Wahid Khan

Alternative Antimicrobial Approach: Nano-Antimicrobial Materials

Despite numerous existing potent antibiotics and other antimicrobial means, bacterial infections are still a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Moreover, the need to develop additional bactericidal means has significantly increased due to the growing concern regarding multidrug-resistant bacterial strains and biofilm associated infections. Consequently, attention has been especially devoted to new and emerging nanoparticle-based materials in the field of antimicrobial chemotherapy. The present review discusses the activities of nanoparticles as an antimicrobial means, their mode of action, nanoparticle effect on drug-resistant bacteria, and the risks attendant on their use as antibacterial agents. Factors contributing to nanoparticle performance in the clinical setting, their unique properties, and mechanism of action as antibacterial agents are discussed in detail.

Drug eluting stents: developments and current status.

Coronary stenting has revolutionized current perspective of coronary artery disease management. Bare-metal stents (BMS) were introduced in 1994, but long-term results have been shattered by the dual problems of in-stent restenosis (ISR) and stent thrombosis associated with BMS. Though stent thrombosis became much less frequent after the introduction of antiplatelet therapy, restenosis however remained as a significant problem. Intense work on stent development has successfully led to the introduction of drug-eluting stents (DES) in 2002, as an effort to address restenosis problem. First generation DES (sirolimus and paclitaxel eluting) were introduced first and found to be more effective than BMS. The use of first generation DES dealt with the problem of restenosis. But, despite early successes, uncertainty remains on the overall safety, especially for late adverse clinical events such as stent thrombosis. Thus, the second generation (everolimus and zotarolimus eluting) stents were developed and introduced with lower thrombosis rates. Today, in the search for improving the performance of available DES various developments and clinical studies are ongoing. Research and developments is primarily centred on increasing the long-term safety and efficacy of stents.

Liposomal Formulations in Clinical Use: An Updated Review

Liposomes are the first nano drug delivery systems that have been successfully translated into real-time clinical applications. These closed bilayer phospholipid vesicles have witnessed many technical advances in recent years since their first development in 1965. Delivery of therapeutics by liposomes alters their biodistribution profile, which further enhances the therapeutic index of various drugs. Extensive research is being carried out using these nano drug delivery systems in diverse areas including the delivery of anti-cancer, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory drugs and therapeutic genes. The significant contribution of liposomes as drug delivery systems in the healthcare sector is known by many clinical products, e.g., Doxil®, Ambisome®, DepoDur™, etc. This review provides a detailed update on liposomal technologies e.g., DepoFoam™ Technology, Stealth technology, etc., the formulation aspects of clinically used products and ongoing clinical trials on liposomes.

Polysaccharide gene transfection agents

Gene delivery is a promising technique that involves in vitro or in vivo introduction of exogenous genes into cells for experimental and therapeutic purposes. Successful gene delivery depends on the development of effective and safe delivery vectors. Two main delivery systems, viral and non-viral gene carriers, are currently deployed for gene therapy. While most current gene therapy clinical trials are based on viral approaches, non-viral gene medicines have also emerged as potentially safe and effective for the treatment of a wide variety of genetic and acquired diseases. Non-viral technologies consist of plasmid-based expression systems containing a gene associated with the synthetic gene delivery vector. Polysaccharides compile a large family of heterogenic sequences of monomers with various applications and several advantages as gene delivery agents. This chapter, compiles the recent progress in polysaccharide based gene delivery, it also provides an overview and recent developments of polysaccharide employed for in vitro and in vivo delivery of therapeutically important nucleotides, e.g. plasmid DNA and small interfering RNA.

CD44 targeted chemotherapy for co-eradication of breast cancer stem cells and cancer cells using polymeric nanoparticles of salinomycin and paclitaxel.

This combinational therapy is mainly aimed for complete eradication of tumor by killing both cancer cells and cancer stem cells. Salinomycin (SLM) was targeted towards cancer stem cells whereas paclitaxel (PTX) was used to kill cancer cells. Drug loaded poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles were prepared by emulsion solvent diffusion method using cationic stabilizer. Size of the nanoparticles (below 150nm) was determined by dynamic light scattering technique and transmission electron microscopy. In vitro release study confirmed the sustained release pattern of SLM and PTX from nanoparticles more than a month. Cytotoxicity studies on MCF-7 cells revealed the toxicity potential of nanoparticles over drug solutions. Hyaluronic acid (HA) was coated onto the surface of SLM nanoparticles for targeting CD44 receptors over expressed on cancer stem cells and they showed the highest cytotoxicity with minimum IC50 on breast cancer cells. Synergistic cytotoxic effect was also observed with combination of nanoparticles. Cell uptake studies were carried out using FITC loaded nanoparticles. These particles showed improved cellular uptake over FITC solution and HA coating further enhanced the effect by 1.5 folds. CD44 binding efficiency of nanoparticles was studied by staining MDA-MB-231 cells with anti CD44 human antibody and CD44(+) cells were enumerated using flow cytometry. CD44(+) cell count was drastically decreased when treated with HA coated SLM nanoparticles indicating their efficiency towards cancer stem cells. Combination of HA coated SLM nanoparticles and PTX nanoparticles showed the highest cytotoxicity against CD44(+) cells. Hence combinational therapy using conventional chemotherapeutic drug and cancer stem cell inhibitor could be a promising approach in overcoming cancer recurrence due to resistant cell population.

Biodegradable Polymers Derived From Amino Acids

In the past three decades, the use of polymeric materials has increased dramatically for biomedical applications. Many α-amino acids derived biodegradable polymers have also been intensely developed with the main goal to obtain bio-mimicking functional biomaterials. Polymers derived from α-amino acids may offer many advantages, as these polymers: (a) can be modified further to introduce new functions such as imaging, molecular targeting and drugs can be conjugated chemically to these polymers, (b) can improve on better biological properties like cell migration, adhesion and biodegradability, (c) can improve on mechanical and thermal properties and (d) their degradation products are expected to be non-toxic and readily metabolized/excreted from the body. This manuscript focuses on biodegradable polymers derived from natural amino acids, their synthesis, biocompatibility and biomedical applications. It is observed that polymers derived from α-amino acids constitute a promising family of biodegradable materials. These provide innovative multifunctional polymers possessing amino acid side groups with biological activity and with innumerous potential applications.

Lymphatic system: a prospective area for advanced targeting of particulate drug carriers.

Introduction: The lymphatic system has a critical role in the immune systems recognition and response to disease and it is an additional circulatory system throughout the entire body. Extensive multidisciplinary investigations have been carried out in the area of lymphatic delivery, and lymphatic targeting has attracted a lot of attention for providing preferential chemotherapy and improving bioavailability of drugs that undergo hepatic first-pass metabolism. Areas covered: This review focuses on progress in the field of lymphatic therapeutics and diagnosis. Moreover, the anatomy and physiology of the lymphatic system, particulate drug carriers and different physicochemical parameters of both modified and unmodified particulate drug carriers and their effect on lymphatic targeting are addressed. Expert opinion: Particulate drug carriers have encouraged lymphatic targeting, but there are still challenges in targeting drugs and bioactives to specific sites, maintaining desired action and crossing all the physiological barriers. Lymphatic therapy using drug-encapsulated lipid carriers, especially liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles, emerges as a new technology to provide better penetration into the lymphatics where residual disease exists. Size is the most important criteria when designing nanocarriers for targeting lymphatic vessels as the transportation of these particles into lymphatic vessels is size dependent. By increasing our understanding of lymphatic transport and uptake, and the role of lymphatics in various diseases, we can design new therapeutics for effective disease control.

Intranasal delivery of nanoparticle encapsulated tarenflurbil: A potential brain targeting strategy for Alzheimer's disease

Poor brain penetration of tarenflurbil (TFB) was one of the major reasons for its failure in phase III clinical trials conducted on Alzheimers patients. Thus there is a tremendous need of developing efficient delivery systems for TFB. This study was designed with the aim of improving drug delivery to brain through intranasally delivered nanocarriers. TFB was loaded into two different nanocarriers i.e., poly (lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles (TFB-NPs) and solid lipid nanoparticles (TFB-SLNs). Particle size of both the nanocarriers (<200nm) as determined by dynamic light scattering technique and transmission electron microscopy, assured transcellular transport across olfactory axons whose diameter was ≈200nm and then paving a direct path to brain. TFB-NPs and TFB-SLNs resulted in 64.11±2.21% and 57.81±5.32% entrapment efficiencies respectively which again asserted protection of drug from chemical and biological degradation in nasal cavity. In vitro release studies proved the sustained release of TFB from TFB-NPs and TFB-SLNs in comparison with pure drug, indicating prolonged residence times of drug at targeting site. Pharmacokinetics suggested improved circulation behavior of nanoparticles and the absolute bioavailabilities followed this order: TFB-NPs (i.n.)>TFB-SLNs (i.n.)>TFB solution (i.n.)>TFB suspension (oral). Brain targeting efficiency was determined in terms of %drug targeting efficiency (%DTE) and drug transport percentage (DTP). The higher %DTE (287.24) and DTP (65.18) were observed for TFB-NPs followed by TFB-SLNs (%DTE: 183.15 and DTP: 45.41) among all other tested groups. These encouraging results proved that therapeutic concentrations of TFB could be transported directly to brain via olfactory pathway after intranasal administration of polymeric and lipidic nanoparticles.

Poly(lactic acid) Based Hydrogels.

Polylactide (PLA) and its copolymers are hydrophobic polyesters used for biomedical applications. Hydrogel medicinal implants have been used as drug delivery vehicles and scaffolds for tissue engineering, tissue augmentation and more. Since lactides are non-functional, they are copolymerized with hydrophilic monomers or conjugated to a hydrophilic moiety to form hydrogels. Copolymers of lactic and glycolic acids with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) provide thermo-responsive hydrogels. Physical crosslinking mechanisms of PEG-PLA or PLA-polysaccharides include: lactic acid segment hydrophobic interactions, stereocomplexation of D and L-lactic acid segments, ionic interactions, and chemical bond formation by radical or photo crosslinking. These hydrogels may also be tailored as stimulus responsive (pH, photo, or redox). PLA and its copolymers have also been polymerized to include urethane bonds to fabricate shape memory hydrogels. This review focuses on the synthesis, characterization, and applications of PLA containing hydrogels.

Carrier free rapamycin loaded drug eluting stent: In vitro and in vivo evaluation

In the search for improving the performance of drug eluting stent (DES) various developments are in progress worldwide including use of carrier free DES, use of biodegradable polymers, biodegradable stents etc. In this work, carrier free-rapamycin (RM) coated DES has been prepared, and evaluated by in vitro and in vivo procedures necessary for clinical development. In vitro drug release from the developed stents was carried in different release media, normal saline-isopropanol (NS-IP), phosphate buffer (PB), phosphate buffer saline (PBS) and in human plasma. Simultaneously, drug released at site of implantation and biocompatibility of developed stents was determined after subcutaneous implantation in the SD rats. Developed stent coating method enables fabrication of controllable and homogeneous crystalline RM coatings on stent scaffolds. Continuous release of RM was observed in different release conditions with different release rate, maximum in NS-IP and least in PB. Similarly, after subcutaneous implantation of these stents, RM was found in surrounding tissues and in implanted stent up to 28 days. Biocompatibility studies showed no evidence for presence of necrosis, foreign body giant cell reaction or any type of increased severity of inflammatory reaction, proving potential of developed stents for further clinical development.