC), lipid extraction from the SC, and disordering of ceramides caused by monoolein were demonstrated through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic analysis and small-angle X-ray scattering analysis. An antigen model protein, ovalbumin from egg white, was delivered to immune cells in living mice, and induced antigen-specific IgG antibodies. The patch system showed the potential for transdermal vaccine delivery.


2017 ◽  
Vol 312 (1) ◽  
pp. E27-E36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Servane Le Plénier ◽  
Arthur Goron ◽  
Athanassia Sotiropoulos ◽  
Eliane Archambault ◽  
Chantal Guihenneuc ◽  
...  

Citrulline (CIT) is an endogenous amino acid produced by the intestine. Recent literature has consistently shown CIT to be an activator of muscle protein synthesis (MPS). However, the underlying mechanism is still unknown. Our working hypothesis was that CIT might regulate muscle homeostasis directly through the mTORC1/PI3K/MAPK pathways. Because CIT undergoes both interorgan and intraorgan trafficking and metabolism, we combined three approaches: in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro. Using a model of malnourished aged rats, CIT supplementation activated the phosphorylation of S6K1 and 4E-BP1 in muscle. Interestingly, the increase in S6K1 phosphorylation was positively correlated ( P < 0.05) with plasma CIT concentration. In a model of isolated incubated skeletal muscle from malnourished rats, CIT enhanced MPS (from 30 to 80% CIT vs. Ctrl, P < 0.05), and the CIT effect was abolished in the presence of wortmannin, rapamycin, and PD-98059. In vitro, on myotubes in culture, CIT led to a 2.5-fold increase in S6K1 phosphorylation and a 1.5-fold increase in 4E-BP1 phosphorylation. Both rapamycin and PD-98059 inhibited the CIT effect on S6K1, whereas only LY-294002 inhibited the CIT effect on both S6K1 and 4E-BP1. These findings show that CIT is a signaling agent for muscle homeostasis, suggesting a new role of the intestine in muscle mass control.


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