A review on factors affecting the design of nasal drug delivery system

Transmucosal nasal delivery is a promising drug delivery option where common drug administrations (e.g., intravenous, intramuscular, or oral) are inapplicable. Recently, it has been shown that many drugs have better bioavailability by nasal route than by oral route. This has been attributed to rich vasculature and a highly permeable structure of the nasal mucosa coupled with avoidance of hepatic first-pass elimination, gut wall metabolism and/or destruction in the gastrointestinal tract. The physiology of the nose presents obstacles, but offers a promising route for non-invasive systemic delivery of numerous therapies and debatably drug delivery route to the brain. To overcoming problems in nasal drug delivery requires deep understanding of the various factors affecting nasal delivery. Thus present review focuses on various aspects of nasal drug delivery with special emphasis to factors affecting nasal drug administration.Keywords: Transmucosal nasal delivery, hepatic first-pass metabolism, non-invasive, microemulsions, microspheres

Analytical framework to evaluate the level of integration of climate adaptation and mitigation in cities

Low carbon and climate resilient urban development are becoming important objectives to be achieved in order to assure sustainable urban development pathways. Traditionally, cities have treated climate mitigation and adaptation strategies in isolation, without addressing their potential synergies, conflicts or trade-offs. Recent studies have shown that this can lead to inefficiencies in urban planning, conflicting policy objectives and lost opportunities for synergistic actions. However, in the last few years we have observed that cities are increasingly moving towards addressing both mitigation and adaptation in urban planning. Cities need to pay particular attention and understand the rationale of both policy objectives while considering integration of the two policies in urban planning and decision-making. This study presents the development of an analytical framework to evaluate the level of integration of climate mitigation and adaptation in cities’ local climate action plans. We tested this framework in 9 selected major cities, representatives from all continents, which are frontrunners in climate action both in their regions and globally. We applied the framework in order to evaluate the level of mitigation and adaptation integration in cities’ CCAPs and further explore the different types of mitigation – adaptation interrelationships that have been considered. We also devised a scoring system in order to be able to compare and rank the different CCAPs regarding their level of integration of adaptation and mitigation. The paper draws good practices to support cities in developing climate change action plans in an integrated way

BUCCAL ADHES IVE DRUG DELIVERY S YSTEM: SAFER DELIVERY OF BIOTHERAPEUTICS

The route of administration is critical for any medicine. For decades, the most common dosage forms were either oral or injection. Patients generally preferred oral therapies over injected medications because oral delivery is non-invasive and convenient. Drug delivery by buccal route presents unique advantages that are not available with other modes of administration. Buccal drug delivery is a promising option where common drug administrations (e.g., intravenous, intramuscular) are inapplicable. Recently, it has been shown that many drugs have better bioavailability by buccal route than by oral route. This has been attributed to rich vasculature and a highly permeable structure of the buccal mucosa coupled with avoidance of hepatic first-pass elimination, gut wall metabolism and/or destruction in the gastrointestinal tract. The physiology of the buccal mucosa offers a promising route for non-invasive systemic delivery of biotherapeutics. The present article highlights the advantages, physicochemical factors and formulation related parameters affecting the buccal drug delivery. It also includes a note on polymer used in buccal drug delivery and buccal drug absorption pathways. Key Words: Buccal route, bioavailability, non-invasive, Biotherapeutic

Comparative evaluation of solubility, cytotoxicity and photostability studies of resveratrol and oxyresveratrol loaded nanosponges

Resveratrol and oxyresveratrol are natural polyphenolic stilbenes with several important pharmacological activities. However, low solubility and aqueous instability are the major limitations in their drug delivery applications. In the present work, we demonstrated the encapsulation of resveratrol and oxyresveratrol with nanosponge to improve solubility and stability. Several characterization techniques were used to confirm the encapsulation of both drug molecules within the nanosponges. The high encapsulation efficiency of resveratrol (77.73%) and oxyresveratrol (80.33%) was achieved within the nanosponges. Transmission electron microscopy suggested uniform spherical size particles of resveratrol and oxyresveratrol loaded nanosponges. Compared to free drugs, better protection against UV degradation was observed for resveratrol-loaded nanosponge (2-fold) and oxyresveratrol-loaded nanosponge (3-fold). Moreover, a higher solubilization of resveratrol- and oxyresveratrol-loaded nanosponges lead to a better antioxidant activity compared to drug molecules alone. Cytotoxicity studies against DU-145 prostate cancer cell lines further suggested improved activity of both resveratrol and oxyresveratrol-loaded nanosponges without any significant toxicity of blank nanosponges

POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF DENDRIMERS IN DRUG DELIVERY: A CONCISE REVIEW AND UPDATE

This review gives concise information about the application of dendrimers in the field of drug delivery. Due to their unique architecture these have improved physical and chemical properties. Due to their terminal groups these show high solubility, miscibility and reactivity. Dendrimers have well defined size, shape, molecular weight and monodispersity. These properties make the dendrimers a suitable carrier in drug delivery application. Dendrimers are unimolecular miceller in nature and due to this enhances the solubility of poorly soluble drugs. Their compatibility with DNA, heparin and polyanions make them more versatile. Dendrimers, also referred as modern day polymers, they offer much more good properties than the conventional polymers. Due to their multivalent and mono disperse character dendrimers have stimulated wide interest in the field of chemistry biology, especially in applications like drug delivery, gene therapy and chemotherapy. Self assembly produces a faster means of generating nanoscopic functional and structural systems. But their actual utility in drug delivery can be assessed only after deep understanding of factors affecting their properties and their behavior in vivo. Key words: Dendrimers, Drug targeting, nanoscale carriers

Parametric Investigation and optimization of Near-Dry Electrical Discharge Machining

508-511This study investigates near-dry Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) in order to achieve higher Material Removal Rate (MRR), lower Tool Wear Rate (TWR) and Better surface finish than conventional EDM on High Speed Steel (HSS) workpiece. Taguchi L27 orthogonal array was used for conducting experimentation. The experiments have been conducted by mixing of limited quantities of water with high pressure air (air-mist). This paper presents a relatively simple device to be used for applying the near-dry EDM. The near-dry EDM does not produce toxic fumes so called Environment friendly machining process for the applied operating conditions, the near-dry electrical discharge machining presents some advantages regarding the machined surface quality and the electrode tool wear, in comparison with the machining that uses liquid dielectric. The effect of different process parameters like applied current, duty factor, gap control, sensitivity, tool lift was analyzed on MRR, surface finish and tool wear rate