A Sensitive Spectrofluorimetric Method for Curcumin Analysis.

Curcumin (CUR), a natural polyphenolic compound extracted from the rhizomes of Curcuma longa, is used as a pharmaceutical agent, spice in food, and as a dye. Currently, CUR is being investigated for cancer treatment in Phase-II clinical trials. CUR also possesses excellent activities like anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-oxidant, therefore quality control is crucial. The present research work was to develop a new, simple, validated and time-saving rapid 96-well plate spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of CUR. The developed method was compared with routinely used high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique. The developed method were found to be linear in the concentration range of 15 to 3900 ng/mL with R2 ≥ 0.9983 for spectrofluorimetric and 50-7500 ng/mL with R2 ≥ 0.9999 for HPLC method. Accuracy, intraday and interday precision was adequate, with RSD lower than the suggested limits. The limits for the detection and the quantification of CUR were 7 and 15 ng/mL for spectrofluorimetric, and 25 and 50 ng/mL for HPLC respectively. The Bland-Altman analysis demonstrated the similarities between the two methods. The 96-well plate method was successfully applied to determine CUR in solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and chitosan nanoparticles (Chi-NPs). The developed spectrofluorimetric method can hence serve as a possible replacement for the HPLC method for the quantification of CUR in healthcare and food products.

Next-generation contact lenses: Towards bioresponsive drug delivery and smart technologies in ocular therapeutics.

In contrast to the conventional ocular formulations, contact lenses are well known for their diverse applications ranging from bio-sensing, prevention of myopia, cosmetics, and drug delivery. With a tremendous change in the lifestyle, contact lenses for therapeutic purposes have increased several fold. Contact lenses as medicated lenses suffer from several disadvantages, and to overcome the same numerous approaches have been explored. Researches worldwide have come a long way from cyclodextrin-based and vitamin E-based modified contact lenses to bioinspired approaches to enhance the effectiveness of the drug-eluting contact lenses. The bioinspired approach exploits bioinspired polymeric systems to enhance biocompatibility, specific molecule recognition technique by molecular imprinting, or stimuli-responsive system to improve the biocompatibility, drug loading, and drug delivery efficacy of the drug-eluting contact lenses. Moreover, recent innovations in ocular therapeutics such as nanowafers and microneedle contact lenses, and ocular patches have gained tremendous attention in ocular therapeutics. Another potential application of the contact lenses are smart lenses applied in the biosensing and diagnosis of various ocular disorders. The review summarizes and discusses the widespread therapeutic applications of next-generation contact lenses and various fabrication approaches, including its clinical implications, efforts taken by researchers in exploring the novel materials and diverse forms of the lenses, mechanisms of drug release, clinical trials, and their toxicity and safety concerns.

Lipid vesicles: A versatile drug delivery platform for dermal and transdermal applications.

Topical and transdermal application of active pharmaceutical ingredients to the skin is an attractive strategy being explored by formulation scientists to treat disease conditions rather than the oral drug delivery. Several approaches have been attempted, and many of them have emerged with significant clinical potential. However, the delivery of drugs across the skin is an arduous task due to permeation limiting barriers. It, therefore, requires the aid of external agents or carrier systems for efficient permeation. Lipid-based vesicular systems are carriers for the transport of drugs through the stratum corneum (dermal drug delivery) and into the bloodstream for systemic action (transdermal drug delivery) overcoming the barrier properties. This review article describes the various vesicular systems reported for skin delivery of actives with relevant case studies. The vesicular systems presented here are in the order of their advent from conventional systems to the advanced lipid vesicles. The design and development of drugs in vesicular systems have brought a new dimension to the treatment of disease conditions overcoming the permeation limiting barriers, thus improving its efficacy.

Investigation of drug-polymer miscibility, biorelevant dissolution, and bioavailability improvement of Dolutegravir-polyvinyl caprolactam-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylene glycol graft copolymer solid dispersions.

The aim of the current study was to prepare the efficacious amorphous solid dispersion of poorly water-soluble compound, Dolutegravir. After theoretical and experimental determination of drug-polymer miscibility, polyvinyl caprolactam-polyvinyl acetate-polyethylne glycol graft copolymer was chosen as a polymer. The solid dispersions of Dolutegravir were prepared by quench cooling and solvent evaporation method. Though quench cooling successfully stabilized the drug into amorphous form, solvent evaporation technique failed to render the drug completely amorphous. Owing to the negative Gibbs free energy at room temperature, the prepared dispersions were found stable at room temperature for 60 days. To resolve the overlapping contribution of micellar solubilization and amorphicity in improving the dissolution characteristics of Dolutegravir, the in vitro dissolution studies were performed in USP phosphate buffer as well as bio-relevant media. The dissolution advantage between prepared dispersions and pure drug in USP phosphate buffer was found bridged in the bio-relevant media. For this, the micellar solubilization driven dissolution of Dolutegravir in the presence of bile and lecithin micelles was thought as a contributing factor. Nevertheless, the dissolution advantage of dispersions prepared by quench cooling method was found endured in FeSSIF, which was thought to be due to its amorphicity leading to molecular level dissolution. Subsequently, the dissolution advantage was translated into the improved flux. Further, in vivo oral bioavailability was investigated for the dispersion prepared by quench cooling by using crystalline Dolutegravir as a control. The overall exposure of Dolutegravir was improved by 1.7 fold (AUC), while the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) demonstrated 2 fold increase after comparing with crystalline Dolutegravir.

Nanostructured lipid carriers for the topical delivery of tretinoin.

Cosmetic skin care products currently in the market demonstrate an increasing trend toward antiaging products. Selection of the right formulation approach is the key to successful consumer acceptance. Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) for dermal application can render added benefits to the formulation. Tretinoin a derivative of vitamin A, is a retinoid with anti-aging and anti-acne potential. The present study was aimed at formulating NLCs of tretinoin for reducing the skin irritation potential, increasing the drug loading capacity and prolonging the duration of action. The NLCs were optimized using the response surface methodology based on the particle size. Preliminary study, suggested the use of stearic acid, oleic acid, Tween 80 and Span 60 as solid lipid, liquid lipid and surfactants respectively formed a stable dispersion. NLCs of tretinoin were prepared by hot melt microemulsion and hot melt probe sonication methods. The properties of the optimized NLCs such as morphology, size, Zeta potential, stability and in vitro drug release were investigated. Tretinoin loaded NLCs in carbopol gel showed a sustained release pattern with isopropyl alcohol as the receptor fluid compared to the marketed gel using Franz diffusion cells. Eight prepared gel formulations tested were found to follow the Higuchi model of drug release. Stability studies indicated that the formulations stored at refrigeration and room temperature showed no noticeable differences in the drug content and release profiles in vitro, after a period of 4 weeks. In vivo skin irritation test on male Wister rats indicated no irritation or erythema after application of the NLCs loaded gel repeated for a period of 7 days compared to the application of marketed tretinoin gel which showed irritation and slight erythema within 3 days. The results showed that the irritation potential of tretinoin was reduced, the drug loading was increased and the drug release was prolonged by the incorporation into the NLCs.