DISCOSOMES: A FUTURISTIC UPHEAVAL IN VESICULAR DRUG DELIVERY

The formulation system employed to convey pharmaceutical drugs compound in the body to attain the desired therapeutic effect at a predetermined rate depending on pharmacological aspects, drug profile, and physiological conditions can be referred to as a novel drug delivery system (NDDS). Due to the intricately sensitive anatomy and physiology of the eye pharmacologist find the ocular delivery system to be more involuted than other routes. Pre-corneal, static and dynamic is the 3 types of ophthalmic barriers, which along with the inflow and outflow of lacrimal fluids, nasolacrimal drainage, are some of the germane factors that affect bioavailability. Unlike conventional dosage forms, where the distribution of drugs in non-targeted body fluids and tissues transcends the quantity of required drug in targeted tissues and causes repercussions, these modified drug delivery systems surpass the ocular barriers and adverse reactions, emphasizing on less invasive, prolonged action. It also promotes sustained release formulation that subjugates the drug loss or degradation to treat many ocular diseases effectively. The current review recapitulates the fundamentals of discosomes, a type of vesicular drug delivery system that acts as a vehicle for the drug delivery of both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs. Discosomes are giant, disc-shaped structures modified from niosomes by arresting the vesicles at the discosome phase. Due to their idiosyncratic size, it provides all due benefits compared to other ocular drug delivery systems. From the review, it can be culminated that discosomes are a potential subject of opposition and opportunities in the arena of safe and effective ocular drug delivery

SCIENTIFIC WRITING AS AN ART: AN OVERVIEW

Writing well is an art that takes time to be perfect, but if you don't try it, you won't nail it. The value of writing should never be underestimated, as writing well improves your work [1]. If the writing is clear, it can turn bad science into good science and makes more impactful and valuable [1]. Writing helps the speaker to express the issue before audience very easier. There are various types of writing such as articles, journals, literature review etc [3]. The scientific writing should be simple, objective and concise. Writing depends on the reader's needs (for a normal reader technical terms mathematical expressions has never suited well) [2]. Various types of manuscripts are used in scientific writing. One of the key developers in scientific publications is the adoption of the IMRAD's [Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion] structure [5]. Apart from this other form is TAKAR (Title, Abstract, Keywords, Acknowledgements, and References) [5]. Approaches made by writers for in the design of the contents are about various forms in more than one journal [4]. In case of reference also various styles are used, such as Vancouver's style, the Harvard system. Writing is a most important factor to criticize and evaluate the publications [9]. Writing process should not intend to be sane, effective. Writing is a decision making process and Writers designs in different ways for their scientific work [7]. All written communications are affected by a larger context or situation [8]. This article helps the reviewers to know about the different writing methods its rhythm and styles

PORPHYSOMES-A PARADIGM SHIFT IN TARGETED DRUG DELIVERY

A novel drug delivery system is the one that ensures optimum dose at the right time, at the right location. Porphysomes are among those drug delivery systems. Porphysomes are a means of vesicular drug delivery systems. They are liposome-like structures composed completely of porphyrin lipid. The porphysomes encapsulates the active medicament in vesicular structure. They are having an aqueous core which can be loaded with the medicament. They have the capacity to destroy the disease tissues. They absorb the heat in the near infrared region and release this heat to destroy the diseased tissues. Porphysomes are having immense applications in the field of positron-electron therapy (PET), photoacoustic imaging, photothermal therapy etc. This review article discusses regarding the Porphysome-the drug delivery system, its advantages and disadvantages, composition, method of preparation, applications and various aspects related to the porphysomal drug delivery

CRYPTOSOMES: A REVOLUTIONARY BREAKTHROUGH IN NOVEL DRUG DELIVERY

The vesicular drug delivery systems are promising approaches to overthrown the problems of drugs having lesser bioavailability and rapid elimination from the body. The four type of lipid based drug delivery systems are: solid-lipid particulate system, emulsion based system, solid lipid tablet and vesicular system. Cryptosomes, a novel emerging vesicular drug delivery system which can overcome the disadvantages associated with conventional drug delivery systems like high stability, increased bioavailability, sustained release, decreased elimination of rapidly metabolizable drugs etc. The word Cryptosome was orginated from Greek word ‘’Crypto’’ means hidden and ‘’Soma’’ means body. It is formed from the mixture of phospholipids like distearoyl phosphatidyl ethanolamine-polyethylene glycol (DSPE-PEG) with distearoylphosphatidylcholine. These entire information regarding its origin and formation is explained in Dinesh Kumar et al. Vesicular systems symbolizes the use of vesicles in the different fields as carrier system or additives. This review disclose various vesicular drug delivery system and point out the advancement of cryptosome in the world of drug delivery. This review would help researchers involved in the field of vesicular drug delivery

FORMULATION AND EVALUATION OF LORAZEPAM ENCAPSULATED COLLAGEN/PECTIN BUCCAL PATCH

Objective: To formulate and characterize Lorazepam loaded buccal patches using mucoadhesive, biodegradable, natural polymers-pectin (hydrophilic) and collagen (lipophilic) for treating epileptic seizures. Methods: Lorazepam loaded buccal patches were prepared by solvent casting method and were subjected to various Physico-chemical evaluation parameters to find the optimized buccal patch. The in vitro drug release study and ex vivo permeation study was carried out. The stability study and histopathological study of optimized Lorazepam loaded buccal patch was also carried out. Results: From in vitro drug release study, it was found that Lorazepam loaded buccal patch (B4) exhibited maximum drug release of 96.16 %±0.07 than other formulations at the end of 4 h, indicating an initial burst release followed by sustained release with release kinetics as Higuchi diffusion model. Based on the in vitro drug release, % drug content, % swelling index, folding endurance, B4 formulation was considered as optimised formulation and was further characterized. Ex vivo permeation study revealed that the cumulative amount of drug permeated from optimised Lorazepam loaded buccal patch (B4) was higher (3831.4±0.21µg/cm2) than marketed Midazolam buccal solution (1724±0.12 µg/cm2) and control drug solution (895.42±0.07 µg/cm2) with an enhancement ratio of 4.8. B4 formulation also showed a higher flux value (12.52±0.02µg/cm2/hr) compared to marketed formulation (5.732±0.01 µg/cm2) and control drug solution (2.563±0.03 µg/cm2) of P<0.05. The histopathological study using bovine buccal mucosa revealed that the B4 formulation is safe for buccal application. The stability study confirmed that B4 formulation is stable in both room and refrigeration conditions. Hence the formulated Lorazepam loaded buccal patch seems to be a promising carrier for the enhanced buccal delivery of Lorazepam in treating epileptic seizures. Conclusion: The formulated Lorazepam loaded collagen/pectin buccal patch was found to be an efficient and stable route for the buccal delivery of Lorazepam in treating acute epileptic seizures which could be further explored scientifically

AN UPDATED REVIEW ON THE APPLICATION OF DENDRIMERS AS SUCCESSFUL NANOCARRIERS FOR BRAIN DELIVERY OF THERAPEUTIC MOIETIES

It’s been nearly 100 y of effort to study the organization and role of the blood brain-barrier and still, we strive to find better techniques to overcome this barrier to deliver the drugs to the brain effectively with reduced systemic side effects. The advances in nanotechnology have given newer horizons in achieving this goal since the nano-scaled systems can modify an existing drug to have a high degree of sensitivity to the physiological conditions and specificity to reach the target organ. Among the various nanocarriers, dendrimers owing to their unique physical and chemical characteristics, represent a potential therapeutic tool in biomedical and pharmaceutical science. Dendrimers, an established polymeric nanocarrier system of the time, can deliver both drugs and genetic material and are being extensively studied to target the brain. The surface modification of dendrimers can reduce their innate toxicity problems and increase the therapeutic efficacy of brain disorders. This review article is an attempt to update on the potential of dendrimers explored in the past five years as a drug delivery avenue that can be considered as a promising solution in the management of a wide range of disorders affecting the central nervous system, including neoplastic, degenerative, and ischemic conditions. The following search criteria were used to expand the review article with the keywords dendrimers, novel drug delivery, nanoparticles, site-specific drug delivery etc

SUPPORTIVE THERAPY: AN OPTION TO ENHANCE HOST IMMUNITY AGAINST COVID-19

The threat posed by COVID 19 outbreak, which is considered to be a global pandemic, is immeasurably affecting all the communities worldwide. COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease, which can affect birds, humans and, other animals. The emergence of this pandemic has been creating a tragic situation worldwide by affecting more people through human-human transmission. The burden (both healthwise and economic) placed by the disease is so huge that any measures to improve the current situation, to fasten up the recovery of already affected patients and, to reduce the risk of death and health deterioration should be considered. Vaccination, being the hope in the scenario, helps in preventing the condition to an extent, but in the absence of availability of a proper drug regimen to fight off COVID 19, the requirement of the need to find a system to control the severity of the infection is a necessity Nutritional supplementation helps in boosting up the immune system especially, vitamins like vitamin C, Vitamin D, Zinc, Omega 3 fatty acids, etc. They also exhibit established immunomodulatory, antiviral as well as anti-inflammatory effects. Pieces of evidence have also highlighted the importance of supportive therapy using nutrient supplements in covid patients as it helps in prominent decreasing of SARS CoV2 load of the virus and also significantly reduces the hospitalization period. Hence the nutritional levels of each of the infected person must be assessed before initiating the anti-viral therapy. The search criteria used were PubMed, Medscape, google scholar, etc. The keywords used to search were COVID 19 Supportive therapy, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Nutrient supplementation, Host immunity, etc. The range of years is between 1978 and 2021

Approaches in biotechnological applications of natural polymers

Natural polymers, such as gums and mucilage, are biocompatible, cheap, easily available and non-toxic materials of native origin. These polymers are increasingly preferred over synthetic materials for industrial applications due to their intrinsic properties, as well as they are considered alternative sources of raw materials since they present characteristics of sustainability, biodegradability and biosafety. As definition, gums and mucilages are polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates consisting of one or more monosaccharides or their derivatives linked in bewildering variety of linkages and structures. Natural gums are considered polysaccharides naturally occurring in varieties of plant seeds and exudates, tree or shrub exudates, seaweed extracts, fungi, bacteria, and animal sources. Water-soluble gums, also known as hydrocolloids, are considered exudates and are pathological products; therefore, they do not form a part of cell wall. On the other hand, mucilages are part of cell and physiological products. It is important to highlight that gums represent the largest amounts of polymer materials derived from plants. Gums have enormously large and broad applications in both food and non-food industries, being commonly used as thickening, binding, emulsifying, suspending, stabilizing agents and matrices for drug release in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In the food industry, their gelling properties and the ability to mold edible films and coatings are extensively studied. The use of gums depends on the intrinsic properties that they provide, often at costs below those of synthetic polymers. For upgrading the value of gums, they are being processed into various forms, including the most recent nanomaterials, for various biotechnological applications. Thus, the main natural polymers including galactomannans, cellulose, chitin, agar, carrageenan, alginate, cashew gum, pectin and starch, in addition to the current researches about them are reviewed in this article.. }To the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfíico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for fellowships (LCBBC and MGCC) and the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nvíel Superior (CAPES) (PBSA). This study was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, the Project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) (JAT)