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Anteneh Belayneh,1 Ebisa Tadese,2 Fantahun Molla2 1Department of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia; 2Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, Mekelle University, Mekelle, EthiopiaCorrespondence: Anteneh Belayneh Email antejour32@gmail.comBackground: One of the major challenges in pediatric treatment is the lack of suitable drug preparations specifically designed and marketed for children. Most of the FDA approved drug formulations for adults have not been approved for use in pediatric patients. Shortage of suitable pediatric dosage information often leads health professionals to use adult formulations in an off-label manner. The aim of this work was to review the safety and biopharmaceutical challenges of commonly found excipients in off-label pediatric formulations as well as to show the current progress to alleviate pediatric toxicity related to excipients.Methods: Research findings and medical case reports were searched from credible sources including Scopus, PubMed, OVID, Google Scholar, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science.Results: As several studies and clinical case reports have revealed, off-label adult formulations usage causes pediatric patients to become exposed to potentially harmful excipients, which are essential components of drug products. In addition to their toxicities, some of the excipients affect the biopharmaceutical property of different drugs. Immature organ and body composition, large body surface area and slower metabolism and elimination capabilities of pediatrics are the main causes of toxicities associated with different excipients. Recent studies have also shown that good progress is being made to develop safe and suitable excipients for pediatric use.Conclusion: A risk and benefit assessment should be done before using off-label formulation as excipients cause mild to severe toxicities and biopharmaceutical problems to pediatric patients.Key

Despite improvements in our understanding of cancer and the emerging concept of personalized medicine for the treatment of this disease, it is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Although, in recent years, significant advances have been achieved in cancer therapy, many tumors are still challenging to treat and novel strategies are required to effectively combat this deadly disease. Nanotheranostics is a burgeoning field which makes use of nanotechnology for diagnosis and therapy of cancer. The recent advancement in the area of nanotechnology has enabled a new generation of different types of nanomaterials composed of either inorganic or polymer based nanoparticles to be useful for nanotheranostics applications such as to diagnose and treat diseases and monitoring the therapeutic response in vivo at molecular level; to enhance the control, evaluation and optimization of drug delivery and release; to target the drug by conjugating theranostic nanoplatformes with biological ligands. This review, therefore, summarizes the various nanocarriers developed so far for the simultaneous imaging and therapy, strategies for their targeted delivery, their potential applications and the challenges in their development and application for cancer therapy.  Key words: Cancer; Cancer therapy; Nanoparticles; Nanotheranostics.

Enset (Ensete Ventricosum, Family Musaceae) is a plant indigenous to Ethiopia, it is often called ‘false banana” for its close resemblance to banana plant. The plant is the most important staple food for millions of people in the south and southwestern parts of Ethiopia. Enset plant contains starch as its major contents. The starch has been investigated for its physico-chemical properties including granule size, X-ray diffraction pattern, amylose content, gelatinization behavior, stability and various rhelogical properties of the gel. Based on its physico-chemical properties the starch was evaluated for various pharmaceutical applications such as in tablet binder and disintegrant. Several modifications were also attempted on the native enset starch so as to improve and modulate its physiochemical properties. Hence, this review aims to summarize the knowledge on the properties of enset starch and its pharmaceutical applications. Key words: Enset, Starch, properties, Pharmaceutical applicationÂ