Deepti Pandita

Dendrimers in drug delivery and targeting: Drug-dendrimer interactions and toxicity issues

Dendrimers are the emerging polymeric architectures that are known for their defined structures, versatility in drug delivery and high functionality whose properties resemble with biomolecules. These nanostructured macromolecules have shown their potential abilities in entrapping and/or conjugating the high molecular weight hydrophilic/hydrophobic entities by host-guest interactions and covalent bonding (prodrug approach) respectively. Moreover, high ratio of surface groups to molecular volume has made them a promising synthetic vector for gene delivery. Owing to these properties dendrimers have fascinated the researchers in the development of new drug carriers and they have been implicated in many therapeutic and biomedical applications. Despite of their extensive applications, their use in biological systems is limited due to toxicity issues associated with them. Considering this, the present review has focused on the different strategies of their synthesis, drug delivery and targeting, gene delivery and other biomedical applications, interactions involved in formation of drug-dendrimer complex along with characterization techniques employed for their evaluation, toxicity problems and associated approaches to alleviate their inherent toxicity.

Hybrid poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles: design and delivery prospectives.

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved copolymer, has been exploited widely in the design of nanoparticles because it is biodegradable, biocompatible, protects the drug molecules from degradation, and aids in producing sustained and targeted delivery. However, certain constraints associated with PLGA nanoparticles, such as poor drug encapsulation, polymer degradation, and scale-up issues, have led to the development of emerging hybrid PLGA delivery systems. These hybrid nanoparticles are core-shell nanostructures comprising either a PLGA core or a PLGA shell combining multiple functionalities within one system and, thus, exhibiting the complementary characteristics of two different platforms used for the delivery of a wide range of therapeutics and imaging.

Green synthesis of therapeutic nanoparticles: an expanding horizon

Nanotechnology continues to achieve tremendous awards in therapeutics, but the economical and ecofriendly production of nanoparticles (NPs) is still in infancy, simply due to the nanotoxicity, unprecedented health hazards and scale up issues. Green nanotechnology was introduced in the quest to mitigate such risks by utilizing natural resources as biological tool for NP synthesis. The key advantages offered by green approach include lower capital and operating expenses, reduced environmental impacts, superior biocompatibility and higher stability. In this review, we shed light on the biosynthesis of therapeutic NPs along with their numerous biomedical applications. Toxicity aspects of NPs and the impact of green approach on it, is also discussed briefly.

Updates on Aldose Reductase Inhibitors for Management of Diabetic Complications and Non-diabetic Diseases

Diabetes mellitus occurrence has been associated to the modification of the physiological levels of glucose and is often accompanied by several long-term complications, namely neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, cataract, and cardiovascular. Aldose reductase (AR) is an enzyme of aldoketo reductase super-family that catalyzes the conversion of glucose to sorbitol in the polyol pathway of glucose metabolism. In this context, aldose reductase inhibitors (ARIs) have received much attention worldwide. Decreased sorbitol flux through polyol pathway by ARIs could be an emerging target for the management of major complications of diabetes. The present review article describes a brief overview of the role of aldose reductase in the diabetic complications, advances achieved on ARIs and their potential use in the treatment and management of the major diabetic complications such as cataract, retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy and cardiovascular. The ARIs developed vary structurally, and representative structural classes of ARIs include i) carboxylic acid derivatives (such as Epalrestat, Alrestatin, Zopalrestat, Zenarestat, Ponalrestat, Lidorestat, and Tolrestat), ii) spirohydantoins and related cyclic amides (such as Sorbinil, Minalrestat, and Fidarestat), and iii) phenolic derivatives (related to Benzopyran-4-one and Chalcone). Among these inhibitors, Epalrestat is the only commercially available inhibitor till date. In addition, some other ARIs such as Sorbinil and Ranirestat had been advanced into late stage of clinical trials and found to be safe for human use. The role of various natural ARIs in management of diabetic complications will be discussed. Adapting ARIs could prevent sepsis complications, prevent angiogenesis, ameliorate mild or asymptomatic diabetic cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy and appear to be a promising strategy for the treatment of endotoxemia and other ROS-induced inflammatory diseases. The role of ARIs in non-diabetic diseases will also be discussed.

Nanostructured lipid carriers: versatile oral delivery vehicle

Oral delivery is the most accepted and economical route for drug administration and leads to substantial reduction in dosing frequency. However, this route still remains a challenge for the pharmaceutical industry due to poorly soluble and permeable drugs leading to poor oral bioavailability. Incorporating bioactives into nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) has helped in boosting their therapeutic functionality and prolonged release from these carrier systems thus providing improved pharmacokinetic parameters. The present review provides an overview of noteworthy studies reporting impending benefits of NLCs in oral delivery and highlights recent advancements for developing engineered NLCs either by conjugating polymers over their surface or modifying their charge to overcome the mucosal barrier of GI tract for active transport across intestinal membrane.

Toxicological investigation of surface engineered fifth generation poly (propyleneimine) dendrimers in vivo

Dendrimers are three dimensional polymers, nanoscopic in size, most widely explored in the field of drug delivery in recent times. In order to establish these polymers as controlled and targeted drug delivery systems, they should be non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the toxicological profile of fifth generation poly (propyleneimine) dendrimers (PPI) and some of its surface engineered derivatives. Functionalized PPI dendrimers (TPPI, MPPI and TuPPI) were synthesized to mask the primary amino groups responsible for the positive charge and associated toxicity. Each polymer is administered in three different doses: 2.5 mg/kg, 25 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg (i.e., low, intermediate and high dose) to Wister rats, and blood as well as tissue samples were collected after 24 h and 15 days. Decrease in RBC count and hemoglobin content after 24 h, in case of animals administered with PPI suggests hemolytic activity of PPI. Significant increase in SGOT, SGPT and LDH indicates that PPI causes severe damage to the membranes of the various tissues of the body, especially that of the liver leading to the leakage of these marker enzymes in blood. Sections of liver of animals administered with PPI showed signs of tissue degeneration after 24 h. No signs of toxicity were observed in case of animals administered with functionalized PPI. Neither PPI nor its surface engineered derivatives showed any signs of immunogenicity. It can be concluded that functionalization of dendrimers leads to drastic reduction of toxicity and increases biocompatibility.

Evaluation of polyamidoamine dendrimers as potential carriers for quercetin, a versatile flavonoid

Abstract The aim of the present research work was to investigate the potential of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers as oral drug delivery carriers for quercetin, a Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) class II molecule. The aqueous solubility of quercetin was investigated in different generations of dendrimers, i.e. G0, G1, G2 and G3, with varying concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 1, 2 and 4 µM). Then, it was successfully incorporated in PAMAM dendrimers and they were characterized for incorporation efficacy, nature of nanoformulations, size, size distribution, surface morphology and stability. In vitro release characteristics of quercetin from all quercetin-PAMAM complexes were studied at 37 °C in phosphate buffer saline (PBS; pH 7.4). Furthermore, the efficacy of quercetin-loaded PAMAM dendrimer was assessed by pharmacodynamic experiment, namely, a carrageenan-induced paw edema model to evaluate the acute activity of this nanocarrier in response to inflammation. It was observed that both generation and the respective concentrations of PAMAM dendrimers showed potential positive effects on solubility enhancement of quercetin. All the quercetin-PAMAM complexes were found to be in nanometeric range (<100 nm) with narrow polydispersity index. In vitro study revealed a biphasic release pattern of quercetin which was characterized by an initial faster release followed by sustained release phase and pharmacodynamic study provided the preliminary proof of concept about the potential of quercetin-PAMAM complexes. The study concludes that the dendrimer-based drug delivery system for quercetin has enormous potential to resolve the drug delivery issues associated with it.

Recent Updates on Development of Drug Molecules for Human African Trypanosomiasis

Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, better called as sleeping sickness), caused by two morphologically identicalprotozoan parasite Trypanosoma bruceiis transmitted by the bite of tsetse flies of Glossinagenus, mainly in the rural areas of the sub-Saharan Africa. HAT is one of the neglected tropical diseases and is characterized by sleep disturbance as the main symptom, hence is called as sleeping sickness. As it is epidemic in the poorest population of Africa, there is limited availability of safe and cost-effective tools for controlling the disease. Trypanosoma bruceigambiense causes sleeping sickness in Western and Central Africa, whereas Trypanosoma bruceirhodesiense is the reason for prevalence of sleeping sickness in Eastern and Southern Africa. For the treatment of sleeping sickness, only five drugs have been approved suramin, pentamidine, melarsoprol, eflornithine and nifurtimox. Various small molecules of diverse chemical nature have been synthesized for targeting HAT and many of them are in the clinical trialsincluding fexinidazole (phase I completed) and SCYX-7158 (advanced in phase I). The present work has been planned to review various types of small molecules developed in the last 10 years having potent antitrypanosoma activity likely to be beneficial in sleeping sickness along with different natural anti-HAT agents.

A facile green approach to prepare core-shell hybrid PLGA nanoparticles for resveratrol delivery.

Green approach has revolutionized the area of nanoparticles (NPs) synthesis by virtue of eco and health friendly protocols. Advancing this further, the study proposes a captivating solvent free method for the preparation of green PLGA-oil nanohybrids (G-PONHs) using acrysol oil and encapsulation of resveratrol therein. G-PONHs were structurally similar to the standard PONHs, but had larger particle size of 375 nm. Avoidance of organic solvents resulted in the formation of smooth NPs which showed a considerable improvement in drug release profile and antioxidant properties. G-PONHs exhibited superior biocompatibility with normal Vero cells, while the cytotoxicity on breast cancer cells was moderate in comparison to standard NPs owing to their large size. The size of NPs was found to be a critical factor governing the amplitude of cytotoxicity. The comparative high stability of G-PONHs further favors the tremendous potential of this novel preparation method and delivery platform.

Stability indicating simplified HPLC method for simultaneous analysis of resveratrol and quercetin in nanoparticles and human plasma

Resveratrol and quercetin are well-known polyphenolic compounds present in common foods, which have demonstrated enormous potential in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases. Owing to their exciting synergistic potential and combination delivery applications, we developed a simple and rapid RP-HPLC method based on isosbestic point detection. The separation was carried out on phenomenex Synergi 4μ Hydro-RP 80A column using methanol: acetonitrile (ACN): 0.1% phosphoric acid (60:10:30) as mobile phase. The method was able to quantify nanograms of analytes simultaneously on a single wavelength (269 nm), making it highly sensitive, rapid as well as economical. Additionally, forced degradation studies of resveratrol and quercetin were established and the methods applicability was evaluated on PLGA nanoparticles and human plasma. The analytes peaks were found to be well resolved in the presence of degradation products and excipients. The simplicity of the developed method potentializes its suitability for routine in vitro and in vivo analysis of resveratrol and quercetin.