Development and Characterization of Novel Chitosan-Coated Curcumin Nanophytosomes for Treating Drug-Resistant Malaria.

This study aimed at enhancing the efficacy of curcumin (CR) by formulating and coating it with chitosan. In silico molecular docking studies revealed that CR exhibited almost similar and low binding energies when compared to artemisinin, indicating high stability at the target site. It can be confirmed that CR is effective in treating and reducing Plasmodium falciparum parasites. Fourier transform infrared studies confirmed that there was a shift and disappearance of some drug peaks in the formulation which revealed complexation with phospholipids. The F2EXT3-developed formulation exhibited greater solubility (24.31 ± 3.47 µg/mL) when compared to pure CR (7.99 ± 1.95 µg/mL). Proton nuclear magnetic resonance studies confirmed the formation of Curcumin-phospholipid hydrogen bonding in F2EXT3. The in vitro drug release studies revealed that the developed formulation F2EXT3 exhibited better drug release at 71.98% at 48 h; this might be due to the effective entrapment efficiency of the drug inside the phospholipid, presence of polyethylene glycol 4000 and chitosan further assisted in sustained release of the drug. Scanning electron microscopy studies revealed that optimized F2EXT3 CR nanophytosomes were nearly spherical with narrow size distribution and smooth surface. The zeta potential of the F2EXT3 showed -3.5 mV. Stability studies revealed that the formulation remained stable even after 6 months. It was observed from the hemin assay that CR and F2EXT3 exhibited (50 µg/mL curcumin) exhibited IC50 values of 47 ± 2.45 and 22 ± 1.58 µM, respectively. Further in vivo antimalarial activity on resistant and sensitive strains needs to be performed to evaluate the efficacy of the developed formulation.

Insights on recent approaches in drug discovery strategies and untapped drug targets against drug resistance.

BACKGROUND: Despite the various strategies undertaken in the clinical practice, the mortality rate due to antibiotic-resistant microbes has been markedly increasing worldwide. In addition to multidrug-resistant (MDR) microbes, the "ESKAPE" bacteria are also emerging. Of course, the infection caused by ESKAPE cannot be treated even with lethal doses of antibiotics. Now, the drug resistance is also more prevalent in antiviral, anticancer, antimalarial and antifungal chemotherapies. MAIN BODY: To date, in the literature, the quantum of research reported on the discovery strategies for new antibiotics is remarkable but the milestone is still far away. Considering the need of the updated strategies and drug discovery approaches in the area of drug resistance among researchers, in this communication, we consolidated the insights pertaining to new drug development against drug-resistant microbes. It includes drug discovery void, gene paradox, transposon mutagenesis, vitamin biosynthesis inhibition, use of non-conventional media, host model, target through quorum sensing, genomic-chemical network, synthetic viability to targets, chemical versus biological space, combinational approach, photosensitization, antimicrobial peptides and transcriptome profiling. Furthermore, we optimally briefed about antievolution drugs, nanotheranostics and antimicrobial adjuvants and then followed by twelve selected new feasible drug targets for new drug design against drug resistance. Finally, we have also tabulated the chemical structures of potent molecules against antimicrobial resistance. CONCLUSION: It is highly recommended to execute the anti-drug resistance research as integrated approach where both molecular and genetic research needs to be as integrative objective of drug discovery. This is time to accelerate new drug discovery research with advanced genetic approaches instead of conventional blind screening.

A stability-indicating RP-HPLC method for the quantitative analysis of meclizine hydrochloride in tablet dosage form.

A specific stability-indicating reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed and validated for the estimation of meclizine hydrochloride (MEC) in tablet dosage form. The HPLC method has shown adequate separation of MEC from their degradation products. The separation was achieved on a C8 (250 mm×4.6 mm×5 µm) column using a mobile phase composition of 0.2% triethylamine in water and methanol in the ratio of 65:35(pH adjusted to 3.0 with orthophosphoric acid) with a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The wavelength of a photo-diode array detector was kept at 229 nm. Stress studies were performed initially under milder conditions followed by stronger conditions so as to get sufficient degradation around 5-20%. There were six degradation products observed with adequate separation from the analyte peak. Among those detected degradation products, structures of four degradation products were verified by comparison with known impurities of meclizine analogs. The method was validated as per the International Conference on Harmonization (Q2) guidelines. The method was specific, selective, accurate and precise to quantify meclizine in the presence of degradation products.