Albendazole Release from Silica-Chitosan Nanospheres. In Vitro Study on Cervix Cancer Cell Lines

Polymeric functionalization of mesoporous silica nanoparticles: Biomedical insights

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) endowed with polymer coatings present a versatile platform, offering notable advantages such as targeted, pH-controlled, and stimuli-responsive drug delivery. Surface functionalization, particularly through amine and carboxyl modification, enhances their suitability for polymerization, thereby augmenting their versatility and applicability. This review delves into the diverse therapeutic realms benefiting from polymer-coated MSNs, including photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT), chemotherapy, RNA delivery, wound healing, tissue engineering, food packaging, and neurodegenerative disorder treatment. The multifaceted potential of polymer-coated MSNs underscores their significance as a focal point for future research endeavors and clinical applications. A comprehensive analysis of various polymers and biopolymers, such as polydopamine, chitosan, polyethylene glycol, polycaprolactone, alginate, gelatin, albumin, and others, is conducted to elucidate their advantages, benefits, and utilization across biomedical disciplines. Furthermore, this review extends its scope beyond polymerization and biomedical applications to encompass topics such as surface functionalization, chemical modification of MSNs, recent patents in the MSN domain, and the toxicity associated with MSN polymerization. Additionally, a brief discourse on green polymers is also included in review, highlighting their potential for fostering a sustainable future.

Exploring the current landscape of chitosan-based hybrid nanoplatforms as cancer theragnostic

In the last decade, investigators have put significant efforts to develop several diagnostic and therapeutic strategies against cancer. Many novel nanoplatforms, including lipidic, metallic, and inorganic nanocarriers, have shown massive potential at preclinical and clinical stages for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Each of these nano-systems is distinct with its own benefits and limitations. The need to overcome the limitations of single-component nano-systems, improve their morphological and biological features, and achieve multiple functionalities has resulted in the emergence of hybrid nanoparticles (HNPs). These HNPs integrate multicomponent nano-systems with diagnostic and therapeutic functions into a single nano-system serving as promising nanotools for cancer theragnostic applications. Chitosan (CS) being a mucoadhesive, biodegradable, and biocompatible biopolymer, has emerged as an essential element for the development of HNPs offering several advantages over conventional nanoparticles including pH-dependent drug delivery, sustained drug release, and enhanced nanoparticle stability. In addition, the free protonable amino groups in the CS backbone offer flexibility to its structure, making it easy for the modification and functionalization of CS, resulting in better drug targetability and cell uptake. This review discusses in detail the existing different oncology-directed CS-based HNPs including their morphological characteristics, in-vitro/in-vivo outcomes, toxicity concerns, hurdles in clinical translation, and future prospects.

Synthesis of chitosan succinate-g-amine functionalized mesoporous silica: Inorganic-organic nanohybrid for antibacterial assessment, antioxidant activity and pH-controlled drug delivery

An innovative and proficient inorganic-organic nanohybrid was synthesized by using amine modified MCM-41 as an inorganic precursor combined with organic moiety, a derivative of chitosan i.e. chitosan succinate through amide bond. These nanohybrids can be used in diverse applications due to potential combination of desired properties of inorganic and organic components. The nanohybrid was characterized by FTIR, TGA, small angle powder XRD, zeta potential, particle size distribution, BET, proton NMR and ¹³C NMR techniques to confirm its formation. The synthesized hybrid was loaded with curcumin drug to check its potential application for controlled drug release, showing 80 % drug release in acidic medium (i.e. pH -5.0), while physiological pH -7.4 shows only 25 % release. The encapsulation efficiency of nanohybrid is 87.24 %. The results of antibacterial performances are demonstrated in terms of ZOI (zone of inhibition) which depicts that hybrid material shows better ZOI in gram negative (E. coli) than for gram positive (B. subtilis) bacteria. Nanohybrid was also tested for the antioxidant activity by using two different methods (DPPH and ABTS) radical scavenging methods. The ability of nano-hybrid to scavenge DPPH radicals was found 65 %, and ability to scavenge ABTS radicals was 62.47 %.

An Electrochemical Sensor for the Detection of Albendazole Using Glassy Carbon Electrode Modified with Platinum-Palladium Nanocomposites

An electroanalytical electrode for the detection of albendazole (ABZ) active ingredient in pharmaceutical dosage form and in contaminated animal-derived products was developed using a glassy carbon electrode modified with platinum-palladium nanoparticles. The electro-catalytic performance of the bimetallic-modified glassy carbon electrode was compared with its bare counterpart. Under optimized conditions, the modified electrode revealed two well-resolved anodic peak currents at 1.10 and 1.23 V using differential pulse voltammetry. Pure ABZ, as well as ABZ in spiked foods (milk and chicken), were detected with little interference from the food matrix. This electrode demonstrated high sensitivity and applicability, with a lower limit of detection of 0.08 µmol L^-1 in aqueous solution and 10 µmol L^-1 in the contaminated ground chicken and 100 µmol L^-1 in the contaminated milk sample. The fabricated sensor is low in cost and appropriate for the estimation of albendazole in tablet dosage forms and biological samples, and so can act as a quality control tool in the pharmaceutical and food industry.

Application of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles in Cancer Therapy and Delivery of Repurposed Anthelmintics for Cancer Therapy

This review focuses on the biomedical application of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs), mainly focusing on the therapeutic application of MSNs for cancer treatment and specifically on overcoming the challenges of currently available anthelmintics (e.g., low water solubility) as repurposed drugs for cancer treatment. MSNs, due to their promising features, such as tunable pore size and volume, ability to control the drug release, and ability to convert the crystalline state of drugs to an amorphous state, are appropriate carriers for drug delivery with the improved solubility of hydrophobic drugs. The biomedical applications of MSNs can be further improved by the development of MSN-based multimodal anticancer therapeutics (e.g., photosensitizer-, photothermal-, and chemotherapeutics-modified MSNs) and chemical modifications, such as poly ethyleneglycol (PEG)ylation. In this review, various applications of MSNs (photodynamic and sonodynamic therapies, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy) and, in particular, as the carrier of anthelmintics for cancer therapy have been discussed. Additionally, the issues related to the safety of these nanoparticles have been deeply discussed. According to the findings of this literature review, the applications of MSN nanosystems for cancer therapy are a promising approach to improving the efficacy of the diagnostic and chemotherapeutic agents. Moreover, the MSN systems seem to be an efficient strategy to further help to decrease treatment costs by reducing the drug dose.

Chitosan-Based Therapeutic Systems for Superficial Candidiasis Treatment. Synergetic Activity of Nystatin and Propolis

The paper deals with new approaches to chitosan (CS)-based antifungal therapeutic formulations designed to fulfill the requirements of specific applications. Gel-like formulations were prepared by mixing CS dissolved in aqueous lactic acid (LA) solution with nystatin (NYS) powder and/or propolis (PRO) aqueous solution dispersed in glycerin, followed by water evaporation to yield flexible mesoporous (pore widths of 2-4 nm) films of high specific surfaces between 1 × 103 and 1.7 × 103 m2/g. Morphological evaluation of the antifungal films showed uniform dispersion and downsizing of NYS crystallites (with initial sizes up to 50 μm). Their mechanical properties were found to be close to those of soft tissues (Young's modulus values between 0.044-0.025 MPa). The films presented hydration capacities in physiological condition depending on their composition, i.e., higher for NYS-charged (628%), as compared with PRO loaded films (118-129%). All NYS charged films presented a quick release for the first 10 min followed by a progressive increase of the release efficiency at 48.6%, for the samples containing NYS alone and decreasing values with increasing amount of PRO to 45.9% and 42.8% after 5 h. By in vitro analysis, the hydrogels with acidic pH values around 3.8 were proven to be active against Candida albicans and Candida glabrata species. The time-killing assay performed during 24 h on Candida albicans in synthetic vagina-simulative medium showed that the hydrogel formulations containing both NYS and PRO presented the faster slowing down of the fungal growth, from colony-forming unit (CFU)/mL of 1.24 × 107 to CFU/mL < 10 (starting from the first 6 h).