Revolutionizing Cancer Treatment: Biopolymer-Based Aerogels as Smart Platforms for Targeted Drug Delivery.

Cancer stands as a leading cause of global mortality, with chemotherapy being a pivotal treatment approach, either alone or in conjunction with other therapies. The primary goal of these therapies is to inhibit the growth of cancer cells specifically, while minimizing harm to healthy dividing cells. Conventional treatments, often causing patient discomfort due to side effects, have led researchers to explore innovative, targeted cancer cell therapies. Thus, biopolymer-based aerogels emerge as innovative platforms, showcasing unique properties that respond intelligently to diverse stimuli. This responsiveness enables precise control over the release of anticancer drugs, enhancing therapeutic outcomes. The significance of these aerogels lies in their ability to offer targeted drug delivery with increased efficacy, biocompatibility, and a high drug payload. In this comprehensive review, the author discuss the role of biopolymer-based aerogels as an emerging functionalized platforms in anticancer drug delivery. The review addresses the unique properties of biopolymer-based aerogels showing their smart behavior in responding to different stimuli including temperature, pH, magnetic and redox potential to control anticancer drug release. Finally, the review discusses the application of different biopolymer-based aerogel in delivering different anticancer drugs and also discusses the potential of these platforms in gene delivery applications.

Tailoring and optimization of a honey-based nanoemulgel loaded with an itraconazole-thyme oil nanoemulsion for oral candidiasis.

The use of essential oil-based nanoemulsions (NEs) has been the subject of extensive research on a variety of conditions affecting the oral cavity. NEs are delivery methods that improve the solubility and distribution of lipid medicines to the intended areas. Because of their antibacterial and antifungal properties, itraconazole and thyme oil-based self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS) were created to protect oral health against oral microorganisms. The ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS were created utilizing an extreme verices mixture design, and varying concentrations of ThO (10% and 25%), labrasol (40% and 70%), and transcutol (20% and 40%) were used. The ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS had droplet sizes of less than 250 nm, a drug-loading efficiency of up to 64%, and a fungal growth inhibition zone of up to 20 mm. The accepted design was used to obtain the ideal formulation, which contained ThO in the amount of 0.18 g/ml, labrasol 0.62 g/ml, and transcutol 0.2 g/ml. The best ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS formulation was incorporated into a honey-based gel, which demonstrated improved release of ItZ in vitro and improved transbuccal permeation ex vivo. In addition, when compared with various formulations tested in rats, the optimized loaded emulgel decreased the ulcer index. This study therefore demonstrated that the ItZ-ThO-SNEDDS could offer an effective defense against oral diseases caused by microbial infections.

Synthesis and Characterization of Calcium Alginate-Based Microspheres Entrapped with TiO2 Nanoparticles and Cinnamon Essential Oil Targeting Clinical Staphylococcus aureus.

It is important to create new generations of materials that can destroy multidrug-resistant bacterial strains, which are a serious public health concern. This study focused on the biosynthesis of an essential oil entrapped in titanium dioxide (TiO2) calcium alginate-based microspheres. In this research, calcium alginate-based microspheres with entrapped TiO2 nanoparticles and cinnamon essential oil (CI-TiO2-MSs) were synthesized, using an aqueous extract of Nigella sativa seeds for TiO2 nanoparticle preparation, and the ionotropic gelation method for microsphere preparation. The microspheres obtained were spherical, uniformly sized, microporous, and rough surfaced, and they were fully loaded with cinnamon essential oil and TiO2 nanoparticles. The synthesized microspheres were analyzed for antibacterial activity against the clinical multidrug-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus. Disc diffusion and flow cytometry analysis revealed strong antibacterial activity by CI-TiO2-MSs. The synthesized CI-TiO2-MSs were characterized by the SEM/EDX, X-ray diffraction, and FTIR techniques. Results showed that the TiO2 nanoparticles were spherical and 99 to 150 nm in size, whereas the CI-TiO2-MSs were spherical and rough surfaced. Apoptosis analysis and SEM micrography revealed that the CI-TiO2-MSs had strong bactericidal activity against S. aureus. The in vitro antibacterial experiments proved that the encapsulated CI-TiO2-MSs had strong potential for use as a prolonged controlled release system against multidrug-resistant clinical S. aureus.

In Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Cotula anthemoides Essential Oil and In Silico Molecular Docking of Its Bioactives.

The genus Cotula (Asteraceae) comprises about 80 species, amongst them Cotula anthemoides L. It is a wild plant growing in Egypt that possesses many traditional uses as a headache, colic, and chest cold remedy. In our study, the chemical composition of C. anthemoides essential oils was analyzed using GC-MS spectroscopy. Sixteen components of leave and stem oils and thirteen components of flower oils were characterized. The main components in both essential oil parts were camphor (88.79% and 86.45%) and trans-thujone (5.14% and 10.40%) in the leaves and stems and the flowers, respectively. The anti-inflammatory activity of the oils in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells was evaluated. The flower oil showed its predominant effect in the amelioration of proinflammatory cytokines and tumor necrosis factor-α, as well as cyclooxygenase-2. The bornyl acetate showed the highest affinity for the cyclooxygenase-2 receptor, while compound cis-p-menth-2-ene-1-ol had the best affinity for the tumor necrosis factor receptor, according to the results of molecular docking. In addition, the molecule cis-ß-farnesene showed promising dual affinity for both studied receptors. Our findings show that essential oils from C. anthemoides have anti-inflammatory properties through their control over the generation of inflammatory mediators. These findings suggest that C. anthemoides essential oils could lead to the discovery of novel sources of anti-inflammatory treatments.

Development and Optimization of Cinnamon Oil Nanoemulgel for Enhancement of Solubility and Evaluation of Antibacterial, Antifungal and Analgesic Effects against Oral Microbiota.

Oral health is a key contributor to a person's overall health and well-being. Oral microbiota can pose a serious threat to oral health. Thus, the present study aimed to develop a cinnamon oil (CO)-loaded nanoemulsion gel (NEG1) to enhance the solubilization of oil within the oral cavity, which will enhance its antibacterial, antifungal, and analgesic actions against oral microbiota. For this purpose, the CO-loaded nanoemulsion (CO-NE) was optimized using I-optimal response surface design. A mixture of Pluracare L44 and PlurolOleique CC 497 was used as the surfactant and Capryol was used as the co-surfactant. The optimized CO-NE had a globule size of 92 ± 3 nm, stability index of 95% ± 2%, and a zone of inhibition of 23 ± 1.5 mm. This optimized CO-NE formulation was converted into NEG1 using 2.5% hydroxypropyl cellulose as the gelling agent. The rheological characterizations revealed that the NEG1 formulation exhibited pseudoplastic behavior. The in vitro release of eugenol (the marker molecule for CO) from NEG1 showed an enhanced release compared with that of pure CO. The ex vivo mucosal permeation was found to be highest for NEG1 compared to the aqueous dispersion of CO-NE and pure cinnamon oil. The latency reaction time during the hot-plate test in rats was highest (45 min) for the NEG1 sample at all-time points compared with those of the other tested formulations. The results showed that the CO-NEG formulation could be beneficial in enhancing the actions of CO against oral microbiota, as well as relieving pain and improving overall oral health.

Oral gel loaded with penciclovir-lavender oil nanoemulsion to enhance bioavailability and alleviate pain associated with herpes labialis.

Herpes labialis, caused by herpes simplex virus type 1, is usually characterized by painful skin or mucosal lesions. Penciclovir (PV) tablets are found to be effective against herpes labialis but suffer from poor oral bioavailability. This study aimed to combine the benefits of PV and lavender oil (LO), which exhibits anesthetic activity, in the form of a self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) for the treatment of herpes labialis. Toward this purpose, LO (oil), Labrasol:Labrafil M1944 CS in the ratio of 6:4 (surfactant mixture), and Lauroglycol-FCC (co-surfactant, selected based on the solubility of PV) were evaluated as the independent factors using a distance quadratic mixture design. The formulation was optimized for the minimum globule size and maximum stability index and was determined to contain 14% LO, 40.5% Labrasol:Labrafil 1944 (6:4), and 45.5% Lauroglycol-FCC. The optimized PV-LO-SNEDDS was embedded in chitosan hydrogel and the resulting formulations coded by (O3) were prepared and evaluated. The rheological studies demonstrated a combined pseudoplastic and thixotropic behavior with the highest flux of PV permeation across sheep buccal mucosa. Compared to a marketed 1% PV cream, the O3 formulation exhibited a significantly higher and sustained PV release, nearly twice the PV permeability, and a relative bioavailability of 180%. Overall, results confirm that the O3 formulation can provide an efficient delivery system for PV to reach oral mucosa and subsequent prolonged PV release. Thus, the PV-LO-SNEDDS embedded oral gel is promising and can be further evaluated in clinical settings to establish its therapeutic use in herpes labialis.

Recent Trends in Assessment of Cellulose Derivatives in Designing Novel and Nanoparticulate-Based Drug Delivery Systems for Improvement of Oral Health.

Natural polymers are revolutionizing current pharmaceutical dosage forms design as excipient and gained huge importance because of significant influence in formulation development and drug delivery. Oral health refers to the health of the teeth, gums, and the entire oral-facial system that allows us to smile, speak, and chew. Since years, biopolymers stand out due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity, and stability. Polysaccharides such as cellulose and their derivatives possess properties like novel mechanical robustness and hydrophilicity that can be easily fabricated into controlled-release dosage forms. Cellulose attracts the dosage design attention because of constant drug release rate from the precursor nanoparticles. This review discusses the origin, extraction, preparation of cellulose derivatives and their use in formulation development of nanoparticles having multidisciplinary applications as pharmaceutical excipient and in drug delivery, as bacterial and plant cellulose have great potential for application in the biomedical area, including dentistry, protein and peptide delivery, colorectal cancer treatment, and in 3D printable dosage forms.

Oral Gel Loaded by Fluconazole‒Sesame Oil Nanotransfersomes: Development, Optimization, and Assessment of Antifungal Activity.

Candidiasis is one of the frequently encountered opportunistic infections in the oral cavity and can be found in acute and chronic presentations. The study aimed to develop fluconazole-loaded sesame oil containing nanotransfersomes (FS-NTF) by the thin-layer evaporation technique to improve the local treatment of oral candidiasis. Optimization of the formulation was performed using the Box‒Behnken statistical design to determine the variable parameters that influence the vesicle size, entrapment efficiency, zone of inhibition, and ulcer index. Finally, the formulated FS-NTF was embedded within the hyaluronic acid‒based hydrogel (HA-FS-NTF). The rheological behavior of the optimized HA-FS-NTF was assessed and the thixotropic behavior with the pseudoplastic flow was recorded; this is desirable for an oral application. An in vitro release study revealed the rapid release of fluconazole from the HA-FS-NTF. This was significantly higher when compared with the fluconazole suspension and hyaluronic acid hydrogel containing fluconazole. Correspondingly, the ex vivo permeation was also found to be higher in HA-FS-NTF in sheep buccal mucosa (400 µg/cm2) when compared with the fluconazole suspension (122 µg/cm2) and hyaluronic acid hydrogel (294 µg/cm2). The optimized formulation had an inhibition zone of 14.33 ± 0.76 mm and enhanced antifungal efficacy for the ulcer index (0.67 ± 0.29) in immunocompromised animals with Candida infection; these findings were superior to those of other tested formulations. Hence, it can be summarized that fluconazole can effectively be delivered for the treatment of oral candidiasis when it is entrapped in a nanotransfersome carrier and embedded into cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogel.