Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), affects millions worldwide, particularly in Latin America. Despite its prevalence, treatment options remain limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOral protein delivery holds significant promise as an effective therapeutic strategy for treating a wide range of diseases. However, effective absorption of proteins faces challenges due to biological barriers such as harsh conditions of the stomach and the low permeability of mucous membranes. To address these challenges, this article presents a novel nano-in-nano platform designed for enteric protein delivery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOver the last decade, significant progress has been made in developing hydrogels as medical devices. By physically cross-linking pharmaceutically approved polymers into three-dimensional matrices, we can ensure their biocompatibility and facilitate their seamless transition from the laboratory to clinical applications. Moreover, the reversible nature of their physical cross-links allows hydrogels to dissolve in the presence of external stimuli.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTranscutaneous immunization (TCI) provides a valuable alternative approach to conventional vaccination because of the high accessibility and the exceptional immunological characteristics of the skin, but its application is limited by the low permeability of the stratum corneum. Although nanogels (NGs) have proven to enhance skin penetration of macromolecules with minimum damage, their use in TCI remains almost unexplored. In this context, this article evaluates the performance of novel film-forming NGs (FF-NGs) as TCI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSkin penetration of active molecules for treatment of diverse diseases is a major field of research owing to the advantages associated with the skin like easy accessibility, reduced systemic-derived side effects, and increased therapeutic efficacy. Despite these advantages, dermal drug delivery is generally challenging due to the low skin permeability of therapeutics. Although various methods have been developed to improve skin penetration and permeation of therapeutics, they are usually aggressive and could lead to irreversible damage to the stratum corneum.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransdermal immunization is highly attractive because of the skin's accessibility and unique immunological characteristics. However, it remains a relatively unexplored route of administration because of the great difficulty of transporting antigens past the outermost layer of skin, the stratum corneum. In this article, the abilities of three poly( N-vinylcaprolactam) (PVCL)-based thermoresponsive assemblies-PVCL hydrogels and nanogels plus novel film forming PVCL/acrylic nanogels-to act as protein delivery systems were investigated.
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