PLGA nanoparticles of a new cinnamic acid derivative inhibits cellular proliferation on breast cancer cell line MCF-7 in a PPARγ dependent way.

Currently, cancer treatments are highly invasive, and they have been associated with a lot of adverse effects that put patient integrity at risk. Therefore, research of novel molecules and delivery systems capable of achieving a therapeutic effect that modifies inhibits and reduces the proliferative activity in cancer cells and, at the same time, reduce adverse effects associated with conventional therapies is imperative. In this study, we analyzed the biological effect of a novel cinnamic acid derivative, 3,4-dichlorobencil-p-phenoxylcilamide, in polymeric nanoparticles over MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The nanoparticulated system showed an inhibitory influence over cellular metabolism at equal or higher concentrations than 25 µM of 3,4-dichlorobencil-p-phenoxylcilamide, which is associated with PPARγ transcriptional activity, in addition to the decrease in the proliferation antigen Ki-67 basal levels. Those results position this kind of nanoscale system as an alternative on breast cancer treatment and lay the basis for research on the action mechanism associated with its cellular metabolism modulation and relationship with another hallmark on breast cancer cellular models.

The tape-stripping technique as a method for drug quantification in skin.

Quantification of drugs within the skin is essential for topical and transdermal delivery research. Over the last two decades, horizontal sectioning, consisting of tape stripping throughout the stratum corneum, has become one of the traditional investigative techniques. Tape stripping of human stratum corneum is widely used as a method for studying the kinetics and penetration depth of drugs. This paper shows the applications of the tape stripping technique to quantify drug penetration through the skin, underlining its versatile application in the area of topical and transdermal drugs.

Applications of thermo-reversible pluronic F-127 gels in pharmaceutical formulations.

It is, sometimes, desirable to maintain a constant plasma drug concentration within the therapeutically effective concentration range. The use of high viscosity hydromiscible vehicles such as hydrophilic gels, is one of various approaches for controlled drug delivery, and represents an important area of pharmaceutical research and development. Of these systems, Pluronic F-127 (PF-127) provides the pharmacist with an excellent drug delivery system for a number of routes of administration and is compatible with many different substances. Gels containing penetration enhancers have proven to be especially popular for administering anti-inflammatory medications since they are relatively easy to prepare and very efficacious.