Curcumin Transferosome-Loaded Thermosensitive Intranasal in situ Gel as Prospective Antiviral Therapy for SARS-Cov-2.

Purpose: Immunomodulatory and broad-spectrum antiviral activities have motivated the evaluation of curcumin for Coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) management. Inadequate bioavailability is the main impediment to the therapeutic effects of oral Cur. This study aimed to develop an optimal curcumin transferosome-loaded thermosensitive in situ gel to improve its delivery to the lungs. Methods: Transferosomes were developed by using 33 screening layouts. The phospholipid concentration as well as the concentration and type of surfactant were considered independent variables. The entrapment efficiency (EE%), size, surface charge, and polydispersity index (PDI) were regarded as dependent factors. A cold technique was employed to develop thermosensitive in-situ gels. Optimized transferosomes were loaded onto the selected gels. The produced gel was assessed based on shape attributes, ex vivo permeability enhancement, and the safety of the nasal mucosa. The in vitro cytotoxicity, antiviral cytopathic effect, and plaque assay (CV/CPE/Plaque activity), and in vivo performance were evaluated after intranasal administration in experimental rabbits. Results: The optimized preparation displayed a particle size of 664.3 ± 69.3 nm, EE% of 82.8 ± 0.02%, ZP of -11.23 ± 2.5 mV, and PDI of 0.6 ± 0.03. The in vitro curcumin release from the optimized transferosomal gel was markedly improved compared with that of the free drug-loaded gel. An ex vivo permeation study revealed a significant improvement (2.58-fold) in drug permeability across nasal tissues of sheep. Histopathological screening confirmed the safety of these preparations. This formulation showed high antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 at reduced concentrations. High relative bioavailability (226.45%) was attained after the formula intranasally administered to rabbits compared to the free drug in-situ gel. The curcumin transferosome gel displayed a relatively high lung accumulation after intranasal administration. Conclusion: This study provides a promising formulation for the antiviral treatment of COVID-19 patients, which can be evaluated further in preclinical and clinical studies.

Innovative HPTLC method for simultaneous determination of ternary mixture of certain DMARDs in real samples of rheumatoid arthritis patients: an application of quality by design approach.

A uniquely developed high performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method coupled with UV detection was applied using quality by design approach (QbD) for simultaneous determination of methotrexate (MTX), sulfasalazine (SSZ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in serum and urine samples of rheumatoid arthritis patients. MTX, SSZ with HCQ are the most common disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) combination used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. This ternary mixture with montelukast (MK) added as internal standard, were separated by using a mixture of ethyl acetate: methanol: 25% ammonia, (8: 2: 3, v/v/v) as a mobile phase system. The separation was achieved on HPTLC precoated silica gel plate 60 F254 and the detection was carried out at 306 nm for MTX and at 340 nm for both SSZ and HCQ. The design was planned to obtain the most optimum retardation factors (Rf) with best resolution. The Rf values for MTX, SSZ, MK and HCQ were of 0.31 ±â€¯0.03, 0.62 ±â€¯0.02, 0.71 ±â€¯0.02 and 0.83 ±â€¯0.03; respectively. The interactive response optimizer achieved the most favorable conditions with acceptable composite desirability of 0.9703. Linear relationship with good correlation coefficients (r = 0.9990-0.9994) were also obtained with detection and quantification limits of 13.94-260.64 and 46.84-1810.01(ng/ml); respectively. The suggested method was established in accordance with the guidelines of Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The established QbD-HPTLC method achieved simple, sensitive and selective quantification of the studied drugs in serum and urine samples in the presence of their metabolites with no interferences. This method can be extended effectively for therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacokinetics studies of these drugs.

Two validated spectrofluorometric methods for determination of gemifloxacin mesylate in tablets and human plasma.

Two new, sensitive, and selective spectrofluorometric methods were developed for the determination of gemifloxacin mesylate (GFX) in tablets and spiked human plasma. Method A was based on measurement of the enhanced fluorescence spectral behaviour of GFX in a sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) micellar system. In aqueous solution of acetate buffer pH 5.5, the fluorescence intensity of GFX was greatly enhanced about tenfold in the presence of SDS. The fluorescence intensity was measured at 402 nm after excitation at 274 nm. Method B was based on Hantzsch condensation reaction between the primary amino group of GFX with acetylacetone and formaldehyde in acetate buffer of pH 3.5 yielding a highly yellow fluorescent derivative. The reaction of GFX with acetylacetone-formaldehyde system solution resulted in bathochromic shift of both emission (476 nm) and excitation (420 nm) wavelengths. The fluorescence intensity was directly proportional to the concentration over the range 10-1000 ng/ml and 100-2000 ng/ml for method A and B, respectively. The proposed methods were applied successfully for determination of GFX in its tablets and spiked plasma. Therefore, these methods can be considered of real interest for reliable and practical quality control analysis of GFX.