Advances in Research on Cellulose-based Drug Carriers

Traditional drug delivery methods are prone to large fluctuations in drug concentration and require multiple frequent doses.As a green material with excellent properties,cellulose has been widely used as a drug carrier for the development and preparation of drug controlled-release system.Based on the mechanisms of slow drug release,such as dissolution-diffusion release,degradation release,and nanochannel-controlled release,the preparation methods of cellulose-based drug carriers are introduced in this paper.The applications of cellulose-based drug carriers in the fields of antitumor therapy,antibacterial therapy,chronic disease treatment,and viral disease treatment are summarized with the aim of providing a useful reference for research on cellulose-based drug carriers.

Dendritic macromolecules as nano-scale drug carriers:Phase solubility,in vitro drug release,hemolysis and cytotoxicity study

Potential of nanoscale triazine based dendritic macromolecules G1,G2 and G3 as solubility enhancers of drug was investigated.Effect of pH,concentration and generation of synthesized dendritic macromolecules on solubility of ketoprofen was studied.G3 dendrimer was further exploited as carrier for sustained release.Ketoprofen was encapsulated by inclusion complex method and also characterized by Flourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy.Sustained release study of ketoprofen from ketoprofen loaded dendrimer was carried out and compared with free ketoprofen.Hemolytic potential and Cytotoxicity assay using A-549 lung cancer cell lines revealed that synthesized triazine based dendritic macromolecules having more potential that commercially available PAMAM dendrimer.

Preparation and Characterization of Superparamagnetic Fe_3O_4/CNTs Nanocomposites Dual-drug Carrier

Fe3O4/carbon nanotubes（Fe3O4/CNTs） nanocomposites were prepared by polylol hightemperature decomposition of the precursor ferric chloride and CNTs in liquid triethylene glycol.After surface modification with hexanediamine,folate was covalently linked to the amine group of magnetic Fe3O4/CNTs nanocomposites.The products were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy,transmission electron microscopy,and vibrating sample magnetometry.Then Fe3O4/CNTs were used as a dual-drug carrier to co-delivery of the hydrophilic drug epirubicin hydrochloride and hydrophobic drug paclitaxel.The results indicated that the Fe3O4/CNTs had a favorable release property for epirubicin and paclitaxel,and thus had potential application in tumor-targeted combination chemotherapy.

Perspectives on bone-targeted nano-drug carriers for bone tumor treatment

Bone tumour is one of most common primary cancer which exhibits cancerous osteoblastic differentiation and malignant osteoid in patients.At present,chemotherapy(pre-and post-operative)is used as a standard treatment protocol for bone tumour.However,drugs used in the treatment of bone tumour induce high toxicity to normal tissues including anaemia,neutropenia,thrombocytopenia,and heart damage which further reduce the survival rate of patients.Therefore,there is an urgent need to develop a new therapeutic approach for the treatment such that it induce maximum cell killing effect in tumor cells while sparing the healthy bone cells.In this article,some new perspectives were provided on the development of bone-targeted nano-drug carriers for bone cancer treatment.We hope such discussions wouldencourage more detailed and careful studies to support product development of bone-targeted drug carriers for bone cancer treatment.

Preparation and Drug-release Behavior of β-TCP Ceramics Drug Carrier in vitro

β-TCP ceramics drug carrier was first prepared and characterized. SEM showed that β-TCP carrier was in porous amorphous structure with diameters around 10 μm. The physical properties including apparent porosity, volume-weight, tensile strength and the permeability were measured and the results indicated those properties fit the clinical usage of β-TCP drug carrier. Furthermore, drug release experiment in vitro showed that the carrier could prolong drug release in simulated body fluid which provides basis for the clinical use of β-TCP ceramics as drug carrier.

The application of open disk-like structures as model membrane and drug carriers

The objective of this review is to outline the application of bicelles(or called bilayer micelles)and bilayer nanodisks in pharmaceutics,pharmaceutical analysis and biochemistry.The application of open disk-like structures as model membrane and drug carrier has been described.The exploration of many reports in different fields suggested that these open disk-like structures have great potential in studying interactions between drug-membrane and structure/function studies of membrane-bound proteins.Furthermore,they could be applied as promising carriers for in vivo delivery of drugs,protein and peptide.

SUSTAINED RELEASE OF LEVONORGESTREL USING POLYPHOSPHATE AS DRUG CARRIER

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Research progress on pharmacological action and effective drug carrier of berberine

Berberine(BBR)is an isoquinoline alkaloid that can be extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine Huang Lian.It has anti-inflammatory,anti-cancer,protection of nerves,hypoglycemic,blood lipid,anti-oxidation,antibacterial and other effects.It can be used clinically to treat chronic colitis,bacterial vaginitis,rheumatoid arthritis,breast cancer,liver cancer,Alzheimer's disease,diabetes,obesity and other common diseases.This paper reviews the pharmacological effects of berberine and the research progress of effective drug carriers in order to provide new ideas for the clinical application of berberine.

Molecularly imprinted nanoparticles and their releasing properties, bio-distribution as drug carriers

Molecular imprinted nanoparticles(MINPs) can memorize the shape and functional group positions complementary to template, which account for the large drug loading capacity and slow drug release behavior as drug carriers. We synthesized MINPs via precipitation polymerization with vinblastine(VBL) as a model drug, and investigated the drug loading,releasing property in vitro and bio-distribution in vivo. The obtained MINPs, from 300 to 450 nm,had smooth surface and favorable dispersibility. The entrapment efficacy and drug loading capacity of VBL loaded MINPs(MINPs-VBL) were 83.25% and 8.72% respectively. In PBS(pH 7.4),MINPs-VBL showed sustained release behavior. The cumulative release percentage reached about 70% during 216 h and no burst release was observed. The releasing behavior of MINPsVBL in vitro conformed to the first-order kinetics model. MINPs-VBL and commercially available vinblastine sulfate injection(VBL injection) were injected via tail vein of SD rats respectively to investigate the bio-distribution. MINPs-VBL group showed higher concentration of VBL in tissues and serum than VBL injection group after 60 min, and the drug level in liver was the highest. MINPs-VBL exhibited liver targeting trend to some extent, which was based on the evaluation of drug targeting index(DTI) and drug selecting index(DSI).

Preparation and Characterization of Copolymer Micelles Formed by Poly(ethylene glycol)-Polylactide Block Copolymers as Novel Drug Carriers

Diblock copolymer poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether–polylactide (MePEG–PLA) micelles were prepared by dialysis against water. Indomethacin (IMC) as a model drug was entrapped into the micelles by dialysis method. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the prepared micelles in distilled water investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy was 0.0051 mg/mL which is lower than that of common low molecular weight surfactants. The diameters of MePEGPLA micelles and IMC loaded MePEGPLA micelles in a number-averaged scale measured by dynamic light scattering were 52.4 and 53.7 nm respectively. The observation with transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope showed that the appearance of MePEGPLA micelles was in a spherical shape. The content of IMC incorporated in the core portion of the micelles was 18% (ω). The effects of the synthesis method of the copolymer on the polydispersity of the micelles and the yield of the micelles formation were discussed.

Preparation and characterization of biodegradable nanoparticles from methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactide)block copolymers as novel drug carriers

Methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(D,L-lactide) block copolymers (PEG-PLA) were prepared through ring-opening polymerization.The oil in water suspension method was used to prepare block copolymer micelles. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) by fluorescence spectroscopy was 0.0056 mg·ml -1 . The physical state of the inner core region of micelles was characterized with 1HNMR. The size of indomethacin (IMC) loaded micelles measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) showed narrow monodisperse size distribution and the average diameters were less than 50 nm. In addition, the nanoparticles with relatively high drug loading content (DLC) were obtained.

Preparation of Star-Shaped Polylactic Acid Drug Carrier Nanoparticles

Drug carrier biocompatible and biodegradable nanoparticles of about 15 nm were prepared by solvent evaporation technique from star-shaped poly(D,L-lactide) synthesized using dipentaerythritol as core and Tin (II) ethylhexanoate as catalyst.

Mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes as a new drug carrier for the treatment of spinal cord injury:A review

Spinal cord injury(SCI)is a devastating traumatic disease seriously impairing the quality of life in patients.Expectations to allow the hopeless central nervous system to repair itself after injury are unfeasible.Developing new approaches to regenerate the central nervous system is still the priority.Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells(MSC-Exo)have been proven to robustly quench the inflammatory response or oxidative stress and curb neuronal apoptosis and autophagy following SCI,which are the key processes to rescue damaged spinal cord neurons and restore their functions.Nonetheless,MSC-Exo in SCI received scant attention.In this review,we reviewed our previous work and other studies to summarize the roles of MSC-Exo in SCI and its underlying mechanisms.Furthermore,we also focus on the application of exosomes as drug carrier in SCI.In particular,it combs the advantages of exosomes as a drug carrier for SCI,imaging advantages,drug types,loading methods,etc.,which provides the latest progress for exosomes in the treatment of SCI,especially drug carrier.

Preparation and Characterization of Polymeric Micelles from Poly (D, L-lactide) and Methoxypolyethylene Glycol Block Copolymers as Potential Drug Carriers

Amphiphilic diblock copolymers composed of methoxy polyethylene glycol （MePEG） and poly（D,L-lactide） （PDLLA） were prepared for the preparation of polymeric micelles, The use of MePEG-PDLLA as drug carriers has been reported in the open literature, but there are only few data on the application of a series of MePEG-PDLLA copolymers with different lengths in the medical field, The shape of the polymeric micelles is also important in drug delivery, Studies on in vitro drug release profiles require a good sink condition. The critical micelle concentration of a series of MePEG-PDLLA has a significant role in drug release. To estimate their feasibility as a drug carrier, polymeric micelles made of MePEG-PDLLA block copolymer were prepared by the oil in water （O/VV） emulsion method. From dynamic light scattering （DLS） measurements, the size of the micelle formed was less than 200 nm, The critical micelle concentration of polymeric micelles with various compositions was determined using pyrene as a fluorescence probe. The critical micelle concentration decreased with increasing number of hydrophobic segments. MePEG-PDLLA micelles have a considerably low critical micelle concentration （0.4～0.5 μg/mL）, which is apparently an advantage in utilizing these micelles as drug carriers. The morphology of the polymeric micelles was observed using scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, The micelles were found to be nearly spherical. The yield of the polymeric micelles obtained from the O/W method is as high as 85%.

Drug carriers based on highly protein-resistant materials for prolonged in vivo circulation time

Long-circulating drug carriers are highly desirable in drug delivery system.However,nonspecific protein adsorption leaves a great challenge in drug delivery of intravenous administration and significantly affects both the pharmacokinetic profiles of the carrier and drugs,resulting in negatively affect of therapeutic efficiency.Therefore,it is important to make surface modification of drug carriers by protein-resistant materials to prolong the blood circulation time and increase the targeted accumulation of therapeutic agents.In this review,we highlight the possible mechanism of protein resistance and recent progress of the alternative protein-resistant materials and their drug carriers,such as poly(ethylene glycol),oligo(ethylene glycol),zwitterionic materials,and red blood cells adhesion.

Size,shape,charge and“stealthy”surface:Carrier properties affect the drug circulation time in vivo

The present review sets out to discuss recent developments of the effects and mechanisms of carrier properties on their circulation time.For most drugs,sufficient in vivo circulation time is the basis of high bioavailability.Drug carrier plays an irreplaceable role in helping drug avoid being quickly recognized and cleared by mononuclear phagocyte system,to give drug enough time to arrive at targeted organ and tissue to play its therapeutic effect.The physical and chemical properties of drug carriers,such as size,shape,surface charge and surface modification,would affect their in vivo circulation time,metabolic behavior and biodistribution.The final circulation time of carriers is determined by the balance between macrophage recognitions,blood vessel penetration and urine excretion.Therefore,when designing the drug delivery system,we should pay much attention to the properties of drug carriers to get enough in vivo circulation time to arrive at target site eventually.This article mainly reviews the effect of carrier size,size,surface charge and surface properties on its circulation time in vivo,and discusses the mechanism of these properties affecting circulation time.This review has reference significance for the research of long-circulation drug delivery system.

Preparation and Stability Evaluation of Size-Controllable PDHCA-β-CD Nanoparticles as Drug Carrier

A novel biocompatible polymer was prepared by grafting the derivate of β-cyclodextrin （6-SH-β-CD） onto poly（3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid） （PDHCA） via Michael addition. PDHCA-β-CD nanoparticles were prepared by the self-assembly of amphiphilic PDHCA-β-CD polymer with N,N-dimethylformamide （DMF） as good solvent and water as poor solvent. The PDHCA-β-CD nanoparticles were monodispersed with spherical morphology as shown in the scanning electron microscopic （SEM） images in accord with the result of dynamic light scattering （DLS） measurement. The size of the nanoparticles could be controlled from 60 to 180 nm by tuning the grafting degree （GD） of PDHCA-β-CD polymer and also significantly influenced by the amount of water used during the process. These as-prepared nanoparticles were stable without any significant change in the particle size after six-months＇ storage and even after being irradiated by UV at 2〉280 nm for hours. The formation mechanism of PDHCA-β-CD nanoparticles was explored. The content of doxombicin （DOX） loaded onto the nanoparticles was up to 39% with relatively high loading efficiency （approximately 78.8% of initial DOX introduced was loaded）. In vitro release studies suggested that DOX released slowly from PDHCA-β-CD nanoparticles. These features strongly support the potential of developing PDHCA-β-CD nanoparticles as carriers for the controlled delivery of drug.

Development and application of nano-flavor-drug carriers in neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative disease is one of the serious diseases of the human nervous system.There is no effective way to treat neurodegenerative diseases.Flavors such as curcumin,coumarin,have attracted increasing attention due to having a beneficial therapeutic effect on Alzheimer＇s disease and Parkinson＇s disease.But the use of most drugs is limited in clinical treatment because of blood-brain barrier.The use of nano-drug carriers such as liposomes,polymer micelles,polymer nanoparticles and magnetic nanoparticles,which can carry drugs across the blood-brain barrier,has brought hope for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

A new drug carrier:Magnetite nanoparticles coated with amphiphilic block copolymer

This paper reports on the synthesis and characterization of 4 nm magnetite nanoparticles coated with amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PEMA- b-PHEMA) by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), which can act as new potential carriers for hydrophobic targeted drug delivery. Vibrating sample magnetometer analysis indi-cated that the magnetite nanoparticles were superparamagnetic at room temperature. Thermogravim-etric analysis (TGA) was applied to studying the property of surface of magnetite nanoparticles, and the surface density of macromolecules was calculated. The grafting density of oleic acid, BrMPA and PEMA was 5.8, 3.9, 0.16 chain/nm2 respectively, which indicates that the initiation efficiency decreases due to the influence of large space of oleic acid molecules. In vitro progesterone and (-)-isoproterenol hy-drochloride release in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7.0 and 37℃ was conducted in order to demonstrate the function of drug loading and release. The results showed that the amount of drug carried into the core-shell Fe3O4@PEMA-b-PHEMA depends on the length of hydrophobic segment of block copolymer. The release of progesterone (37% after 22 h in our previous work) was compared with the release of (-)-isoproterenol hydrochloride (80% after 50 min), demonstrating that the strong hy-drophobic interaction between hydrophobic segment and drug can effectively control the release of hydrophobic drugs.

Dialdehyde starch nanoparticles: Preparation and application in drug carrier

Dialdehyde starch nanoparticles (DASNP) were prepared by the redox reaction of NaIO4 and starch in water-in-oil microemulsion. IR spectrum showed that DASNP had aldehyde groups, and quantitative alkali consumption showed that its dialdehyde content was about (50±5)%. The average diameter of DASNP determined by SEM was about 100 nm. TGA-DTA showed that its thermal stability was better than starch nanoparticle (StNP) and dialdehyde starch (DAS). Its low biological toxicity was detected by cell experiment. Also the best mass ratio of doxorubicin (DOX) to combined DASNP detected by UV-VIS was 15 : 1, and the product was effective for controlled release of DOX. The cell experiment showed that the drug-carrier particle (DOX-DASNP) can release DOX for a long time and strengthened the effect of the anticancer drug. This work demonstrates that the DASNP, which has good thermal stability, small particle size, low biological toxicity, and slowly anticancer drug-releasing to strengthen drug effect, is a potentially useful carrier for anticancer drug.