Drug delivery for neurodegenerative diseases is a problem, but lipid nanocarriers could provide the answer

Neurodegenerative disorders encompass diseases that involve the degeneration of neurons, particularly those within the central nervous system. These are the most commonly observed disorders among the geriatric population. The treatment or management of this condition presents additional challenges due to therapeutics that may not be as effective as desired. The primary obstacle that often hinders the efficacy of therapy is the existence of a blood-brain barrier (BBB). The BBB serves as a vital safeguard for the brain, effectively obstructing the passage of drugs into the brain cells. Hence, the management of damaging neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs), Huntington's disease (HD), and Multiple sclerosis (MS) is currently the primary area of research interest. The innovative utilization of nanoparticles as drug carriers provides renewed optimism in addressing many complicated medical conditions. In this article, I have aimed to gather published information regarding various lipid nanoparticles that can efficiently transport medication to the brain to address neurodegenerative disorders. According to the published literature, liposomes, solid-lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured nanoparticles, microemulsions, and nanoemulsions are potential nanocarriers that can treat neurodegenerative disorders.

Cyclodextrin: A prospective nanocarrier for the delivery of antibacterial agents against bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics

Supramolecular chemistry introduces us to the macrocyclic host cyclodextrin, which has a hydrophobic cavity. The hydrophobic cavity has a higher affinity for hydrophobic guest molecules and forms host-guest complexation with non-covalent interaction. Three significant cyclodextrin kinds are α-cyclodextrin, β-cyclodextrin, and γ-cyclodextrin. The most often utilized is β-cyclodextrin (β-CD). An effective weapon against bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics is cyclodextrin. Several different kinds of cyclodextrin nanocarriers (β-CD, HP-β-CD, Meth-β-CD, cationic CD, sugar-grafted CD) are utilized to enhance the solubility, stability, dissolution, absorption, bioavailability, and permeability of the antibiotics. Cyclodextrin also improves the effectiveness of antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides, metallic nanoparticles, and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Again, cyclodextrin nanocarriers offer slow-release properties for sustained-release formulations where steady-state plasma antibiotic concentration is needed for an extended time. A novel strategy to combat bacterial resistance is a stimulus (pH, ROS)-responsive antibiotics released from cyclodextrin carrier. Once again, cyclodextrin traps autoinducer (AI), a crucial part of bacterial quorum sensing, and reduces virulence factors, including biofilm formation. Cyclodextrin helps to minimize MIC in particular bacterial strains, keep antibiotic concentrations above MIC in the infection site and minimize the possibility of antibiotic and biofilm resistance. Sessile bacteria trapped in biofilms are more resistant to antibiotic therapy than bacteria in a planktonic form. Cyclodextrin also involves delivering antibiotics to biofilm and resistant bacteria to combat bacterial resistance.

A Comprehensive Pharmacological Review of Some Medicinally Significant Plants of Bangladesh with Traditional Antipsychotic Activity

Abstract:

From the very first of human civilization, traditional medicines have been used to treat various ailments. Although herbal medicines have some limitations from a scientific point of view concerning their formulations, they are believed to have fewer side effects and are cost effective as well as available, especially where modern drugs are not easily found, i.e. rural and remote areas. To treat various diseases, traditional medicinal practitioners (TMPs) use different plants which are safe and effective for related ailments. But to find out how TMPs do that without any scientific basement, we conducted a survey at Kishoreganj district of Bangladesh. Here, we found that they use different parts of a plant such as roots, leaves, even the whole plant to treat diseases like schizophrenia. After studying the data collected from the ethnomedicinal study, we found that Allium cepa, Aegle marmelos, Acorus calamus, Brassica oleracea, Ocimum sanctum and Rauvolfia serpentina possess traditional value to treat schizophrenia like psychosis (Table 1). In this present review, we are going to discuss the traditional formulations and their pharmacological activities. We also draw information from some renowned scientific journals to make our studies more authentic. We hope that this study will help to establish the aforementioned plants as traditional anti-psychotic drugs and also help researchers to find a novel compound in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Formulation Development of Nifedipine through Nanotechnology: A Comprehensive Review

BACKGROUND

The therapeutic use of nifedipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker, is limited due to its poor solubility profile, rapid onset of its action, stability profile and short biological half-life. Many formulation techniques have been applied to improve physicochemical and pharmacological properties of the drug.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study is to summarize the nanotechnology approaches made to improve the therapeutic and pharmacokinetic properties of nifedipine till 2020.

METHODS

The searches for the related articles were done up to 28 March 2020 with the specific keywords in Pubmed and Google Scholar excluding review articles.

RESULTS

The discussion showed that among the nano-carriers used to improve the pharmacological property of the drug, lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, crystalline nanoparticles, and nano-emulsions were prevalent. Nanotechnology has been efficient to improve the solubility profile of nifedipine, achieve sustained and controlled release by achieving targeted and local delivery and transdermal drug delivery. Exploiting nano-formulations, new windows of therapeutic applications have been achieved. Finally, micelle media, polymeric nanoparticles, and microcrystalline nanoparticles have been used to develop a photostable formulation.

CONCLUSION

The technological innovations in the field of nanomedicine have paved many ways for the delivery of nifedipine and such sparingly water-soluble compounds.

Spectrum of Disease and Prescription Pattern for Outpatients with Neurological Disorders: An Empirical Pilot Study in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND

Neurological disorders represent one of the most prominent causes of morbidity and mortality that adversely affect the lifestyle of patients and a major percentage of these diseases exists in developing countries.

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and prescription pattern for outpatients with neurological disorders in Bangladesh.

METHODS

The study was conducted on 1,684 patients in 6 hospitals (National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital, Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, Sir Salimullah Medical College, and Apollo Hospitals Dhaka) of the Dhaka City from March 2014 to June 2015. Data were collected through a predesigned questionnaire from the patients that contain information about gender, age, marital status, occupation, residential status, affected disease, self-medicated medicines, and prescribed medicines.

RESULTS

Out of 1,684 patients, 28.38% patients were aged 51-60 years and male, 57.19% predominance. The study exposed headache and migraine for 29.75% patients, followed by stroke for 23.93% patients and seizure for 7.07% patients. Genetic reason for the neurological disorders was seen only among 12.35% patients. In this study, 16.98% patients had been affected by neurological disorders for more than 2 years and 19% of patients for less than 6 months. Most extensively prescribed medicines were multivitamins and multiminerals used by 17.89% of patients followed by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and other analgesic by 14.84%; afterwards antiulcerants were used by 12.62%, subsequently anticoagulants were used by 11.61% followed by antihyperlipidemic medicines by 10.26% and antiepileptic drugs by 8.08% of patients. The crucial reasons for the selection of prescribed medicines were the confidence that patients had with the physician's prescribed medicines, which was shown for 40.97% patients and knowledge of the medicines was reported for 35.04% patients. The period of prescribed medicine usage was 1-3 months for 39.73% patients and 3-6 months for 29.16% patients. The patient's compliance for prescribed medicines was satisfactory for 34.56% patients, good for 28.15% patients, and side effects were reported for 23.22% patients.

CONCLUSION

In Bangladesh, it is not surprising to note that neurological diseases are more prevalent than other different diseases among different age groups and genders. Headache and migraine, stroke and seizure are most frequently encountered neurological disorders here. Treatment procedure of these disorders is not quite suitable due to the anomalies of health care management systems. Appropriate management of the health care system, especially the placement of hospital and community pharmacy can overcome the existing inconsistencies as well as increase the knowledge, awareness, and perception of the patients about health and neurological disorders.

A review of five traditionally used anti-diabetic plants of Bangladesh and their pharmacological activities

Plants are used traditionally throughout the globe to treat various diseases. Traditionally used medicinal plants are an essential part of the health sector in Bangladesh due to its abundance of a vast source of ethno-medicine. Rural people from developing country like Bangladesh are greatly dependent on traditional source of medicine. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing from recent years; therefore various researches are going on to discover better medicine to treat this disease. This study has focused on five plants which are Andrographis paniculata, Ageratum conyzoides, Swertia chirata, Terminalia arjuna, and Azadirachta indica to find out their traditional formulation as anti-diabetic medicine and their pharmacological activity has also been explored through literature search. The available information about traditional anti-diabetic uses of these plants and their pharmacological activities were collected from various electronic sources like Pubmed, SciFinder, Elsevier, Springer, Scopus, Scirus, Science Direct, Google Scholar and Web of Science apart from these locally available books and peer reviewed journal were also used to collect information. This study will help to strengthen the relation between traditional medicine, pharmacology and drug development. A clue may be found from the information provided this review to discover new and better anti-diabetic drugs.