Publications by authors named "Omaima Sammour"

Glioblastoma multiforme is a very combative and threatening type of cancer. The standard course of treatment involves excising the tumor surgically, then administering chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Because of the presence of the blood-brain barrier and the unique characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, chemotherapy is extremely difficult and has a high incidence of relapse.

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Poor drug penetration, emerging drug resistance, and systemic toxicity are among the major obstacles challenging the current treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Hence, developing advanced strategies for effective and targeted delivery of antileishmanial agents is crucial. Several drug delivery carriers have been developed till current date for dermal/transdermal delivery, especially those which are fabricated using eco-friendly synthesis approaches, since they protect the environment from the harmful effects of chemical waste disposal.

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Novel p-coumaric acid microemulsion systems were developed to circumvent its absorption and bioavailability challenges. Simplex-lattice mixture design and machine learning methods were employed for optimization. Two optimized formulations were characterized using in vitro re-dispersibility and cytotoxicity on various tumor cell lines (MCF-7, CaCO2, and HepG2).

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Objective: Apigenin and gallic acid are natural compounds that are useful as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents, especially when used together in combination. Therefore, the development and validation of a simultaneous method of analysis for both compounds in pure form and when encapsulated in an advanced delivery system such as liposomes would be useful.

Methods: Analysis was performed using C18 column under isocratic conditions.

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Ischemic stroke accounts for about 87% of all strokes, causing long-term disability in adults, and is the second leading cause of death worldwide. In search of new therapeutic modalities, the use of neuroprotective agents loaded in nanocarriers to be delivered by noninvasive means (i.e.

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Aims: The neurohormone melatonin (MEL) has been reported as a promising neuroprotective molecule, however it suffers pharmaceutical limitations such as poor solubility and low bioavailability, which hinder its pharmacological and clinical potential. In the current work, MEL was loaded in core-shell nanocarrier system; polymeric nanocapsules (PNCs), and assessed for its potential in cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury rat model when administered intranasally.

Key Findings: Adopting a D-optimal factorial design, MEL-PNCs were successfully formulated using the nanoprecipitation technique.

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Background: Lung cancer is a principal cause of death worldwide, and its treatment is very challenging. Nebulization offers a promising means of targeting drugs to their site of action in the lung.

Research Design And Methods: In the present study, nebulizable oil in water nanoemulsion formulations was co-loaded with naringin/celecoxib and tested for pulmonary administration by different nebulizer types.

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In the cosmeceutical field, it is essential to develop topical delivery systems which would allow drugs to create a depot and permeate within the skin. The aim of the present study was to develop composite nanofibers of polyvinyl alcohol/quercetin/essential oils using the electrospinning technique, and assess their efficiency in acne alleviation. Quercetin was chosen due to its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and antibacterial activities.

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Skin cancer is one of the most dangerous diseases, leading to massive losses and high death rates worldwide. Topical delivery of nutraceuticals is considered a suitable approach for efficient and safe treatment of skin cancer. Nobiletin; a flavone occurring in citrus fruits has been reported to inhibit proliferation of carcinogenesis since 1990s, is a promising candidate in this regard.

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Cancer is the disease of this era. Its therapy is moving through ups and downs not only due to poor effectiveness of many treating drugs, but also due to the serious side effects always evolving. In an attempt to overcome this problem, many systems, including lipid-based carriers, have been exploited for their oral delivery.

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Chrysin is a flavonoid with various biological and therapeutic properties. However, its poor oral bioavailability and solubility are challenging barriers against its therapeutic use, which can be circumvented via encapsulation in a suitable nanocarrier. Therefore, the aim of this work was to prepare polymeric chrysin nanocapsules based on polylactic-glycolic acid PLGA with improved oral therapeutic potential, by optimization of their physicochemical properties using response surface methodology.

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: Bergamot oil (BO) is a photosensitizer that can be used for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of dermatological diseases such as vitiligo. Being an oil, it can be integrated within the lipidic matrix of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) as the liquid lipid constituent, hence exhibiting a dual role. : NLCs were prepared with different emulsifiers and coemulsifiers, and the effect of the preparation method and formulation variables on the NLCs' size was elucidated.

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Travoprost is a synthetic prostaglandin F2α analogue used in treatment of glaucoma. Due to its water insolubility and oily nature, novel delivery systems need to be developed to enhance its bioavailability, and sustain its release. In the current work, travoprost nanoemulsion was explored as a novel carrier prepared using low energy technique.

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Divalproex sodium (DVS) is a challenging drug owing to its hygroscopicity, bitter taste, and short half-life. This study aims to produce stable taste masked DVS once daily tablets using solvent free hot melt granulation (HMG) process. A lab scale high shear mixer granulator employing six meltable lipid binders (compritol888 ATO, beeswax, gelucire50/13, precirol ATO5, stearyl alcohol, and geleol) was used for the preparation of tablets.

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The full exploration of the 'nutraceuticals' therapeutic potential in cosmetics has been hindered by their poor stratum corneum permeation. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to formulate a nutraceutical; quercetin, in novel vitamin C based nanovesicles (aspasomes), and to explore their beneficial effects in the treatment of acne. Aspasomes were characterized for their particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency (EE%), 3-months storage stability, skin deposition/permeation, antioxidant potential, and morphology.

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A passive lung targeted system for controlled lung delivery of ketotifen (KT) was developed based on the green complexation of dextran sulphate (DS) and KT. Achieving deep lung deposition of high drug fraction, while evading lung defense mechanisms were set as goals. Optimized uniform negatively charged nanocomplexes (NC), <80 nm, were obtained at KT/DS weight ratio of 1:0.

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The impact of nanomedicine has grown in the current decade; however, only very few clinical translational attempts have been realized. Therefore in the present study, we hypothesized that bergamot oil, a psoralen-containing oil, would produce an optimized melanogenic effect in the clinical treatment of vitiligo when loaded within an elastic nanocarrier (spanlastics) and combined with PUVB for activation of psoralens. Spanlastics were prepared and characterized for particle size, physical stability, in vitro release, thermal behavior, deformability, morphology, and in vitro photostability.

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Lavender oil consists of around 100 components and is susceptible to volatilisation and degradation reactions. Microencapsulate lavender oil by spray drying using a biocompatible polymeric blend of gum acacia and maltodextrin to protect the oil components. Effect of total polymer content, oil loading, gum acacia, and maltodextrin proportions on the size, yield, loading, and encapsulation efficiency of the microparticles was investigated.

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Among the common myths in the cosmetics industry is the perception that acne only happens to teenagers, and specifically to females. However, acne is neither limited to a specific age, nor to a certain gender, it creates a stressful problem for many people. Many chemical treatments for acne were proven to be successful, but when administered as such, they showed many adverse effects, starting from itching to skin dryness and inflammation.

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In the current study, the transdermal route has been investigated to deliver the poorly bioavailable drug; curcumin into the systemic circulation, aiming to target both superficial and subcutaneous tumors such as the breast tumors. Accordingly, different colloidal carriers viz. ultradeformable nanovesicles comprising various penetration enhancers were exploited.

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Baicalin is a multi-purpose flavonoid used in the treatment of different ocular diseases. Owing to its poor stability in basic pH and its poor solubility, a suitable carrier system is needed to enhance its ocular therapeutic potential. Therefore, the objective of this work was to prepare and contrast different baicalin vesicular systems; namely liposomes, penetration enhancer vesicles PEVs and transfersomes.

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Curcumin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles intended for transdermal delivery were successfully prepared, optimized and their fate, interaction and pathway through the skin were tracked. D-optimal response surface methodology was used for the nanoparticles optimization. Xy and z-stack confocal laser scanning microscopic images were used for the particles tracking after measuring the drug permeation through the skin using Franz diffusion cells.

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Objective: To formulate solid lipid microparticles (SLMs) encapsulating doxycycline hydrochloride (DH) and metronidazole (MT) for the treatment of periodontal diseases.

Methods: SLMs were prepared applying hot homogenization method, using different types of lipids and stabilized with various types and concentrations of surfactants. The optimized formula was subjected to freeze-drying followed by incorporation into poloxamer gel.

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Chitosan microspheres were formulated for the intra-articular delivery of lornoxicam in knee osteoarthritis, to minimize associated side-effects after prolonged oral administration. Ionotropic-gelation technique was employed using tripolyphosphate as anionic cross-linker. Full-factorial design experiment was conducted to optimize lornoxicam entrapment-efficiency%.

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Purpose: Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles of different architectures based on polyethylene glycol-co-poly(ε-caprolactone) block copolymers have been loaded with noscapine (NOS) to study their effect on its anticancer activity. It was intended to use solubility of NOS in an acidic environment and ability of the nanoparticles to passively target drugs into cancer tissue to modify the NOS pharmacokinetic properties and reduce the requirement for frequent injections.

Methods: Linear and star-shaped copolymers were synthetized and used to formulate NOS loaded nanoparticles.

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