Itraconazole-Loaded Ufasomes: Evaluation, Characterization, and Anti-Fungal Activity against Candida albicans

Solid-state fermentation of distillers grains with Aspergillus pachycristatus for echinocandin B biosynthesis

An innovative strategy has been developed to utilize distillers grains (DGS) as a substrate for solid-state fermentation (SSF) to synthesize echinocandin B (ECB). In this study, the optimal fermentation parameters for Aspergillus pachycristatus were determined as follows: an inoculation density of 1 × 106 spores/gram dry substrate (gds), pH maintained at 6.0, temperature controlled at 30℃, moisture kept at 60% (v/w), and cultivation duration set to 6 days. Engineered Trichoderma reesei is employed to pretreat DGS and enhance the release of nutrient substances for subsequent utilization by A. pachycristatus. Furthermore, incorporating an amino acid cocktail augments metabolic flux towards ECB synthesis. Ultimately, these efforts result in a production yield of 2017.6 μg/gds for ECB. This study not only provides a solution for the high-value utilization of DGS but also presents an efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly synthetic process within the circular economy framework for industrial production of ECB.

Nasal In-Situ Gels of Brij®-Enriched Novasomes as Optimistic Nanovesicular Carriers for Enhancing Anti-Depressant Action of Agomelatine

The purpose of study was to exploit distinctive features of nasal administration route to boost agomelatine permeation and upgrade its anti-depressant action after being embedded in Brij®-enriched novasomes (NVs) as non-phospholipid vesicular systems. Different amounts and types of excipients were used to evaluate NVs using definitive screening design (DSD). Optimal NV was incorporated in thermosensitive in-situ gels containing poloxamer 407 (P-407) and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC). After evaluation of novasomal in-situ gels (NVGs), optimal NVG was subjected to ex-vivo, in-vivo, and biochemical investigations. Results showed significant increase in entrapment capability (EC%), particle size (P.S), and zeta potential (Z.P) of NVs after increasing free fatty acid, surfactant, and cholesterol amounts. The capability of Brij® to improve fluidization of lipid bilayers, decrease P.S, and increase Z.P was observed. Lipohilicity, EC%, and Z.P of Brij® 56-enriched NVs were higher than those containing Brij® 35. Gradual increase in HPMC concentration and gel/NV ratio led to marked decrease in gelation time and spreadability and increase in gel strength and viscosity values of NVGs. Optimal NVG9 displayed higher permeation profile (538.34 μg/cm2) and drug flux (39.38 μg/cm2.h-1) through fresh sheep nasal mucosa in comparison to control gel (150.76 μg/cm2 and 14.44 μg/cm2.h-1, respectively). Rats treated with nasal optimal NVG9 manifested increased sucrose preference (SP) percent (80.73%) and levels of dopamine (50.42 ng/g) and serotonin (44.92 ng/g) with decreased low latency time values (5.86 min). This study confirmed the in-vivo safety and amplification of precognitive and anti-depressant action of agomelatine after intranasal administration.

An exploration of the ocular mysteries linking nanoparticles to the patho-therapeutic effects against keratitis

Microbial keratitis, a sight-threatening corneal infection, remains a significant global health concern. Conventional therapies using antimicrobial agents often suffers from limitations such as poor drug penetration, side effects, and occurrence of drug resistance, with poor prognosis. Novel treatment techniques, with their unique properties and targeted delivery capabilities, offers a promising solution to overcome these challenges. This review delves into timely update of the state-of-the-art advance therapeutics for keratitis treatment. The diverse microbial origins of keratitis, including viral, bacterial, and fungal infections, exploring their complex pathogenic mechanisms, followed by the drug resistance mechanisms in keratitis pathogens are reviewed briefly. Importantly, the emerging therapeutic techniques for keratitis treatment including piezodynamic therapy, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, nanoenzyme therapy, and metal ion therapy are summarized in this review showcasing their potential to overcome the limitations of traditional treatments. The challenges and future directions for advance therapies and nanotechnology-based approaches are discussed, focusing on safety, targeting strategies, drug resistance, and combination therapies. This review aims to inspire researchers to revolutionize and accelerate the development of functional materials using different therapies for keratitis treatment.

Dual-action of clotrimazole loaded - nanosponges vaginal gel for spermicidal action and treatment of vaginal candidiasis: Optimization, in-vitro, ex-vivo, and in-vivo experiments

Clotrimazole (CLO) is a strong antifungal drug approved to treat vaginal candidiasis (VC). Nanosponges (NSs) were developed to maintain providing CLO in a steady pattern with amplified accumulation in the vaginal mucosa. The quasi-emulsion solvent diffusion method was utilized to prepare NSs. The optimized NSs selected by Design Expert® exhibited a production yield percent (PY%) of 60.10 ± 0.39 %, encapsulation efficiency percent (EE%) of 91.21 ± 0.59 %, particle size (PS) 275.50 ± 0.97 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) 0.425 ± 0.01, and zeta potential (ZP) of -27.40 ± 0.25 mV. The morphological results confirmed a spongy, porous structure. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy ensured the drug encapsulation. Differential scanning calorimetric studies showed no interaction between the excipients and CLO. The prepared NSs-loaded gel of optimized CLO-NSs was evaluated, the mucoadhesive strength (6065.85 ± 52.03 dyne/cm2) with spermicidal activity of (0 % sperm motility/60 s). The ex-vivo deposition depicted significantly increased vaginal retention of CLO by 2.44-fold compared to Candistan® 2 % vaginal cream (the market product). Finally, the in-vivo study on rats demonstrated thesuperior efficacy of CLO-NSs gel relative to Candestan®, with significantly reduced inflammatory biomarkers and minimal histopathological alterations in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis with a high safety profile.

The modification of conventional liposomes for targeted antimicrobial delivery to treat infectious diseases

Some of the most crucial turning points in the treatment strategies for some major infectious diseases including AIDS, malaria, and TB, have been reached with the introduction of antimicrobials and vaccines. Drug resistance and poor effectiveness are key limitations that need to be overcome. Conventional liposomes have been explored as a delivery system for infectious diseases bioactives to treat infectious diseases to provide an efficient approach to maximize the therapeutic outcomes, drug stability, targetability, to reduce the side-effects of antimicrobials, and enhance vaccine performance where necessary. However, as the pathological understanding of infectious diseases become more known, the need for more advanced liposomal technologies was born to continue having a profound effect on targeted chemotherapy for infectious diseases. This review therefore provides a concise incursion into the most recent and vogue liposomal formulations used to treat infectious diseases. An appraisal of immunological, stimuli-responsive, biomimetic and functionalized liposomes and other novel modifications to conventional liposomes is assimilated in sync with mutations of resistant pathogens.

Fluorescence sensing techniques for quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines: a review

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) are highly valued and widely used worldwide. However, their complex compositions and various preparation processes have brought considerable challenges to the quality evaluation of Chinese medicines. The traditional methods for TCM quality evaluation suffer from the problems of cumbersome sample preparation, a long detection time, low sensitivity, etc. A more efficient and accurate evaluation method is urgently needed to ensure the stability and reliability of the quality of TCMs. As an emerging analytical technology, a fluorescent probe has the advantages of high sensitivity, high selectivity, easy operation, etc. It is capable of generating a specific fluorescent signal response to specific components in traditional Chinese medicines, realizing rapid and accurate detection of target components, which effectively solves the many difficulties of traditional methods. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the application of fluorescent probes in the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines and the challenges they face. By introducing the principles, advantages and specific application cases of fluorescent probe technology in the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines, we hope to provide new and efficient analytical ideas for the quality evaluation of traditional Chinese medicines.

Microneedles integrated with atorvastatin-loaded pumpkisomes for breast cancer therapy: A localized delivery approach

Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer in women worldwide, having a significant impact on women's well-being. Early diagnosis of breast cancer followed by appropriate treatment is considered the best survival factor. Microneedles (MN) have been utilized for non-invasive localized breast cancer treatment. The combination of nano-carriers with MN technology represents an appealing strategy for improving drug delivery efficacy. It is worth noting that atorvastatin (ATV) has received substantial interest as a drug with potential anticancer activity. Our study aimed to formulate an ATV-loaded bioactive pumpkin seed oil vesicular nanocarrier; pumpkisomes (PUMP) for enhanced localized delivery to breast cancer using MN. The selected PUMP formulation had a particle size of 151.8 ± 2.7 nm, zeta potential of -54.1 mV, and % entrapment efficiency of 73 %. PUMP showed a sustained ATV release, potent selective cytotoxic effect (IC50 of 2.82 ± 0.02 μg/mL), enhanced internalization (2.8-fold increase compared to the free drug), and potent anti-migratory effect on MDA-MB-231 cells (21.15 ± 3.6 % wound closure compared to 80.81 ± 4.1 % for free drug). Moreover, integrating ATV-PUMP in dissolving microneedles (ATV-PUMP@dMN) showed a quick dissolution rate and appropriate mechanical strength with high piercing efficiency. ATV permeation across the skin from ATV-PUMP@dMN was also improved (1.8-fold increase compared to ATV-PUMP@gel). ATV-PUMP@dMN demonstrated an efficient anticancer effect when applied in an Ehrlich ascites mammary tumor model attaining significant improvement in ATV antiproliferative (PTEN and Ki-67), antiangiogenic (VEGF) and apoptotic (Bcl2, Bax and caspase3) effects restoring tumor biomarkers to levels comparable to the negative control group. Thus, our study presents PUMP as a novel and promising bioactive vesicular nanosystem with potential synergistic effect with ATV or other antitumor drugs. PUMP-integrated MN could be considered a promising platform for future applications in localized breast cancer therapy.

Liposomes like advanced drug carriers: from fundamentals to pharmaceutical applications

AIMS

There are around 24 distinct lipid vesicles described in the literature that are similar to vesicular systems such as liposomes. Liposome-like structures are formed by combining certain amphiphilic lipids with a suitable stabiliser. Since their discovery and classification, self-assembled liposome-like structures as active drug delivery vehicles captured researchers' curiosity.

METHODOLOGY

This comprehensive study included an in-depth literature search using electronic databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar, focusing on studies on liposome and liposomes like structure, discussed in literature till 2024, their sizes, benefits, drawback, method of preparation, characterisation and pharmaceutical applications.

RESULTS

Pharmacosomes, cubosomes, ethosomes, transethosomes, and genosomes, all liposome-like structures, have the most potential due to their smaller size with high loading capacity, ease of absorption, and ability to treat inflammatory illnesses. Genosomes are futuristic because of its affinity for DNA/gene transport, which is an area of focus in today's treatments.

CONCLUSION

This review will critically analyse the composition, preparation procedures, drug encapsulating technologies, drug loading, release mechanism, and related applications of all liposome-like structures, highlighting their potential benefits with enhanced efficacy over each other and over traditional carriers by paving the way for exploring novel drug delivery systems in the Pharma industry.

Integration of HiBiT into enteroviruses: A universal tool for advancing enterovirus virology research

The utilization of enteroviruses engineered with reporter genes serves as a valuable tool for advancing our understanding of enterovirus biology and its applications, enabling the development of effective therapeutic and preventive strategies. In this study, our initial attempts to introduce a NanoLuc luciferase (NLuc) reporter gene into recombinant enteroviruses were unsuccessful in rescuing viable progenies. We hypothesized that the size of the inserted tag might be a determining factor in the rescue of the virus. Therefore, we inserted the 11-amino-acid HiBiT tag into the genomes of enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), coxsackievirus A10 (CVA10), coxsackievirus A7 (CVA7), coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16), namely EV-A71-HiBiT, CVA16-HiBiT, CVA10-HiBiT, CVA7-HiBiT, and observed that the HiBiT-tagged viruses exhibited remarkably high rescue efficiency. Notably, the HiBiT-tagged enteroviruses displayed comparable characteristics to the wild-type viruses. A direct comparison between CVA16-NLuc and CVA16-HiBiT recombinant viruses revealed that the tiny HiBiT insertion had minimal impact on virus infectivity and replication kinetics. Moreover, these HiBiT-tagged enteroviruses demonstrated high genetic stability in different cell lines over multiple passages. In addition, the HiBiT-tagged viruses were successfully tested in antiviral drug assays, and the sensitivity of the viruses to drugs was not affected by the HiBiT tag. Ultimately, our findings provide definitive evidence that the integration of HiBiT into enteroviruses presents a universal, convenient, and invaluable method for advancing research in the realm of enterovirus virology. Furthermore, HiBiT-tagged enteroviruses exhibit great potential for diverse applications, including the development of antivirals and the elucidation of viral infection mechanisms.

Nanotechnology-based Drug Delivery of Topical Antifungal Agents

Among the various prominent fungal infections, superficial ones are widespread. A large number of antifungal agents and their formulations for topical use are commercially available. They have some pharmacokinetic limitations which cannot be retracted by conventional delivery systems. While nanoformulations composed of lipidic and polymeric nanoparticles have the potential to overcome the limitations of conventional systems. The broad spectrum category of antifungals i.e. azoles (ketoconazole, voriconazole, econazole, miconazole, etc.) nanoparticles have been designed, prepared and their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile was established. This review briefly elaborates on the types of nano-based topical drug delivery systems and portrays their advantages for researchers in the related field to benefit the available antifungal therapeutics.

Preparation and Optimization of Itraconazole Transferosomes-Loaded HPMC Hydrogel for Enhancing Its Antifungal Activity: 2^3 Full Factorial Design

Itraconazole (ITZ) is a triazole antifungal agent characterized by broad-spectrum activity against fungal infections. The main drawback of ITZ, when applied topically, is the low skin permeability due to the stratum corneum, the outermost layer of the skin, which represents the main barrier for drug penetration. Therefore, this study aimed to prepare itraconazole as transferosomes (ITZ-TFS) to overcome the barrier function of the skin. ITZ-TFSs were prepared by thin lipid film hydration technique using different surfactants, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and sodium deoxycholate (SDC). The prepared ITZ-TFS were evaluated for entrapment efficiency (EE) %, particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, and in vitro drug release to obtain an optimized formula. The surface morphology of the optimized formula of ITZ-TFS was determined by transmission electron microscope (TEM). The optimized formulation was prepared in the form of gel using hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) gel base. The prepared ITZ-TFS gel was evaluated for homogeneity, drug content, spreadability, pH, and in vitro antifungal activity in comparison with the free ITZ gel. The prepared ITZ-TFS formulations exhibited high EE% ranging from 89.02 ± 1.65% to 98.17 ± 1.28% with particle size ranging from 132.6 ± 2.15 nm to 384.1 ± 3.46. The PDI for all ITZ-TFSs was less than 0.5 and had a negative zeta potential. The TEM image for the optimized formulation (ITZ-TFS4) showed spherical vesicles with a smooth surface. The prepared gels had good spreadability, pH, and acceptable drug content. ITZ-TFS gel showed higher antifungal activity than free ITZ gel as determined by zone of inhibition. ITZ was successfully prepared in form of TFSs with higher antifungal activity than the free drug.