Efficiency of nanoparticles for treatment of ocular infections: Systematic literature review

Nanosuspensions in ophthalmology: Overcoming challenges and enhancing drug delivery for eye diseases

This review article provides a comprehensive overview of the advancements in using nanosuspensions for controlled drug delivery in ophthalmology. It highlights the significance of ophthalmic drug delivery due to the prevalence of eye diseases and delves into various aspects of this field. The article explores molecular mechanisms, drugs used, and physiological factors affecting drug absorption. It also addresses challenges in treating both anterior and posterior eye segments and investigates the role of mucus in obstructing micro- and nanosuspensions. Nanosuspensions are presented as a promising approach to enhance drug solubility and absorption, covering formulation, stability, properties, and functionalization. The review discusses the pros and cons of using nanosuspensions for ocular drug delivery and covers their structure, preparation, characterization, and applications. Several graphical representations illustrate their role in treating various eye conditions. Specific drug categories like anti-inflammatory drugs, antihistamines, glucocorticoids, and more are discussed in detail, with relevant studies. The article also addresses current challenges and future directions, emphasizing the need for improved nanosuspension stability and exploring potential technologies. Nanosuspensions have shown substantial potential in advancing ophthalmic drug delivery by enhancing solubility and absorption. This article is a valuable resource for researchers, clinicians, and pharmaceutical professionals in this field, offering insights into recent developments, challenges, and future prospects in nanosuspension use for ocular drug delivery.

Role of Silver Nanoparticles for the Control of Anthelmintic Resistance in Small and Large Ruminants

Helminths are considered a significant threat to the livestock industry, as they cause substantial economic losses in small and large ruminant farming. Their morbidity and mortality rates are also increasing day by day as they have zoonotic importance. Anthelmintic drugs have been used for controlling these parasites; unfortunately, due to the development of resistance of these drugs in helminths (parasites), especially in three major classes like benzimidazoles, nicotinic agonists, and macrocyclic lactones, their use is becoming very low. Although new anthelmintics are being developed, the process is time-consuming and costly. As a result, nanoparticles are being explored as an alternative to anthelmintics. Nanoparticles enhance drug effectiveness, drug delivery, and target specificity and have no resistance against parasites. Different types of nanoparticles are used, such as organic (chitosan) and inorganic (gold, silver, zinc oxide, iron oxide, and nickel oxide). One of them, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), has unique properties in various fields, especially parasitology. AgNPs are synthesized from three primary methods: physical, chemical, and biological. Their primary mechanism of action is causing stress through the production of ROS that destroys cells, organs, proteins, and DNA parasites. The present review is about AgNPs, their mode of action, and their role in controlling anthelmintic resistance against small and large ruminants.

Aptamers as Potential Therapeutic Tools for Ovarian Cancer: Advancements and Challenges

Ovarian cancer (OC) is the most common lethal gynecologic cause of death in women worldwide, with a high mortality rate and increasing incidence. Despite advancements in the treatment, most OC patients still die from their disease due to late-stage diagnosis, the lack of effective diagnostic methods, and relapses. Aptamers, synthetic, short single-stranded oligonucleotides, have emerged as promising anticancer therapeutics. Their ability to selectively bind to target molecules, including cancer-related proteins and receptors, has revolutionized drug discovery and biomarker identification. Aptamers offer unique insights into the molecular pathways involved in cancer development and progression. Moreover, they show immense potential as drug delivery systems, enabling targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to cancer cells while minimizing off-target effects and reducing systemic toxicity. In the context of OC, the integration of aptamers with non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) presents an opportunity for precise and efficient gene targeting. Additionally, the conjugation of aptamers with nanoparticles allows for accurate and targeted delivery of ncRNAs to specific cells, tissues, or organs. In this review, we will summarize the potential use and challenges associated with the use of aptamers alone or aptamer-ncRNA conjugates, nanoparticles, and multivalent aptamer-based therapeutics for the treatment of OC.

A systematic review of emerging technologies to enhance the treatment of ovarian cancer

The efficacy and safety of chemotherapy are two major challenges when it comes to treating ovarian cancer. The associated undesirable side effects of chemotherapy agents jeopardize the clinical intent and the efficiency of the therapy. Multiple studies have been published describing new developments and novel strategies utilizing the latest therapeutic and drug delivery technologies to address the efficacy and safety of chemotherapeutics in ovarian cancers. We have identified five novel technologies that are available and, if used, have the potential to mitigate the above-mentioned challenges. Nanocarriers in different forms (Nano-gel, Aptamer, peptide medicated formulations, Antibody-drug conjugation, surface charge, and nanovesicle technologies) are developed and available to be employed to target the cancerous tissue. These strategies are promising to improve clinical efficacy and reduce side effects. We have systematically searched and analyzed published data, as well as the authors intent for the described technology on each publication. We narrowed to 81 key articles and extracted their data to be discussed in this review. In summary, the selected articles investigated the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs combined with nanocarriers and found significant improvement in efficacy and safety by reducing the IC50 values and drug doses. These key papers described promising novel technologies in anti-cancer therapeutic approaches to enable sustained drug release and achieve prolonged drug performance near the tumor site or target tissue.

Sertaconazole-Nitrate-Loaded Leciplex for Treating Keratomycosis: Optimization Using D-Optimal Design and In Vitro, Ex Vivo, and In Vivo Studies

This study aims to develop efficient topical therapy for keratomycosis using sertaconazolenitrate (STZN)-loaded leciplex (LP). The D-optimal design was used to optimize STZN-loaded LP by utilizing soy phosphatidylcholine (SPC) molar ratio (X₁), cationic surfactant molar ratio (X₂), and cationic surfactant type (X₃) as the independent variables, whereas their impact was studied for entrapment efficiency percent (EE; Y₁), particle size (PS; Y₂), polydispersity index (PDI; Y₃), zeta potential (ZP; Y₄), and permeability coefficient (Kp; Y₅). The optimized formula was evaluated regarding morphology, ex vivo permeation, mucoadhesion, stability, and in vivo studies. The optimized formula was spherical and showed EE of 84.87 ± 1.71%, PS of 39.70 ± 1.35 nm, PDI of 0.242 ± 0.006, ZP of +54.60 ± 0.24 mV, and Kp of 0.0577 ± 0.0001 cm/h. The ex vivo permeation study revealed that the optimized formula enhanced the Kp and corneal deposition by 2.78 and 12.49 folds, respectively, compared to the aqueous drug dispersion. Furthermore, the optimized formula was stable and revealed promising mucoadhesion properties. Finally, the in vivo studies showed that the optimized formula was superior to the drug dispersion in treating rats with induced keratomycosis. These results confirmed the capabilities of LP as a promising nanocarrier for treating ocular diseases topically.

Lipid-Based Nanoparticulate Systems for the Ocular Delivery of Bioactives with Anti-Inflammatory Properties

The complexity of the eye structure and its physiology turned ocular drug administration into one of the most challenging topics in the pharmaceutical field. Ocular inflammation is one of the most common ophthalmic disorders. Topical administration of anti-inflammatory drugs is also commonly used as a side treatment in tissue repair and regeneration. The difficulty in overcoming the eye barriers, which are both physical and chemical, reduces drug bioavailability, and the frequency of administration must be increased to reach the therapeutic effect. However, this can cause serious side effects. Lipid nanoparticles seem to be a great alternative to ocular drug delivery as they are composed from natural excipients and can encapsulate both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs of different sources, and their unique properties, as their excellent biocompatibility, safety and adhesion allow to increase the bioavailability, compliance and achieve a sustained drug release. They are also very stable, easy to produce and scale up, and can be lyophilized or sterilized with no significant alterations to the release profile and stability. Because of this, lipid nanoparticles show a great potential to be an essential part of the new therapeutic technologies in ophthalmology to deliver synthetic and natural anti-inflammatory drugs. In fact, there is an increasing interest in natural bioactives with anti-inflammatory activities, and the use of nanoparticles for their site-specific delivery. It is therefore expected that, in the near future, many more studies will promote the development of new nanomedicines resulting in clinical studies of new drugs formulations.

Assessment of Efficacy and Safety Using PPAR-γ Agonist-Loaded Nanocarriers for Inflammatory Eye Diseases

Drug-loaded nanocarriers (NCs) are new systems that can greatly improve the delivery and targeting of drugs to specific tissues and organs. In our work, a PPAR-γ agonist loaded into polymeric NCs was prepared, stabilized by spray-drying, and tested in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo (animal models) to provide a safe formulation for optical anti-inflammatory treatments. The NCs were shown to be well tolerated, and no signs of irritancy or alterations of the eye properties were detected by the in vitro HET-CAM test and in vivo Draize test. Furthermore, no signs of cytotoxicity were found in the NC formulations on retinoblastoma cells (Y-79) analyzed using the alamarBlue assay, and the transmittance experiments evidenced good corneal transparency with the formulations tested. The ocular anti-inflammatory study confirmed the significant prevention efficacy using the NCs, and these systems did not affect the corneal tissue structure. Moreover, the animal corneal structure treated with the NCs was analyzed using X-ray diffraction using synchrotron light. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis did not show a significant difference in corneal collagen interfibrillar spacing after the treatment with freshly prepared NCs or NCs after the drying process compared to the corresponding negative control when inflammation was induced. Considering these results, the PPAR-γ agonist NCs could be a safe and effective alternative for the treatment of inflammatory ocular processes.

Slow release curcumin-containing soy protein nanoparticles as anticancer agents for osteosarcoma: synthesis and characterization

Curcumin-containing soy protein nanoparticles (curcumin-SPNs) were synthesized by desolvation (coacervation) method and characterized by SEM, DLS, FTIR, and XRD. For anticancer evaluation, osteogenic sarcoma (SAOS2) cell lines were incubated with different concentrations of nanostructures. The dialysis method was used for assessment of drug release. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were evaluated in IC50 dose after 24 h of exposure to free curcumin and curcumin-SPNs. Characterization data showed that the size of drug-free SPNs and curcumin-SPNs were 278.2 and 294.7 nm, respectively. The zeta potential of drug-free SPNs and curcumin-SPNs were - 37.1 and - 36.51 mv, respectively. There was no significant difference between the control and drug-free SPNs groups in terms of cell viability (p > 0.05). The viability of cells in different concentrations of the designed curcumin-SPNs in Saos2 cell line was significantly higher than free drug (p < 0.05). The release of curcumin showed that more than 50% of the drug was released in the first 2 h of incubation. After this time, the slow release of drug was continued to 62-83% of drug. IC50 values of free curcumin and curcumin-SPNs (1/10) were 156.8 and 65.9 µg/mL, respectively (a free curcumin IC50 was 2.4 times more than curcumin-SPNs). Slow-release of the curcumin causes the cell to be exposed to the anticancer drug for a longer period of time. The intracellular ROS levels significantly increased in an IC50 dose after 24 h of exposure to both free curcumin and curcumin-SPNs compared with controls (p < 0.05).

Nanoparticle Fraught Liposomes: A Platform for Increased Antibiotic Selectivity in Multidrug Resistant Bacteria

Increasing antibiotic concentrations within bacterial cells while reducing them in mammalian ones would ultimately result in an enhancement of antibacterial actions, overcoming multidrug resistance, all while minimizing toxicity. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been used in numerous occasions to overcome antibiotic resistance, poor drug solubility, and stability. However, the concomitant increase in antibiotic concentration in mammalian cells and the resultant toxicity are usually overlooked. Without compromising bacterial cell fusion, large liposomes (Lip) have been reported to show reduced uptake in mammalian cells. Therefore, in this work, small NP fraught liposomes (NP-Lip) were formulated with the aim of increasing NP uptake and antibiotic delivery in bacterial cells but not in mammalian ones. Small polylactic-co-glycolic acid NPs were therefore loaded with erythromycin (Er), an antibiotic with low membrane permeability that is susceptible to drug efflux, and 3c, a 5-cyanothiazolyl urea derivative with low solubility and stability. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the incorporation of small NPs into large Lip resulted in a reduction in NP uptake by HEK293 cells while increasing it in Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli DH5α, E. coli K12, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), consequently resulting in an enhancement of antibiotic selectivity by fourfold toward E. coli (both strains) and eightfold toward P. aeruginosa. Ocular administration of NP-Lip in a P. aeruginosa keratitis mouse model demonstrated the ability of Er/3c-loaded NP-Lip to result in a complete recovery. More importantly, in comparison to NPs, the ocular administration of NP-Lip showed a reduction in TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels, implying reduced interaction with mammalian cells in vivo. This work therefore clearly demonstrated how tailoring the nano-bio interaction could result in selective drug delivery and a reduction in toxicity.

Anti-Infective Treatment and Resistance Is Rarely Problematic with Eye Infections

The treatment of eye infections is very different than treating other body infections that require systemic anti-infectives. Endophthalmitis, keratitis, conjunctivitis, and other ocular infections are treated with direct injection and with topical drops directly to the infection site. There are no anti-infective susceptibility standards to interpret treatment success, but the systemic standards can be used to guide ocular therapy if the concentration of anti-infective in the ocular tissue is assumed to be higher than the concentration in the blood serum. This Perspective describes: (1) eye infections, (2) diagnostics of eye infections, (3) anti-infective treatment of eye infections, (4) anti-infective resistance of ocular pathogens, and (5) alternative anti-infective delivery and therapy. The data, based on years of clinical and laboratory research, support the premise that ocular infections are less problematic if etiologic agents are laboratory-diagnosed and if prompt, potent, anti-infective therapy is applied. Anti-infective susceptibility should be monitored to assure continued therapeutic success and the possibility of new-found resistance. New delivery systems and therapies may be helpful to better treat future ocular infections.

Stabilization by Nano Spray Dryer of Pioglitazone Polymeric Nanosystems: Development, In Vivo, Ex Vivo and Synchrotron Analysis

Pioglitazone-loaded PLGA-PEG nanoparticles (NPs) were stabilized by the spray drying technique as an alternative to the treatment of ocular inflammatory disorders. Pioglitazone-NPs were developed and characterized physiochemically. Interaction studies, biopharmaceutical behavior, ex vivo corneal and scleral permeation, and in vivo bioavailability evaluations were conducted. Fibrillar diameter and interfibrillar corneal spacing of collagen was analyzed by synchrotron X-ray scattering techniques and stability studies at 4 °C and was carried out before and after the spray drying process. NPs showed physicochemical characteristics suitable for ocular administration. The release was sustained up to 46 h after drying; ex vivo corneal and scleral permeation profiles of pioglitazone-NPs before and after drying demonstrated higher retention and permeation through cornea than sclera. These results were correlated with an in vivo bioavailability study. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis did not show a significant difference in the organization of the corneal collagen after the treatment with pioglitazone-NPs before and after the drying process, regarding the negative control. The stabilization process by Nano Spray Dryer B-90 was shown to be useful in preserving the activity of pioglitazone inside the NPs, maintaining their physicochemical characteristics, in vivo bioavailability, and non-damage to corneal collagen function after SAXS analysis was observed.

Nanoparticles and nanoformulated drugs as promising delivery system in treatment of microbial-induced CNS infection: a systematic review of literature

Central nervous system (CNS) infection is a global health problem with high rate of mortality and associated morbidities. Viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa parasites are the main cause of CNS infection. Various medications are currently used for treatment of brain infections, but most of them do not have enough efficiency because the majority of conventional drugs cannot pass the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to combat the pathogens. Nanotechnology has provided promising approaches to solve this issue, since nanoparticles (NPs) can facilitate the drugs entrance through the BBB. Herein, we systematically reviewed all available literature to provide evidences for practicality of NPs in treatment of CNS infection. A systematic literature search was performed on January 29, 2021, in Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Embase, Ovid, and Google Scholar using "CNS infections" and "NPs/nanoformulation" including all their equivalent terms as keyword. Due to lack of human studies, no strict inclusion criteria were defined, and all relevant documents were included. After several steps of article selection, a total of 29 documents were collected and used for data synthesis. The results showed that drug-loaded NPs is fairly safe and can be a promising approach in developing anti-infective agents for treatment of CNS infection, since nanoformulated drugs could act up to tenfold more efficient that drug alone. Findings of this review indicate the importance of NPs and nanoformulation of drugs to enhance the efficiency of treatment and warrant the safety of treatment in human studies; however, clinical trials are required to confirm such efficiency and safety in clinical practice.

Development and Validation of an HPLC-MS/MS Method for Pioglitazone from Nanocarriers Quantitation in Ex Vivo and In Vivo Ocular Tissues

Pioglitazone (PGZ) is an oral anti-hyperglycemic agent, belongs to the class of thiazolidinediones, and is used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus type 2. In recent years, its anti-inflammatory activity has also been demonstrated in the literature for different diseases, including ocular inflammatory processes. Additionally, this drug belongs to Class II of the Biopharmaceutical Classification System, i.e., slightly soluble and highly permeable. The main objective of this study was to validate a new analytical HPLC-MS/MS method to quantify free-PGZ and PGZ from polymeric NPs to conduct nanoparticle application studies loaded with this active ingredient to transport it within ocular tissues. An accurate, sensitive, selective, reproducible and high throughput HPLC-MS/MS method was validated to quantify PGZ in cornea, sclera, lens, aqueous humor, and vitreous humor. The chromatographic separation was achieved in 10 min on a Kinetex C18 column. Linear response of PGZ was observed over the range of 5-100 ng/mL. The recovery of free-PGZ or PGZ from NPs was in the range of 85-110% in all tissues and levels tested. The intra-day and inter-day precision were <5% and <10%, respectively. The extracts were shown to be stable in various experimental conditions in all matrices studied. The range of concentrations covered by this validation is 80-1600 µg/kg of PGZ in ocular tissues. It is concluded that this method can be applied to quantify PGZ for in vivo and ex vivo biodistribution studies related to the ocular administration of free-PGZ and PGZ from nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles based therapeutic efficacy against Acanthamoeba: Updates and future prospect

Acanthamoeba sp. is a free living amoeba that causes severe, painful and fatal infections, viz. Acanthamoeba keratitis and granulomatous amoebic encephalitis among humans. Antimicrobial chemotherapy used against Acanthamoeba is toxic to human cells and show side effects as well. Infections due to Acanthamoeba also pose challenges towards currently used antimicrobial treatment including resistance and transformation of trophozoites to resistant cyst forms that can lead to recurrence of infection. Therapeutic agents targeting central nervous system infections caused by Acanthamoeba should be able to cross blood-brain barrier. Nanoparticles based drug delivery put forth an effective therapeutic method to overcome the limitations of currently used antimicrobial chemotherapy. In recent years, various researchers investigated the effectiveness of nanoparticles conjugated drug and/or naturally occurring plant compounds against both trophozoites and cyst form of Acanthamoeba. In the current review, a reasonable effort has been made to provide a comprehensive overview of various nanoparticles tested for their efficacy against Acanthamoeba. This review summarizes the noteworthy details of research performed to elucidate the effect of nanoparticles conjugated drugs against Acanthamoeba.