Surveillance Method for Surgical Site Infection

ABSTRACT Surgical Site Infection (SSI) is the third most commonly reported Nosocomial infection and accounts for 14-16% of all Nosocomial infections among hospital inpatients. The morbidity, mortality and the cost to health services of surgical site infections is huge. In addition, many workers have shown that feedback of appropriate data to surgeons has been an indispensable component of strategies to reduce SSI rates. The elements essential for a successful programmed of prevention of SSIs include intensive surveillance, infection control activities and regular feedback of SSI rates to surgeons. Surveillance with information feedback to surgeons and other medical staff has been shown to be an important element in the overall strategy to reduce the numbers of SSIs. Despite the apparent effectiveness in lowering SSI rates when surgeons receive feedback, however, there has been no consensus on which surveillance methods are best for collecting data on SSIs. A successful SSI surveillance program should include standardized definitions of infection, effective surveillance methods and stratification of the SSI rates according to risk factors associated with the development of SSI. For many years wound contamination class was the only factor that was well described for predicting the risk for SSI. During the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) Project, an index was developed that provided a better assessment of the risk of SSIs than had the traditional wound classification system. In 1991, a modification of the SENIC risk index by Culver et al. led to the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) System risk index. This review examines the best surveillance method for surgical site infection

Development and characterization of surface engineered PPI dendrimers for targeted drug delivery

<p>In this study, we reported folate<i>-</i>conjugated polypropylene imine dendrimers (FA–PPI) as efficient carrier for model anticancer drug, methotrexate (MTX), for pH<i>-</i>sensitive drug release, selective targeting to cancer cells, and anticancer activity. In the <i>in vitro</i> drug release studies this nanoconjugate of MTX showed initial rapid release followed by gradual slow release, and the drug release was found to be pH sensitive with greater release at acidic pH. The <i>ex vivo</i> investigations with human breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7, showed enhanced cytotoxicity of MTX–FA–PPI with significantly enhanced intracellular uptake. The biofate of nanoconjugate was determined in Wistar rat where MTX–FA–PPI showed 37.79-fold increase in the concentration of MTX in liver after 24 h in comparison with free MTX formulation.</p

Tailoring micellar nanocarriers for pemetrexed in breast cancer: design, fabrication and <i>in vitro</i> evaluation

Aim: To investigate the pemetrexed encapsulated polymeric mixed micelles (PMMs) against breast cancer treatment. Methods: We meticulously optimized the formulation and conducted extensive characterizations, including photon correlation spectroscopy for micellization, advanced analytical techniques and in vitro cell line assessments. Results: The PMM exhibited favorable characteristics, with a spherical morphology, hydrodynamic particle size of 19.58 ± 0.89 nm, polydispersity index of 0.245 ± 0.1, and a surface charge of -9.70 ± 0.61 mV. Encapsulation efficiency and drug payload reached 96.16 ± 0.37% and 4.5 ± 0.32%, respectively. Cytotoxicity analysis indicated superior efficacy of the PMM over the drug solution. Conclusion: The PMM formulation exhibited controlled release of the drug, and demonstrated enhanced cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells, highlighting its therapeutic promise.</p

Preparation and Evaluation of Modified Chitosan Nanoparticles Using Anionic Sodium Alginate Polymer for Treatment of Ocular Disease

Mucoadhesive nanoparticles offer prolonged drug residence time at the corneal epithelium by adhering to the mucous layer of the eye. Here, in this research investigation, voriconazole-loaded chitosan mucoadhesive nanoparticles (VCZ-MA-NPs) were modified to mucous-penetrating nanoparticles (VCZ-MP-NPs) by coating them with anionic polymer sodium alginate. The ionic gelation method was utilized to prepare mucoadhesive chitosan nanoparticles, which were further coated with sodium alginate to obtain the surface properties essential for mucous penetration. The developed VCZ-MA-NPs and VCZ-MP-NPs were evaluated extensively for physicochemical delineation, as well as in vitro and ex vivo studies. The particle size, polydispersity index, and &zeta; potential of the VCZ-MA-NPs were discovered to be 116 &plusmn; 2 nm, 0.23 &plusmn; 0.004, and +16.3 &plusmn; 0.9 mV, while the equivalent values for VCZ-MP-NPs were 185 &plusmn; 1 nm, 0.20 &plusmn; 0.01, and &minus;24 &plusmn; 0.9 mV, respectively. The entrapment efficiency and drug loading were obtained as 88.06%&plusmn;1.29% and 7.27% &plusmn; 0.95% for VCZ-MA-NPs and 91.31% &plusmn; 1.05% and 10.38% &plusmn; 0.87% for VCZ-MP-NPs, respectively. The formulations were found to be stable under different conditions (4 &deg;C, 25 &deg;C, and 40 &deg;C). Chitosan nanoparticles and modified nanoparticles showed a spherical and smooth morphology under electron microscopic imaging. An excised caprine cornea was used for the ex vivo permeation study, exhibiting 58.98% &plusmn; 0.54% and 70.02% &plusmn; 0.61% drug permeation for VCZ-MA-NPs and VCZ-MP-NPs, respectively. The findings revealed that the mucous-penetrating nanoparticles could effectively pass through the corneal epithelium, thus overcoming the mucous barrier and fungal layer of the eye, which highlights their potential in the treatment of fungal keratitis

Evolution of Nanotechnology in Delivering Drugs to Eyes, Skin and Wounds via Topical Route

The topical route is the most preferred one for administering drugs to eyes, skin and wounds for reaching enhanced efficacy and to improve patient compliance. Topical administration of drugs via conventional dosage forms such as solutions, creams and so forth to the eyes is associated with very low bioavailability (less than 5%) and hence, we cannot rely on these for delivering drugs to eyes more efficiently. An intravitreal injection is another popular drug delivery regime but is associated with complications like intravitreal hemorrhage, retinal detachment, endophthalmitis, and cataracts. The skin has a complex structure that serves as numerous physiological barriers to the entry of exogenous substances. Drug localization is an important aspect of some dermal diseases and requires directed delivery of the active substance to the diseased cells, which is challenging with current approaches. Existing therapies used for wound healing are costly, and they involve long-lasting treatments with 70% chance of recurrence of ulcers. Nanotechnology is a novel and highly potential technology for designing formulations that would improve the efficiency of delivering drugs via the topical route. This review involves a discussion about how nanotechnology-driven drug delivery systems have evolved, and their potential in overcoming the natural barriers for delivering drugs to eyes, skin and wounds

Fundamental Aspects of Lipid-Based Excipients in Lipid-Based Product Development

Poor aqueous solubility of drugs is still a foremost challenge in pharmaceutical product development. The use of lipids in designing formulations provides an opportunity to enhance the aqueous solubility and consequently bioavailability of drugs. Pre-dissolution of drugs in lipids, surfactants, or mixtures of lipid excipients and surfactants eliminate the dissolution/dissolving step, which is likely to be the rate-limiting factor for oral absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs. In this review, we exhaustively summarize the lipids excipients in relation to their classification, absorption mechanisms, and lipid-based product development. Methodologies utilized for the preparation of solid and semi-solid lipid formulations, applications, phase behaviour, and regulatory perspective of lipid excipients are discussed

Revamping the corneal permeability and antiglaucoma therapeutic potential of brinzolamide using transniosomes: optimization, in vitro and preclinical evaluation

Aim: This study aims to explore potential of transniosomes, a hybrid vesicular system, as ocular drug-delivery vehicle. Materials & methods: Thin-film hydration technique was used to fabricate brinzolamide-loaded transniosomes (BRZ-TN) and optimized using Box–Behnken design, further exhaustively characterized for physicochemical evaluations, deformability, drug release, permeation and preclinical evaluations for antiglaucoma activity. Results: The BRZ-TN showed ultradeformability (deformability index: 5.71), exhibiting sustained drug release without irritation (irritancy score: 0) and high permeability compared with the marketed formulation or free drug suspension. The extensive in vivo investigations affirmed effective targeted delivery of transniosomes, with brinzolamide reducing intraocular pressure potentially. Conclusion: Our findings anticipated that BRZ-TN is a promising therapeutic nanocarrier for effectively delivering cargo to targeted sites by crossing corneal barriers.</p

Scaffold hopping for designing of potent and selective CYP1B1 inhibitors to overcome docetaxel resistance: synthesis and evaluation

Cytochrome P450 1B1, a tumor-specific overexpressed enzyme, significantly impairs the pharmacokinetics of several commonly used anticancer drugs including docetaxel, paclitaxel and cisplatin, leading to the problem of resistance to these drugs. Currently, there is no CYP1B1 inhibition-based adjuvant therapy available to treat this resistance problem. Hence, in the current study, exhaustive in-silico studies including scaffold hopping followed by molecular docking, three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationships (3D-QSAR), molecular dynamics and free energy perturbation studies were carried out to identify potent and selective CYP1B1 inhibitors. Initially, scaffold hopping analysis was performed against a well-reported potent and selective CYP1B1 inhibitor (i.e. compound 3n). A total of 200 scaffolds were identified along with their shape and field similarity scores. The top three scaffolds were further selected on the basis of these scores and their synthesis feasibility to design some potent and selective CYP1B1 inhibitors using the aforementioned in-silico techniques. Designed molecules were further synthesized to evaluate their CYP1B1 inhibitory activity and docetaxel resistance reversal potential against CYP1B1 overexpressed drug resistance MCF-7 cell line. In-vitro results indicated that compounds 2a, 2c and 2d manifested IC50 values for CYP1B1 ranging from 0.075, 0.092 to 0.088 μM with at least 10-fold selectivity. At low micromolar concentrations, compounds 1e, 1f, 2a and 2d exhibited promising cytotoxic effects in the docetaxel-resistant CYP1B1 overexpressed MCF-7 cell line. In particular, compound 2a is most effective in reversing the resistance with IC50 of 29.0 ± 3.6 μM. All of these discoveries could pave the way for the development of adjuvant therapy capable of overcoming CYP1B1-mediated resistance. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma</p