Galantamine transdermal patch shows higher tolerability over oral galantamine in rheumatoid arthritis rat model

Galantamine mitigates testicular injury and disturbed spermatogenesis in adjuvant arthritic rats via modulating apoptosis, inflammatory signals, and IL-6/JAK/STAT3/SOCS3 signaling

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects the joints and the endocrine system via persistent immune system activation. RA patients have a higher frequency of testicular dysfunction, impotence, and decreased libido. This investigation aimed to evaluate the efficacy of galantamine (GAL) on testicular injury secondary to RA. Rats were allocated into four groups: control, GAL (2 mg/kg/day, p.o), CFA (0.3 mg/kg, s.c), and CFA + GAL. Testicular injury indicators, such as testosterone level, sperm count, and gonadosomatic index, were evaluated. Inflammatory indicators, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), p-Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB p65), and anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10), were assessed. Cleaved caspase-3 expression was immunohistochemically investigated. Protein expressions of Janus kinase (JAK), signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT3), and Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling 3 (SOCS3) were examined by Western blot analysis. Results show that serum testosterone, sperm count, and gonadosomatic index were increased significantly by GAL. Additionally, GAL significantly diminished testicular IL-6 while improved IL-10 expression relative to CFA group. Furthermore, GAL attenuated testicular histopathological abnormalities by CFA and downregulated cleaved caspase-3 and NF-κB p65 expressions. It also downregulated JAK/STAT3 cascade with SOCS3 upregulation. In conclusion, GAL has potential protective effects on testicular damage secondary to RA via counteracting testicular inflammation, apoptosis, and inhibiting IL-6/JAK/STAT3/SOCS3 signaling.

From Plants to Wound Dressing and Transdermal Delivery of Bioactive Compounds

Transdermal delivery devices and wound dressing materials are constantly improved and upgraded with the aim of enhancing their beneficial effects, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and cost effectiveness. Therefore, researchers in the field have shown an increasing interest in using natural compounds as constituents for such systems. Plants, as an important source of so-called "natural products" with an enormous variety and structural diversity that still exceeds the capacity of present-day sciences to define or even discover them, have been part of medicine since ancient times. However, their benefits are just at the beginning of being fully exploited in modern dermal and transdermal delivery systems. Thus, plant-based primary compounds, with or without biological activity, contained in gums and mucilages, traditionally used as gelling and texturing agents in the food industry, are now being explored as valuable and cost-effective natural components in the biomedical field. Their biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity compensate for local availability and compositional variations. Also, secondary metabolites, classified based on their chemical structure, are being intensively investigated for their wide pharmacological and toxicological effects. Their impact on medicine is highlighted in detail through the most recent reported studies. Innovative isolation and purification techniques, new drug delivery devices and systems, and advanced evaluation procedures are presented.

Transdermal delivery of inflammatory factors regulated drugs for rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease, with the features of recurrent chronic inflammation of synovial tissue, destruction of cartilage, and bone erosion, which further affects joints tissue, organs, and systems, and eventually leads to irreversible joint deformities and body dysfunction. Therapeutic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis mainly reduce inflammation through regulating inflammatory factors. Transdermal administration is gradually being applied to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, which can allow the drug to overcome the skin stratum corneum barrier, reduce gastrointestinal side effects, and avoid the first-pass effect, thus improving bioavailability and relieving inflammation. This paper reviewed the latest research progress of transdermal drug delivery in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, and discussed in detail the dosage forms such as gel (microemulsion gel, nanoemulsion gel, nanomicelle gel, sanaplastic nano-vesiclegel, ethosomal gel, transfersomal gel, nanoparticles gel), patch, drug microneedles, nanostructured lipid carrier, transfersomes, lyotropic liquid crystal, and drug loaded electrospinning nanofibers, which provide inspiration for the rich dosage forms of transdermal drug delivery systems for rheumatoid arthritis.

Enhancement of bioavailability through transdermal drug delivery of paliperidone palmitate-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers

Aim: The work describes enhanced bioavailability of paliperidone palmitate through transdermal delivery using nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC). Materials & methods: NLCs were formulated by nanoprecipitation method followed by incorporation in transdermal patch and physicochemical characterization. Results: NLCs showed high percentage entrapment efficiency of 83.44 ± 0.8%, drug loading of 24.75 ± 1.10% (w/w), particle size of 173.8 ± 3.25 nm, polydispersity index of 0.143 ± 0.05 and zeta potential of -15.9 ± 0.75 mV. In vitro and ex vivo studies indicated zero-order controlled drug release from NLCs and transdermal patch up to 48 h. Pharmacokinetic studies indicated 1.76-fold enhanced bioavailability by transdermal route as compared with oral drug delivery. Conclusion: From the results, it was concluded that drug-loaded NLCs-transdermal patch is promising drug delivery system for poorly bioavailable drugs.