Studies on the spray dried lactose as carrier for dry powder inhalation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the spray dried lactose as carrier for dry powder inhalation(DPI).The lactose particles were prepared by spray drying,then the particle size,shape and crystal form were characterized by laser diffraction,scanning electron microscopy(SEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD)and differential scanning calorimetry(DSC).The spray dried lactose particles were spherical and amorphous,but would transfer to crystal form when storage humidity was above 32%.Thus,the humidity of the storage environment should be controlled below 30%strictly in order to maintain the amorphous nature of spray dried lactose which is a great benefit to DPI development.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles for drug and gene delivery

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles(MSNs) are attracting increasing interest for potential biomedical applications. With tailored mesoporous structure, huge surface area and pore volume,selective surface functionality, as well as morphology control, MSNs exhibit high loading capacity for therapeutic agents and controlled release properties if modified with stimuli-responsive groups, polymers or proteins. In this review article, the applications of MSNs in pharmaceutics to improve drug bioavailability, reduce drug toxicity, and deliver with cellular targetability are summarized. Particularly,the exciting progress in the development of MSNs-based effective delivery systems for poorly soluble drugs, anticancer agents, and therapeutic genes are highlighted.

Solid lipid dispersion of calcitriol with enhanced dissolution and stability

Solid dispersion of calcitriol with lipophilic surfactants and triglycerides was developed by melt-mixing method to modify the release and enhance stability of the drug.The solid dispersions were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC),hot stage polarized optical microscopy(HSPM),infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)and stability studies.The solid dispersion significantly enhanced the stability of calcitriol,which could be attributed to the high antioxidant activity of the solid lipid dispersion.The rapid dissolution rate from the solid dispersion was attributed to the amorphous or solid solution state of drug with improved specific surface area and wettability than the drug crystals.Therefore,solid dispersion of calcitriol with D-a-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate(TPGS)offers a good approach to modify the release and enhance stability of calcitriol.The influence of lipophilic solid dispersion on drug bioavailability needs further investigation.

Study progression in application of process analytical technologies on film coating

Film coating is an important unit operation to produce solid dosage forms,thereby,the monitoring of this process is helpful to find problems in time and improve the quality of coated products.Traditional methods adopted to monitor this process include measurement of coating weight gain,performance of disintegration and dissolution test,etc.However,not only do these methods cause destruction to the samples,but also consume time and energy.There have recently emerged the applications of process analytical technologies(PAT)on film coating,especially some novel spectroscopic and imaging technologies,which have the potential to real-time track the progress in film coating and optimize production efficiency.This article gives an overview on the application of such technologies for film coating,with the goal to provide a reference for the further researches.

Influence of physical properties of carrier on the performance of dry powder inhalers

Dry powder inhalers(DPIs) offer distinct advantages as a means of pulmonary drug delivery and have attracted much attention in the field of pharmaceutical science. DPIs commonly contain micronized drug particles which, because of their cohesiveness and strong propensity to aggregate, have poor aerosolization performance. Thus carriers with a larger particle size are added to address this problem. However, the performance of DPIs is profoundly influenced by the physical properties of the carrier, particularly their particle size, morphology/shape and surface roughness. Because these factors are interdependent, it is difficult to completely understand how they individually influence DPI performance.The purpose of this review is to summarize and illuminate how these factors affect drug–carrier interaction and influence the performance of DPIs.