Fe(III)-Rhamnoxylan-A Novel High Spin Fe(III) Octahedral Complex Having Versatile Physical and Biological Properties.

An iron (III) complex with rhamnoxylan, a hemicellulose from Salvia plebeia seeds, was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopic and magnetic susceptibility measurements, thermal analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The rhamnoxylan was found to be a branched hemicellulose consisting of ß-1,4-linked xylose main chain and rhamnose attached to the chain at ß-1,3 positions. The complex was found to contain 18.8% w/w iron. A high-spin octahedral geometry of Fe3+ was indicated by the electronic absorption spectrum of the complex. In other experiments, the complex exhibited good electrical and magnetic properties. In vivo efficacy, as hematinic, of the complex in induced anemia was demonstrated equivalent to that of iron protein succinylate (taken as standard) as evidenced by raised red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit and total iron in rabbit. The complex was found to be non-toxic with LD50 > 5000 mg kg−1 body weight in rabbit. Thus, iron(III)-rhamnoxylan hold the potential for application as hematinic for treatment of iron deficiency anemia.

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.

Development of omega-3 loxoprofen-loaded nanoemulsion to limit the side effect associated with NSAIDs in treatment of tooth pain.

The majority of newly developed drugs need to be incorporated with delivery systems to maximize their effect and minimize side effects. Nanoemulsions (NEs) are one type of delivery system that helps to improve the solubility and dissolution of drugs, attempting to enhance their bioavailability and onset of action. The objective of this investigation was to develop an omega-3 oil-based NE loaded with loxoprofen (LXP) to enhance its dissolution, in vitro release, and mucosal penetration and decrease its mucosal ulcerative effects when applied in an oral treatment. LXP-loaded NEs were formulated with varying levels of omega-3 oil (10-30%), surfactant polyoxyethylene-C21-ethers (laureth-21) (40-60%), and co-surfactant polyethylene glycol-40 hydrogenated castor oil (HCO-40) (30-50%) using an extreme vertices mixture design. The developed NEs were characterized for globule size and drug loading capacity. The optimal formulation was tested for in vitro drug release, ex vivo permeation, and ulcer index value. The developed NE acquired a globule size ranging 71-195 nm and drug loading capacity of 43-87%. Considering the results of the in vitro release study, the optimized NE formulation achieved 2.45-fold and 2-fold increases in drug permeation across tested mucosa compared to a marketed tablet and drug aqueous dispersion, respectively. Moreover, the optimum NE exhibited the best ulcer index in comparison to drug aqueous suspension and different formulations when tested in rats. Overall, this research highlights the capacity of NEs to deliver LXP with enhanced solubility, drug release, and permeation while effectively protecting the application site from side effects of the model drug.

Enhanced full-thickness wound healing via Sophora gibbosa extract delivery based on a chitosan/gelatin dressing incorporating microemulsion.

There are many synthetic drugs in literature have been utilized in healing of the wounds although the natural product specially antioxidants can offer similar if not better biological activity in that regard. Genus Sophora is well known to contain flavonoids and phenolic compounds which have antioxidant and inflammatory effects. So, the aim of the current study was to develop and evaluate chitosan/gelatin based Sophora gibbosa extract-loaded microemulsion as wound dressing. Sophora gibbosa extract (SGE) contained 16 major compounds which have reasonable antioxidant activity. The developed microemulsion showed that Tween 80 produced significant (p < 0.05) lower particle size than Pluronic F127 at the same SGE concentration whereas high concentration of extract results in large particle size. Thermodynamic stability studies showed that using higher concentration of the extract produced less stable formulations. The selected formulation was impregnated in the dressing base (chitosan/gelatin; 2:1 w/w ratio) which exhibited more water absorption. In vivo evaluation revealed that the dressing displayed superior wound repair compared to the control in terms histological examination and determination of alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Thus, SGE-loaded microemulsion-impregnated gelatin/chitosan could be a potential candidate for the wound healing.