In the last decades, the discovery of metabolites from marine resources showing biological activity has increased significantly. Among marine resources, seaweed is a valuable source of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. The cell walls of marine algae are rich in sulfated polysaccharides, including carrageenan in red algae, ulvan in green algae and fucoidan in brown algae. Sulfated polysaccharides have been increasingly studied over the years in the pharmaceutical field, given their potential usefulness in applications such as the design of drug delivery systems. The purpose of this review is to discuss potential applications of these polymers in drug delivery systems, with a focus on carrageenan, ulvan and fucoidan. General information regarding structure, extraction process and physicochemical properties is presented, along with a brief reference to reported biological activities. For each material, specific applications under the scope of drug delivery are described, addressing in privileged manner particulate carriers, as well as hydrogels and beads. A final section approaches the application of sulfated polysaccharides in targeted drug delivery, focusing with particular interest the capacity for macrophage targeting.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/14/3/42/pdf

Sulfated Seaweed Polysaccharides as Multifunctional Materials in Drug Delivery Applications.

Recent advances of controlled drug delivery using microfluidic platforms.

Ethnopharmacological analysis of medicinal plants and animals used in the treatment and management of pain in Mauritius

To perform well in biotechnology applications, synthetic genetic oscillators must be engineered to allow independent modulation of amplitude and period. This need is currently unmet. Here, we demonstrate computationally how two classic genetic oscillators, the dual-feedback oscillator and the repressilator, can be re-designed to provide independent control of amplitude and period and improve tunability-that is, a broad dynamic range of periods and amplitudes accessible through the input "dials." Our approach decouples frequency and amplitude modulation by incorporating an orthogonal "sink module" where the key molecular species are channeled for enzymatic degradation. This sink module maintains fast oscillation cycles while alleviating the translational coupling between the oscillator's transcription factors and output. We characterize the behavior of our re-designed oscillators over a broad range of physiologically reasonable parameters, explain why this facilitates broader function and control, and provide general design principles for building synthetic genetic oscillators that are more precisely controllable.

Computational Re-design of Synthetic Genetic Oscillators for Independent Amplitude and Frequency Modulation.

In this present research work, the aim was to develop ileo-colonic targeted matrix-mini-tablets-filled capsule system of Naproxen for chronotherapeutic treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. So Matrix-mini-tablets of Naproxen were prepared using microsomal enzyme dependent and pH-sensitive polymers by direct compression method which were further filled into an empty HPMC capsule. The compatibility was assessed using FT-IR and DSC studies for pure drug, polymers and their physical mixtures. The prepared batches were subjected to physicochemical studies, drug content estimation, in-vitro drug release and stability studies. When FTIR and DSC studies were performed, it was found that there was no interaction between Naproxen and polymers used. The physicochemical properties of all the prepared matrix-mini-tablets batches were found to be in limits. The drug content percentage in the optimized formulation F18 was found to be 99.24 ± 0.10%. Our optimized matrix-mini-tablets-filled-capsule formulation F18 releases Naproxen after a lag time of 2.45 ± 0.97 h and 27.30 ± 0.86%, 92.59 ± 0.47%, 99.38 ± 0.69% at the end of 5, 8, 12 h respectively. This formulation was also found to be stable as per the guidelines of International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. Thus, a novel ileo-colonic targeted delivery system of Naproxen was successfully developed by filling matrix-mini-tablets into an empty HPMC capsule shell for targeting early morning peak symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

Formulation and evaluation of ileo-colonic targeted matrix-mini-tablets of Naproxen for chronotherapeutic treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Sustained and controlled drug delivery system release the drug at a substantially steady rate of release per unit of time. However, there are instances where maintaining a constant blood level of a drug is not desirable. In such cases a pulsatile drug delivery may be more advantageous. Pulsatile drug delivery systems (PDDS) are gaining importance as these systems deliver the drug at specific time as per the pathophysiological need of the disease resulting in improved patient therapeutic efficacy and compliance. Diseases wherein PDDS are promising include asthma, peptic ulcer cardiovascular diseases, arthritis attention deficit syndrome in children, and hypercholesterolemia. PDDS can be classified into time controlled systems wherein the drug release is controlled primarily by the delivery system; stimuli induced PDDS in which release is controlled by the stimuli, like the pH or enzymes present in the intestinal tract or enzymes present in the drug delivery system and externally regulated system where release is programmed by external stimuli like magnetism, ultrasound, electrical effect and irradiation. The current article focuses on the diseases requiring PDDS, methodologies involved for the existing systems, current situation and future scope, recent advances in PDDS and PDDS product currently available in the market.

/pdf/pulsatile-drug-delivery-system-a-review-24mnyn1t4k.pdf

Toshiba Toshiba

Papers

Pulsatile Drug Delivery System-A Review