Optimization of a dual mechanism gastrofloatable and gastroadhesive delivery system for narrow absorption window drugs.

In order to overcome poor bioavailability of narrow absorption window drugs, a gastrosphere system comprising two mechanisms of gastric retention, namely buoyancy and gastroadhesion, has been investigated in this study employing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), polyacrylic acid (PAA), alginate, pectin, and a model drug metformin hydrochloride. Fifteen formulations were obtained using a Box-Behnken statistical design. The gastrosphere yield was above 80% in all cases; however, due to the high water solubility of metformin, drug entrapment efficacy was between 18% and 54%.

Recent advances in the design of drug-loaded polymeric implants for the treatment of solid tumors.

Introduction: The effective treatment of solid tumors continues to be a great challenge to clinicians, despite the development of novel drugs. In order to improve the clinical efficacy of existing chemotherapeutic agents, researchers have considered the possibility of site-specific solid tumor treatment. The greatest advantage of localized delivery is the significantly fewer side effects experienced by patients.

Polymeric emulsion and crosslink-mediated synthesis of super-stable nanoparticles as sustained-release anti-tuberculosis drug carriers.

This study focused on evaluating four emulsion-based processing strategies for polymeric nanoparticle synthesis to explicate the mechanisms of nanoparticle formation and the influence on achieving sustained-release of two anti-tuberculosis drugs, isoniazid and rifampicin. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles were formulated with and without sorbitan mono-oleate as a stabilizer using emulsion-solvent-surfactant-evaporation (ESSE) and emulsion-solvent-evaporation (ESE) approaches. An alginate solution gelled by ionic crosslinking with calcium chloride was employed to prepare alginate hydrogel nanoparticles via reverse-emulsion-cationic-gelification (RECG) and reverse-emulsion-surfactant-cationic-gelification (RESCG) approaches.

Gastroretentive drug delivery systems: current developments in novel system design and evaluation.

The task of achieving efficient delivery of drugs that have poor bioavailability or narrow absorption windows have plagued the pharmaceutically industry for decades. Thus, much research has been dedicated to the development of novel polymeric-based gastroretentive drug delivery technologies that may optimize the bioavailability and subsequent therapeutic efficacy of such drugs. An effective approach of achieving this is through the prolongation of the gastric residence time employing several gastroretentive drug delivery mechanisms such as the use of buoyant systems, high density systems, magnetic systems, mucoadhesive systems, swelling/expanding systems, superporous hydrogels and the inclusion of gastric motility retarding agents with biocompatible polymeric materials.