Development and characterization of natural antioxidant-containing chitosan nanoparticles

The use of nanotechnology in medical sciences is an innovation that promises a new age of health. Among the different approaches explored so far, chitosan exhibits favourable and unique biological properties, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, nonantigenic, non-toxicity and mucoadhesiveness. Natural extracts rich in antioxidant molecules have been incorporated in chitosan films, or macro/microparticles, becoming more effective as improving the antioxidant protection [da Silva 2010]. In the present study, chitosan nanoparticles with extracts of sage and savoury and rosmarinic acid were prepared and characterized in order to ensure their best size, efficient encapsulation and to test the retention of the active compounds and evaluate their controlled release performance. This work proposes for the first time in literature, a simultaneous HPLC method for the determination and quantification of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, namely quercetin and rosmarinic acid encapsulated into chitosan nanoparticles. The method can be used to determine the loading capacity and association efficiency as well as its in vitro release.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pseudoboehmite as a drug delivery system for acyclovir

Herpes simplex virus is among the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections. Acyclovir is a potent, selective inhibitor of herpes viruses and it is indicated for the treatment and management of recurrent cold sores on the lips and face, genital herpes, among other diseases. The problem of the oral bioavailability of acyclovir is limited because of the low permeability across the gastrointestinal membrane. The use of nanoparticles of pseudoboehmite as a drug delivery system in vitro assays is a promising approach to further the permeability of acyclovir release. Here we report the synthesis of high purity pseudoboehmite from aluminium nitrate and ammonium hydroxide containing nanoparticles, using the sol–gel method, as a drug delivery system to improve the systemic bioavailability of acyclovir. The presence of pseudoboehmite nanoparticles were verified by infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction techniques. In vivo tests were performed with Wistar rats to compare the release of acyclovir, with and without the addition of pseudoboehmite. The administration of acyclovir with the addition of pseudoboehmite increased the drug content by 4.6 times in the plasma of Wistar rats after 4 h administration. We determined that the toxicity of pseudoboehmite is low up to 10 mg/mL, in gel and the dried pseudoboehmite nanoparticles.The authors thank the Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Texas Tech University, Mack Pesquisa, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES), Cnpq, and FAPESP (grant 2010/19157-9 and grant 2017/22396-4) for the sponsorship to this project

Encapsulation of rosmarinic acid into chitosan nanoparticles

Introduction: The use of nanotechnology in medical sciences is a innovation that promises a new age of health. Among the different approaches explored so far, chitosan exhibits favourable and unique biological properties, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-antigenic, non-toxicity and mucoadhesiveness . On the other hand, natural extracts have been incorporated in chitosan films, or macro/microparticles, becoming more effective as antimicrobial or improving the antioxidant protection. The combination of antioxidants and nanoparticles is seen as the key to success in the topical administration of therapeutic antioxidants . Phenolic compound like rosmarinic acid are potent natural antioxidant with a multitude of biological activities like anti-inflammatory, antimutagen, antibacterial and antiviral as well as high potential radical scavenging activity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Incorporation of neuroprotective compounds of Hypericum perforatum in polymeric nanoparticles

Hypericum perforatum extracts have been used for their antidepressive effects. Recently, a selected fraction (HP) isolated from these extracts and containing compounds like quercetin and biapigenin proved to be neuroprotective [1,2].info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The versatility of membrane-water partitioning in pharmacokinetic modelling

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio