Biosurfactants as a Novel Additive in Pharmaceutical Formulations: Current Trends and Future Implications.

BACKGROUND: Surfactants are an important category of additives that are used widely in most of the formulations as solubilizers, stabilizers, and emulsifiers. Current drug delivery systems comprise of numerous synthetic surfactants (such as Cremophor EL, polysorbate 80, Transcutol-P), which are associated with several side effects though used in many formulations. Therefore, to attenuate the problems associated with conventional surfactants, a new generation of surface-active agents is obtained from the metabolites of fungi, yeast, and bacteria, which are termed as biosurfactants. OBJECTIVES: In this article, we critically analyze the different types of biosurfactants, their origin along with their chemical and physical properties, advantages, drawbacks, regulatory status, and detailed pharmaceutical applications. METHODS: 243 papers were reviewed and included in this review. RESULTS: Briefly, Biosurfactants are classified as glycolipids, rhamnolipids, sophorolipids, trehalolipids, surfactin, lipopeptides & lipoproteins, lichenysin, fatty acids, phospholipids, and polymeric biosurfactants. These are amphiphilic biomolecules with lipophilic and hydrophilic ends and are used as drug delivery vehicles (foaming, solubilizer, detergent, and emulsifier) in the pharmaceutical industry. Despite additives, they have some biological activity as well (anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-microbial, P-gp inhibition, etc.). These biomolecules possess better safety profiles and are biocompatible, biodegradable, and specific at different temperatures. CONCLUSION: Biosurfactants exhibit good biomedicine and additive properties that can be used in developing novel drug delivery systems. However, more research should be driven due to the lack of comprehensive toxicity testing and high production cost which limits their use.

Nanoparticles as Theranostic Vehicles in Experimental and Clinical Applications-Focus on Prostate and Breast Cancer.

Prostate and breast cancer are the second most and most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and women worldwide, respectively. The American Cancer Society estimates that during 2016 in the USA around 430,000 individuals were diagnosed with one of these two types of cancers, and approximately 15% of them will die from the disease. In Europe, the rate of incidences and deaths are similar to those in the USA. Several different more or less successful diagnostic and therapeutic approaches have been developed and evaluated in order to tackle this issue and thereby decrease the death rates. By using nanoparticles as vehicles carrying both diagnostic and therapeutic molecular entities, individualized targeted theranostic nanomedicine has emerged as a promising option to increase the sensitivity and the specificity during diagnosis, as well as the likelihood of survival or prolonged survival after therapy. This article presents and discusses important and promising different kinds of nanoparticles, as well as imaging and therapy options, suitable for theranostic applications. The presentation of different nanoparticles and theranostic applications is quite general, but there is a special focus on prostate cancer. Some references and aspects regarding breast cancer are however also presented and discussed. Finally, the prostate cancer case is presented in more detail regarding diagnosis, staging, recurrence, metastases, and treatment options available today, followed by possible ways to move forward applying theranostics for both prostate and breast cancer based on promising experiments performed until today.

Allergic contact dermatitis from the vehicle components of topical pharmaceutical products.

The local application of pharmaceutical products may induce skin adverse reactions, including allergic contact dermatitis. Indeed, pharmaceutical products are, in general, applied on diseased or inflamed skin, the barrier function of which is often incapacitated, leading to enhanced skin penetration of the applied chemicals. Under these circumstances, even weak allergens are in such cases able to induce sensitization. The contact allergens in topical pharmaceutical products concern active principles and vehicle components, the latter of which are discussed in this article.

The topical vehicle as a key factor in the management of the psoriatic patients' therapy.

This review deals with the importance of the topical vehicle as a key factor in the management of the psoriatic patients' therapy.

Vehicle influence on potassium replacement effectiveness in hypokalemic rats.

INTRODUCTION: Patients who undergo cardiac surgery are commonly treated with diuretic therapy for the management of volume overload. The concern of hypokalemia important in the adult population submitted to cardiac surgery has been described. Intravenous potassium (K+) replacement dilution is only recommended with sodium chloride 0.9% solution (SF0.9%), likely due to the putative effects of glucose solution 5% (SG5%) on insulin secretion, which influence K+ replacement quality. However, it is not yet experimentally proved the influence of SF0.9% and SG5% on K+ replacement quality. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of different vehicles of K+ replacement on blood K+ levels in furosemide hypokalemic rats. METHODS: Male Wistar rats divided into four groups: K++SF, K++SG, SF and SG. Jugular vein was cannulation for K+ replacement and femoral vein was cannulated for blood analysis were performed. Furosemide (50mg/kg) was injected S.C. to induce hypokalemia. It was analyzed potassium plasmatic levels 24 hours before furosemide injection, 24 hours after furosemide injection and 30 minutes after post-replacement. RESULTS: There was no significative difference in blood K+ levels when compared to the basal values (pre-furosemide) in all groups. However, the levels [K+] returned to baseline in both groups receiving K++SF or K++SG, which was not observed in groups receiving only SF and SG. Only K+SF presented increased after K+ replacement (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: K+ replacement diluted both in SF and SG did not affect blood K+ levels in rats.