0000000000756502
AUTHOR
Giuseppe Trapani
New Biodegradable Hydrogels Based on Inulin and α,β-Polyaspartylhydrazide Designed for Colonic Drug Delivery: In Vitro Release of Glutathione and Oxytocin.
Succinic derivatives of inulin (INU-SA) with two different degrees of derivatization (20% and 30%, mol/mol) were cross-linked with α,β-polyaspartylhydrazide (PAHy) to obtain INUPAHy hydrogels. Cross-linking was performed using N-ethyl-N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide (NHSS) as coupling agents and by varying the reaction time (4 h, 8 h and 24 h). All samples prepared were characterized by FT-IR analysis and swelling measurements in different media. In vitro assays, performed in the presence of inulinase, demonstrated the degradability of the prepared hydrogels. Cell compatibility was evaluated using Caco-2 cells through both direct and …
Nanocomplexes for gene therapy of respiratory diseases: Targeting and overcoming the mucus barrier
Gene therapy, i.e. the delivery and expression of therapeutic genes, holds great promise for congenital and acquired respiratory diseases. Non-viral vectors are less toxic and immunogenic than viral vectors, although they are characterized by lower efficiency. However, they have to overcome many barriers, including inflammatory and immune mediators and cells. The respiratory and airway epithelial cells, the main target of these vectors, are coated with a layer of mucus, which hampers the effective reaching of gene therapy vectors carrying either plasmid DNA or small interfering RNA. This barrier is thicker in many lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis. This review summarizes the most impor…
In vitro evaluation of glycol chitosan based formulations as oral delivery systems for efflux pump inhibition.
Recently, we have reported that glycol chitosan (GCS) was able to reverse the P- glycoprotein (P-gp) efflux pump. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the potential of two GCS-based dosage forms (aqueous solution or nanoparticle suspension) for oral administration of the P-gp substrate Rho-123. A further aim of the present study was to assess the effect of the glycol chitosan-4-thiobutylamidine thiomer (GCS-TBA) on P-gp activity considering that the corresponding thiomer of chitosan series is a well-known P-gp inhibitor. Pre-treatment of Caco-2 cell monolayer with a GCS solution or GCS-based nanoparticles increased the absorptive transport of Rho-123 across the monolayer of 1.…
Hyaluronic acid and its derivatives in drug delivery and imaging: Recent advances and challenges.
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a biodegradable, biocompatible, nontoxic, and non-immunogenic glycosaminoglycan used for various biomedical applications. The interaction of HA with the CD44 receptor, whose expression is elevated on the surface of many types of tumor cells, makes this polymer a promising candidate for intracellular delivery of imaging and anticancer agents exploiting a receptor-mediated active targeting strategy. Therefore, HA and its derivatives have been most investigated for the development of several carrier systems intended for cancer diagnosis and therapy. Nonetheless, different and important delivery applications of the polysaccharide have also been described, including gene …
Nanocarriers for respiratory diseases treatment: Recent advances and current challenges
Pulmonary delivery of locally-acting drugs encapsulated in nanocarriers provides several advantages for the treatment of respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, cystic fibrosis, tuberculosis and lung cancer. These advantages include, among others, sustained drug delivery to the lungs, reduced therapeutic dose and improved patient compliance. The aim of this review is to give an updated overview on recent advances recorded in the last few years in this field as well as on the major challenges still existing and that remain to be overcome before any clinical application. After an outline on the cellular and extracellular barriers affecting drug delivery to…