Algal Phycocolloids: Bioactivities and Pharmaceutical Applications.

Seaweeds are abundant sources of diverse bioactive compounds with various properties and mechanisms of action. These compounds offer protective effects, high nutritional value, and numerous health benefits. Seaweeds are versatile natural sources of metabolites applicable in the production of healthy food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and fertilizers. Their biological compounds make them promising sources for biotechnological applications. In nature, hydrocolloids are substances which form a gel in the presence of water. They are employed as gelling agents in food, coatings and dressings in pharmaceuticals, stabilizers in biotechnology, and ingredients in cosmetics. Seaweed hydrocolloids are identified in carrageenan, alginate, and agar. Carrageenan has gained significant attention in pharmaceutical formulations and exhibits diverse pharmaceutical properties. Incorporating carrageenan and natural polymers such as chitosan, starch, cellulose, chitin, and alginate. It holds promise for creating biodegradable materials with biomedical applications. Alginate, a natural polysaccharide, is highly valued for wound dressings due to its unique characteristics, including low toxicity, biodegradability, hydrogel formation, prevention of bacterial infections, and maintenance of a moist environment. Agar is widely used in the biomedical field. This review focuses on analysing the therapeutic applications of carrageenan, alginate, and agar based on research highlighting their potential in developing innovative drug delivery systems using seaweed phycocolloids.

Traditional Chinese medicine for hypertrophic scars-A review of the therapeutic methods and potential effects.

Hypertrophic scar (HS) is a typical pathological response during skin injury, which can lead to pain, itching, and contracture in patients and even affect their physical and mental health. The complexity of the wound healing process leads to the formation of HS affected by many factors. Several treatments are available for HS, whereas some have more adverse reactions and can even cause new injuries with exacerbated scarring. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a rich source, and most botanical drugs have few side effects, providing new ideas and methods for treating HS. This paper reviews the formation process of HS, the therapeutic strategy for HS, the research progress of TCM with its relevant mechanisms in the treatment of HS, and the related new drug delivery system of TCM, aiming to provide ideas for further research of botanical compounds in the treatment of HS, to promote the discovery of more efficient botanical candidates for the clinical treatment of HS, to accelerate the development of the new drug delivery system and the final clinical application, and at the same time, to promote the research on the anti-HS mechanism of multiherbal preparations (Fufang), to continuously improve the quality control and safety and effectiveness of anti-HS botanical drugs in clinical application.

Research progress on pharmacology effects and new drug delivery system of icaritin / 中草药

Icaritin is one of the major bioactive compounds of Epimedii Folium. In recent years, scientific and pharmacological studies have shown that icaritin possesses broad therapeutic effects, especially in anti-tumor, enhancing osteoprotective, cardioprotective, neuro-protective function. However, its clinical application was limited by poor water solubility, poor oral absorption and low bioavailability. New drug delivery system has great application prospect in improving solubility of icaritin, oral absorption and bioavailability. Therefore, the current review paper aims to summarize the pharmacological effects of icaritin and briefly introduce some new drug delivery of icaritin, to provide theoretical basis for its clinical application and new drug development.

Nanoemulsions Loaded with Amphotericin B: Development, Characterization and Leishmanicidal Activity.

Leishmaniasis is one of the most neglected diseases in the world. Its most severe clinical form, called visceral, if left untreated, can be fatal. Conventional therapy is based on the use of pentavalent antimonials and includes amphotericin B (AmB) as a second-choice drug. The micellar formulation of AmB, although effective, is associated with acute and chronic toxicity. Commercially-available lipid formulations emerged to overcome such drawbacks, but their high cost limits their widespread use. Drug delivery systems such as nanoemulsions (NE) have proven ability to solubilize hydrophobic compounds, improve absorption and bioavailability, increase efficacy and reduce toxicity of encapsulated drugs. NE become even more attractive because they are inexpensive and easy to prepare. The aim of this work was to incorporate AmB in NE prepared by sonicating a mixture of surfactants, Kolliphor® HS15 (KHS15) and Brij® 52, and an oil, isopropyl myristate. NE exhibited neutral pH, conductivity values consistent with oil in water systems, spherical structures with negative Zeta potential value, monomodal size distribution and average diameter of drug-containing droplets ranging from 33 to 132 nm. AmB did not modify the thermal behavior of the system, likely due to its dispersion in the internal phase. Statistically similar antileishmanial activity of AmB-loaded NE to that of AmB micellar formulation suggests further exploring them in terms of toxicity and effectiveness against amastigotes, with the aim of offering an alternative to treat visceral leishmaniasis.

Research progress on new drug delivery system of triptolide for anticancer therapy / 中草药

Triptolide had broad-spectrum and high-efficient anti-cancer activity, however, its clinical application was limited by the poor water solubility, in vivo rapid elimination, and strong toxicities and side effects. New drug delivery system was the ideal vehicle for targeted delivery of triptolide, which can effectively deliver triptolide to the cancer tissue, and increase the efficiency of tumor therapy. New drug delivery system had great application prospect in improving solubility of triptolide, reducing side effect, and increasing bioavailability. This article reviewed the research progress of new drug delivery system of triptolide based on liposome, polymer micelle and nanoparticle in the past decade, providing some references for the development and application of new drug delivery system of triptolide.

Research Status,Problems and Countermeasures of Lyotropic Liquid Crystal in New Drug Delivery Systems of Traditional Chinese Medicine / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Lyotropic liquid crystal is an ordered system with various geometric shapes or three-dimensional structures formed by the interaction of amphiphilic molecules dissolved in polar solvents, and has the characteristics of excellent drug applicability, high drug loading, good bioadhesive property and high transdermal permeability. Through a comprehensive analysis of the research results in this research group and the related research reports of LLC drug delivery system, the authors systematically discussed the research value, development potential and research status of LLC in the field of new drug delivery system of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), especially in the percutaneous and mucosal drug delivery system and the oral microparticle drug delivery system of TCM. At the same time, due to the current research field of TCM-LLC drug delivery system starts late, many of the basic research problems to be further perfect, this paper had carried on the induction summary to these problems, and put forward the research countermeasures:①the basic research of TCM-LLC drug delivery system should be strengthened by referencing the research experience and methods of LLC drug delivery system of single chemical component combined with TCM characteristics, ②the research on the release mechanism of the chemical components in TCM should be strengthened, and the basic research on the LLC drug delivery system of synchronized sustained release TCM should be carried out, ③development of new LLC materials applicable to TCM, ④the quality evaluation system of TCM-LLC should be improved, ⑤to explore the LLC preparation process suitable for industrialization.

Advance in research on anticancer drug β-elemene and its derivatives / 中草药

β-elemene is the sesquiterpene active monomer, as a national second-class non-cell toxic antitumor drugs which extracted from Zingiberaceae Curcuma rcenyujin. Moreover, β-elemene is currently used in clinic for treatment of lung cancer, liver cancer as well as breast cancer, and so on. Because of its broad-spectrum, safe, efficient, economical and other outstanding advantages in antitumor activities, leading to a broad application prospect in clinic. With the deep study of component and anticancer mechanisms of β-elemene, in order to promote its bioavailability and anticancer activity, researchers have screened a great deal of significant effective derivatives, and designed its liposome, microemulsion and other new drug delivery systems, which provide scientific theoretical guidance for further development and utilization of β-elemene. In this study, a systematic illustration was made for the current advance of pharmacological effects and mechanisms of β-elemene on treating cancer. In addition, the important derivatives, new drug delivery systems, and adverse reactions of β-elemene also be clarified, aiming to provide ideas for further scientific research and innovation of β-elemene.

Taking the advantages of new drug delivery system to accelerate the development of Chinese pharmaceutic industry / 国际药学研究杂志

New drug research and development has entered a new era of preparation innovation, and new drug delivery system (DDS) has become a new drug development hot spot. Chinese pharmaceutical industry should make new molecular entities (NME) and new formulation products as the two pillars of support to ensure a sustained and healthy development. Based on the current status of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, NME development is more suitable to serve as long term strategy of the Chinese pharmaceutical industry, while the nnovation in DDS should be adopted as a phasic development strategy. DDS can form the competitive strength, industrial superiority and scale more quickly and will become a catalyst and driving force in a short time for the Chinese pharmaceutical industry. Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises need to attach importance to and grasp the new opportunities brought by innovation preparation.