Recent Advances in Nanosystems and Strategies for Managing Leishmaniasis.

BACKGROUND: Parasitic infection such as leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease, presents a significant global burden which is responsible for high mortality rate especially in less developed countries. Its intracellular nature and disseminated locations of parasite, limited number of chemotherapeutic agents, increasing incidences of resistance to first line drugs and toxicities, pose a great challenge to formulation scientists that have necessitated effective management of leishmanial infection by modulating the delivery of existing drugs. Over the past decade, research on development of alternative treatments such as nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems (nanoparticles, nanosuspensions, liposomes etc.), use of natural products as well as development of antileishmanial vaccine has been extensively investigated. OBJECTIVE: The present review focuses on different facets of therapeutic strategies, existing miscellaneous drug delivery systems and approaches intended for management, as well as treatment of the infection, with an objective to summarize the current trends and strategies adopted for antileishmanial therapy in a systematic manner. Moreover, the article encloses an eclectic collection of patents allied to new-fangled chemotherapeutics for antileishmanial therapy. CONCLUSION: The reported miscellaneous novel drug delivery systems along with the diverse approaches are seem to be precise, secure and relatively effective; and in an outcome, could lead to the new track for management of leishmaniasis.

Calcipotriol delivery into the skin as emulgel for effective permeation.

The objective of this work is to formulate and evaluate an emulgel containing calcipotriol for treatment of psoriasis. Emulgels have emerged as a promising drug delivery system for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs. Isopropyl alcohol and polyethylene glycol have been employed as permeation enhancers. Formulation chart is made with seven formulations, evaluated for physical parameters, drug content, viscosity, thixotropy, spreadability, extrudability, mucoadhesion, diffusion studies, skin irritation test along with short term stability studies. Carbopolis is reported to have a direct influence on appearance and viscosity of final formulation. The photomicroscopic evaluations showed the presence of spherical globules in size range of 10-15 µm. Rheograms revealed that all the formulations exhibited pseudoplastic flow. Optimized formulation (F6) had shown 86.42 ± 2.0% drug release at the end of 8 h study. The release rate through dialysis membrane and rat skin is higher when compared to commercial calcipotriol ointment. Hence it is concluded that calcipotriol can be delivered topically with enhanced penetration properties when formulated as emulgel.