Engineered Site-specific Vesicular Systems for Colonic Delivery: Trends and Implications.

Steering drug-loaded, site-specific, coated lipid vesicles to the target receptor sites have the potential of plummeting adverse effects and improving the pharmacological response in diverse pathologies of the large bowel, especially the colon. Colonic delivery via oral route has its own challenges, often governed by several glitches such as drug degradation or absorption in the upper GIT, instability of proteins/peptides due to high molecular weight, and peptidase activity in the stomach. Consequently, colon-specific coated liposomal systems (CSLS) offer a potential alternate for not only site-specificity, but protection from proteolytic activity, and prolonged residence time for greater systemic bioavailability. On the other hand, liposomal delivery via the oral route is also cumbersome owing to several barriers such as instability in GIT, difficulty in crossing membranes, and issues related to production at the pilot scale. New advancements in the field of CSLS have successfully improved the stability and permeability of liposomes for oral delivery via modulating the compositions of lipid bilayers, adding polymers or ligands. Despite this ostensible propitiousness, no commercial oral CSLS has advanced from bench to bedside for targeted delivery to the colon as yet. Nevertheless, CSLS has quite fascinated the manufacturers owing to its potential industrial viability, simplistic and low-cost design. Hence, this review aims to decipher the convolutions involved in the engineering process of industrially viable CSLS for colonic delivery.

Evaluation of sanitizing efficacy of acetic acid on Piper betle leaves and its effect on antioxidant properties.

The sanitizing efficacy of acetic acid and its effect on health beneficial properties of Piper betle leaves were determined. Betel leaves artificially inoculated with Aeromonas, Salmonella and Yersinia were subjected to organic acid (citric acid, acetic acid and lactic acid) treatment. Pathogen populations reduced by 4 log upon individual inoculation and up to 2 log in a mixed cocktail following treatment with 2% acetic acid during storage up to 20 h at 28 degrees C, indicating a residual antimicrobial effect on pathogen during storage. Antioxidant potential ethanolic extracts of both raw and treated P. betle leaves were assayed for free radical scavenging activities against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydrazyl. Polyphenols, flavonoids and the reducing power of treated and untreated P. betle were also compared. No significant (P>0.05) changes were observed in antioxidant status; flavonoids, polyphenols and reducing power of treated betel leaves. Results indicate the feasibility of a simple intervention strategy for inactivating pathogens in edible leaves of P. betle.

Novel synergistic approach to exploit the bactericidal efficacy of commercial disinfectants on the biofilms of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium.

Combined effect of malic acid and ozone as sanitizer to inhibit the biofilm formation by Salmonella typhimurium on different food contact surfaces was investigated in this study. Different surfaces used in food industry including PVC pipes, polyethylene bags, plastic surfaces and fresh produce were analyzed for the biofilm formation by S. typhimurium ST1 and ST2. Malic acid alone was not able to inhibit biofilm formation in all the samples. However, combination of malic acid with ozone reduced the biofilm formation on plastic bags as well as on PVC pipes suggesting as an effective disinfectant for food contact surfaces. Five- and six-fold reduction in biofilm formation was observed in microtitre plates after 20 h and 40 h. Scanning electron micrographs of carrot and turnip showed control over the biofilms. Malic acid as sanitizer in food industry was effective for the complete inhibition of biofilm in carrot and other food contact surfaces, besides this, combined sanitizer (malic acid and ozone) was effective in turnip. Biofilms in food-processing industries can survive even after the sanitizer treatment and may represent reservoirs of product contamination leading to subsequent spoilage and/or food safety risks.