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Beibei Hu,1,2 Jianxin Wang,3 Jing Li,3 Sanming Li,3 Heran Li1 1School of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, People’s Republic of China; 2College of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Hebei University of Science and Technology, Shijiazhuang 050018, People’s Republic of China; 3School of Pharmacy, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang 110016, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Heran LiSchool of Pharmacy, China Medical University, 77 Puhe Road, Shenyang North New Area, Shenyang 110122, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13897945866Email liheranmm@163.comPurpose: The purpose of this research was to study the basic physicochemical and biological properties regarding the application of L-tartaric acid modified chiral mesoporous silica nanoparticle (CMSN) as a drug carrier, and to explore the structure–property relationship of silica-based materials.Methods: CMSN with functions of carboxyl modification and chirality was successfully synthesized through co-condensation method, and the basic characteristics of CMSN, including morphology, structure, wettability, degradation, bio-adhesion and retention ability in gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) were estimated by comparing with non-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN). Meanwhile, the biocompatibility and toxicity of L-tartaric modification were systematically evaluated both in vitro and in vivo through MTT cell viability assay, cell cycle and apoptosis assay, hemolysis assay, histopathology examination, hematology analysis, and clinical chemistry examination.Results: CMSN and MSN were spherical nanoparticles with uniform mesoporous structure. CMSN with smaller pore size and carboxyl functional groups exhibited better wettability. Besides, CMSN and MSN could dissolve thoroughly in simulated physiological fluids during a degradation period of 1– 12 weeks. Interestingly, the in vitro and in vivo behaviors of carriers, including degradation, bio-adhesion and retention ability in the GI tract were closely related to wettability. As expected, CMSN had faster degradation rate, higher mucosa-adhesion ability, and longer retention time. Particularly, CMSN improved the bio-adhesion property in both gastric mucosa and small intestinal mucosa, and prolonged the GI tract retention time to at least 12 h, which meant higher probability for absorption. The biocompatibility and toxicity examination indicated that CMSN was a kind of biocompatible bio-material with good blood compatibility and negligible toxicity, which is required for further applications in biological fields.Conclusion: CMSN with functions of carboxyl modification and chirality had superiority in terms of both physicochemical and biological properties. The in vitro and in vivo behaviors of carriers, including degradation, bio-adhesion, and retention were closely related to wettability.Keywords: chiral mesoporous silica, carboxyl modification, wettability, bio-adhesion, biocompatibility

The present study established indometacin (IMC) delivery system with chiral mesoporous silica nanoparticles (CMSNs) and amino-modified chiral mesoporous silica nanoparticles (Amino-CMSNs) that previously reported as pharmaceutical excipients, and their systemic biological effects, mainly consisting of in vitro drug intestinal permeability, haemolysis assay, in vivo pharmacokinetics, anti-inflammation pharmacodynamics and gastric irritation, were addressed. It turned out that the two IMC delivery systems established by CMSN and Amino-CMSN significantly improved drug intestinal permeability due to the improved drug dissolution caused by conversion of drug crystalline state to amorphous phase. Further, IMC-loaded Amino-CMSN was the superior choice because of its higher dissolution rate. Furthermore, CMSN and Amino-CMSN were safe to be circulated in blood, and Amino-CMSN with significant lower haemolysis ratio than CMSN was better for the minimum haemolytic behaviour. Oral bioavailability and anti-inflammation effect of IMC delivery systems established by CMSN and Amino-CMSN were enhanced compared with IMC, which was attributed to the primary cause of the improvement of IMC dissolution, and Amino-CMSN exhibited better biological effect. As a result of these facts, it is believed that the effective delivery of IMC by Amino-CMSN will provide a new candidate to formulate poorly soluble drugs so as to significantly develop pharmaceutical application.

Context: Orgnaogels based on amino acid derivatives have been widely used in the area of drug delivery. Objective: An organogel system based on l-lysine derivatives was designed and prepared to induce a thermal sensitive implant with higher transition temperature, better mechanical strength, and shorter gelation time. Materials and methods: The organogel was prepared by injectable soybean oil and methyl (S)-2,5-ditetradecanamidopentanoate (MDP), which was synthesized for the first time. Candesartan cilexetil (CC) was chosen as model drug. Different formulations were designed and optimized by response surface method. Thermal, rheology properties, and gelation kinetics of the optimized formulation had been characterized. The release behaviors in vitro, as well as in vivo were evaluated in comparison with the oily solution of drugs. Finally, the local inflammation response of in situ organogel was assessed by histological analysis. Results and discussion: Results showed that the synthesized gelator, MDP, had a good gelation ability and the organogels obtained via the self-assembly of gelators in vegetable oils exhibited great thermal and rheology properties, which guaranteed their state in body. In vivo pharmacokinetic demonstrated that the organogel formulation could extend the drug release and maintain a therapeutically effective plasma concentration at least 10 d. In addition, this implant showed acceptable moderate inflammation. Conclusion: The in situ forming l-lysine-derivative-based organogel could be a promising matrix for sustained drug delivery of the drugs with low solubility.

In order to assess the preliminary safety and effectiveness of nanostructured lipid carriers-based flurbiprofen gel (FP NLC-gel), the acute irritation test, in vivo pharmacodynamics evaluation and pharmacokinetic study were investigated after topical application. No dropsy and erythema were observed after continuous dosing 7 d of FP NLC-gel on the rabbit skin, and the xylene-induced ear drossy could be inhibited by FP NLC-gel at different dosages. The maximum concentration of FP in rats muscle was 2.03 μg/g and 1.55 μg/g after oral and topical administration, respectively. While the peak concentration in untreated muscle after topical administration was only 0.37 μg/mL. And at any time, following topical administration the mean muscle-plasma concentration ratio Cmuscle/CPlasma was obviously higher than that following oral administration. Results indicated that FP could directly penetrate into the subcutaneous muscle tissue from the administration site. Thus, the developed FP NLC-gel could be a safe and effective vehicle for topical delivery of FP.

The aim of this study is to elucidate the impact of surface charge of glycerol monooleate-based nanoparticles (NPs) on the cellular uptake and its distribution in the cochlea. These NPs are modified using varied concentration of anionic or cationic lipid. Upon dilution, these lipid mixtures self-assemble to form a series of cubic NPs with various surface charges, but with similar particle size. Positively charged NPs exhibited dose-dependent cytotoxicities against L929 cells proportional to the concentration of cationic lipid; whereas negatively charged NPs did not show obvious cytotoxic properties as compared to unmodified NPs. Meanwhile, confocal microscopy and flow cytometry results suggested that NPs with high positive surface charge were taken up more efficiently by L929 cells. The permeability of round window membrane (RWM) was high for highly positively charged NPs, which is likely due to their highly cellular uptake efficiency and consequently high concentration gradient between RWM and cochlear fluid. More importantly, 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP) modified NPs greatly facilitated broadly distribution in cochlea, favoring the treatment of hearing loss of low frequencies. Taken together, these findings about charge-dependent of NPs on RWM permeability and cochlear distribution could serve as guideline in the rational design of NP for drug and gene delivery to inner ear.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate in vivo efficacy and loco-regional distribution of a doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded Polyoxyl 35 Castor Oil (Cremophor EL, CrEL) noncovalent modified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) formulation in a sarcoma tumor model after intratumoral injection. The drug loaded SWNTs were successfully prepared via physical absorption, which was confirmed by UV-vis-NIR absorbance spectra and dynamic light scattering assay. Solid tumor models were obtained by injecting mouse sarcoma 180 cells into the thighs of ICR mice. CrEL-SWNTs-DOX, CrEL-SWNTs, free DOX and saline (control) were intratumorally injected after 5 days post transplantation. The biodistribution studies demonstrated that intratumoral delivery of CrEL-SWNTs-DOX resulted in longer drug retention time in tumor, higher tumor level (27.6-fold than that of free DOX), as well as less accumulation in other solid tissues, especially in heart. Furthermore, in vivo anti-tumor activity results showed that CrEL-SWNTs-DOX could effectively suppress the tumor growth than free DOX and the control, attributing to its enhanced intratumoral DOX level. The histopathological findings revealed that the new carbon nanomaterials were a safe vehicle for topical drug delivery systems. It is concluded that this noncovalent modification of carbon nanotubes by CrEL for anticancer agents might be a promising alternative for cancer treatment.

The purpose of the present study is to develop a novel method to improve the dissolution of water-insoluble drug ibuprofen and the gastric tolerance of this non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which has potentially serious gastrointestinal side effects. This method is based on ion exchange of ion-exchange fibers. Water-insoluble drug ibuprofen was dispersed in deionized water, and then the ion-exchange fibers in OH(-) type was immersed in it. Ibuprofen and the active groups of the ion-exchange fibers combined into ion pairs based on the acid-base reaction. This drug carrier did not release drugs in deionized water, but in water solution containing other ions it would release the drugs into the solution by ion exchange. Confirmed by the X-ray diffraction and the scanning electron microscopy, the ibuprofen combined onto the ion-exchange fibers was in a highly molecular level dispersed state. The improved dissolution of ibuprofen ion-exchange fiber complexes is likely to originate from this ibuprofen's highly dispersed state. Due to this, ibuprofen's highly dispersed state, ibuprofen ion-exchange fiber complexes significantly decreases the gastrointestinal side effects of ibuprofen by avoiding the solid ibuprofen's educing. The present study showed that ibuprofen ion-exchange fiber complexes have the two-fold advantages. One is to improve the dissolution of ibuprofen. The other is to decrease the ibuprofen's gastrointestinal toxicity.

The purpose of this work is to prepare and characterize the novel in situ forming implants, obtained through self-assembling of N-stearoyl-L-alanine methyl ester (SAM) in pharmaceutical oils, and to evaluate the biodegradability and biocompatibility of this organogel system.Minimum gelation concentration was used to measure the gelling ability of gelator SAM in different oils to select the optimal oil for further research. Phase transition temperatures of SAM/soybean oil organogels were determined by differential scanning calorimetry. Comparative studies on the in vitro degradation and in vivo degradation of SAM/soybean oil organogels in mice were investigated. Cytotoxicity tests and histological analysis of SAM/soybean oil organogels were studied by using mouse fibrosarcoma cells and mouse, respectively.As an organogelator, SAM could gel a variety of oils at different minimum gelation concentration. Among them, it had the best-gelling ability in soybean oil, and the SAM/soybean oil organogel could be turned into gels abruptly at body temperature when the concentration of SAM was higher than 5% (w/v) to be used as an injectable system. The in vitro degradation rate of organogel was inversely proportional to the organogelator concentration, whereas the degradation rate in vivo was much higher than in vitro, and gels were almost disappeared after 6 weeks. The selected formulation showed excellent biocompatibility as tested by in vitro cytotoxicity and in vivo histological evaluation.SAM/soybean oil organogel has excellent biodegradability and biocompatibility, which indicates that it has a great potential for safe in situ forming drug delivery.

A new dicoumarinoid glycoside, named giraldoid A (1), has been isolated from Daphne giraldii Nitsche. The structure of 1 was determined as 7-O-β-glucosyl-8-(7-hydroxy-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one-8-)yl-2H-1-benzopyran-2-one on the basis of chemical reactions and spectroscopic methods.