Current Drug Delivery

Since the discovery of liposomes, tremendous advances have been made in the area of novel drug delivery systems of active biomolecules. In recent years, the use of liposomes as potential drug delivery carriers has received great attention for drug targeting to specific cells. These nanosized vesicles offer several advantages such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity, drug delivery efficiency, nonimmunogenicity, and enhancement in solubility, bioavailability and therapeutic efficacy with their ability to encapsulate wide variety of therapeutic agents. Liposomes have great potential for payloads and for delivery to targeted sites, which could be helpful in targeting various chemotherapeutic agents to target organs for effective drug targeting. These nano vesicles can also promote sustained and controlled drug delivery system of therapeutic agents by improving their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics profiles. Recently, various researches witnessed advancements in the liposomal-based drug delivery system for potential drug targeting. In this full-thematic issue of the Current Drug Delivery, the application of liposomal based drug delivery approaches for drug targeting is described from different points of view by various researchers belong to different regions of the world. The thematic issue starts with the paper by Alanazi et al., who described the status of lipoproteins-nanocarriers as a promising approach for targeting liver cancer. This review by Alanazi et al., mainly focused on the diagnosis of liver cancer, available treatment strategies, use of lipoproteins-nanocarriers in cancer targeting, their preparation, mechanism and their potential applications in the treatment of liver cancer [1]. Anjum et al., explored the application of nanoethosomal transgel of naproxen sodium for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Prepared nanoethosomal tarnsgels of naproxen sodium were characterized physicochemically and evaluated for in vitro drug release, ex vivo permeation and in vivo pharmacodynamics studies. The optimized nanoethosomal formulation of naproxen sodium showed good in vitro release, higher ex vivo permeation and in vivo pharmacodynamics effects. The authors of this paper concluded that nanoethosomal gel of naproxen sodium could be an alternative approach for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis [2]. In another report, Alanazi et al., investigated the liposomal formulation of 5-flurouracil (5-FU) and cholesterol-conjugate of 5-fluorouracil (5-FUC) for liver cancer targeting. 5-FU and 5-FUC loaded liposomes were prepared using a thin-film hydration method and optimized based on cholesterol ratio and phospholipid type to achieve potential effects for the treatment of liver cancer. The results of this study suggested that 5-FUC loaded liposomes could be used as an alternative approach to enhance the therapeutic index of 5-FU and paved the way for potential clinical applications [3]. A mechanistic approach for liposomal drug delivery system of a bioflavonoid quercetin has been described for cancer targeting by Das et al. In this review, authors have focused on the mechanisms associated with the anticancer activity of quercetin and discussed the promising activity of quercetin loaded liposomal drug delivery system as a potent chemotherapeutic agent for cancer targeting [4]. El Maghraby and Arafa explored the applications of liposomes for enhanced cellular uptake of anticancer drugs. They have focused on the modification of liposomal moieties for enhanced cellular uptake of chemotherapeutic agents. This review mainly outlined the different approaches employed for liposomes modification for enhancing cellular uptake of chemotherapeutic agents [5]. Misra et al., summarized the scope and challenges of vesicular-carrier mediated delivery of docetaxel for the treatment and management of cancer. They stated that chemotherapy had vital role in the management of cancer. This review article mainly highlighted the advances in the delivery of taxanes, in particular docetaxel, with an emphasis on the need, success and pharmacoeconomic aspects of such vesicular-carrier mediated docetaxel delivery [6].

This special issue of Current Drug Delivery combines the research topics presented during Controlled Release Asia Meeting 2018 in Singapore (24th & 25th September 2018, Venue: Matrix Building – Biopolis, Singapore), hosted by the Australian chapter of Controlled Release Society, co-organized and supported by Core-NET (Controlled Release and Encapsulation Network led by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) at Singapore) and regional Chapters of the Controlled Release Society. The issue is entitled “Drug Delivery Asia”; however, the content is not limited to the Asian research. The meeting provided an excellent opportunity for knowledge exchange between participants from Asia and around the world. This issue contains contributions from a variety of areas in the field of drug and vaccine delivery. The large number of biological active compounds failed to be developed into drugs due to their poor bioavailability [1]. Many of them, like genes, peptides and proteins, are too large and too hydrophilic to pass biological membranes [2]. Especially, oral absorption and poor in vivo stability are major hurdles that have to be overcome for biological active compounds to reach clinical trials [3, 4]. Problem with off target delivery of drugs is the other common hindrance. To overcome all these obstacles variety of drug and vaccine delivery systems have been developed. The drug and vaccine candidates can be modified by conjugation with lipidic moieties to balance their hydrophobicity resulting in improved passive diffusion and uptake into the lymphatic system [5-7]. In contrast, the saccharide moieties can be conjugates to reduce excessive hydrophobicity of compounds and improve their water-solubility, or to utilise active transport systems using certain receptors ability to recognize saccharides and uptake them into the cells, or utilize to target the drug to the desired site of action [8-11]. Improved bioavailability of the large or hydrophilic molecules can be also achieved with the help of formulations and by the use of cell penetrating peptides [12, 13], surfactants [14, 15], or polyelectrolytes (such as alginate or chitosan) [16-19]. Nanotechnology-based approaches are also becoming extensively popular in the drug and vaccine delivery field [20-22]. These strategies take advantage of nanomaterials ability to a) selectively deliver a therapeutic agent to the desired tissue [23, 24], b) protect a cargo from harsh environment (e.g. in stomach) and enzymatic degradation (in intestine, blood) [25, 26], c) improve compounds uptake by immune cells when desired, or reduce this uptake [27, 28], d) allow variety of delivery pathways including oral [29, 30], intranasal [31-33] and intradermal [17, 34, 35]. This Current Drug Delivery issue comprises both original research reports and review papers focused on the various aspects of delivery systems mentioned above. The review articles describe the role of carbohydrates in vaccine delivery and development (Aljohani et al.), as well as targeted gene delivery (Begum et al.). Intraperitoneal (Padmakumar et al.) and oral (Hussain et al.) delivery strategies of the common chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel are discussed. The original research articles describe also the utilization of nanotechnology in amphotericin delivery (Tiyaboonchai et al.) and application of magnetic nanoparticles for tracking inflammation in the epileptic rat brain (Eyal et al.). The role of polysaccharide chitosan in nanoparticlesbased drug delivery (Hamid et al. and Sahudin et al.) and the application of lipophilic tocopherol-based carrier for co-enzyme Q10 formulation (Boyd et al.) are also presented. Finally, oral delivery of antibiotic sirolimus (C.) and the role of mucilages as pharmaceutical excipients (Gugulothu et al.) are investigated. These variety of research topics should make this issue of special interest for all the readers of Current Drug Delivery.

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