Background: Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) is a plant lignan obtained from creosote bush, known to possess anti-oxidant, anti-cancer and anti-viral activities and is being used in traditional medicine. However, toxicity studies indicated liver and kidney damage despite its immense medicinal properties. There has been a recent increase of curiosity in the chemical synthesis of NDGA derivatives for therapeutic applications. NDGA derivatives have been developed as better alternatives to NDGA and for targeted delivery to the site of tissue by chemical derivatives. In this regard, an analog of NDGA, Acetyl NDGA (Ac-NDGA), has been synthesized based on a previous procedure and formulated as a nanostructured complex with Polycaprolactone/Polyethylene glycol polymer matrices, by o/w solvent evaporation method. Results: The drug-incorporated polymeric nanospheres exhibited a drug load of 10.0 ± 0.5 µg drug per mg of nanospheres in acetonitrile solvent with 49.95 ± 10% encapsulation efficiency and 33-41% drug loading capacity with different batches of nanospheres preparation. The in vitro drug release characteristics indicated 82 ± 0.25% drug release at 6 h in methanol. Further, the nanospheres have been characterized extensively to evaluate their suitability for therapeutic delivery. Conclusions: The present studies indicate a new and efficient formulation of the nanostructured AcNDGA with good therapeutic potential.
Nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) is a plant lignan obtained from creosote bush, Larrea
tridentata and is known to possess antioxidant, anticancer activities and is used in traditional medicine
in North America and Mexico. However, its prolonged consumption leads to liver damage and
kidney dysfunction. Despite its toxicity and side effects, there is little awareness to forbid its consumption
and its use in the treatment of medical ailments has continued over the years. Several reports
discuss its therapeutic efficiency and its medical applications have tremendously been on the
rise to date. There has been a recent surge of interest in the chemical synthesis of NDGA derivatives
for therapeutic applications. NDGA derivatives have been developed as better alternatives to
NDGA. Although several NDGA derivatives have been chemically synthesized as evidenced by recent
literature, there is a paucity of information on their therapeutic efficacies. This review is to
highlight the medicinal applications of NDGA, its toxicity evaluations and discuss the chemical derivatives
of NDGA synthesized and studied so far and suggest to continue research interests in the
development of NDGA analogs for therapeutic applications. We suggest that NDGA derivatives
should be investigated more in terms of chemical synthesis with preferred conformational structures
and exploit their biological potentials with future insights to explore in this direction to design and
develop structurally modified NDGA derivatives for potential pharmacological properties.
Dr. J. Geraldine Sandana Mala John, Guest Editor of Special Column on Microbial Nanotechnology, writes this editorial to summarize the practical academic value of the existing following two review papers published in special column:
1. Antibacterial Properties of Metal and Metal Oxide Nanoparticles-An Overview
https://ojs.wiserpub.com/index.php/AMTT/article/view/2230
2. Synthesis and Characterization of Nanoparticles for Antimicrobial Applications-A Review
https://ojs.wiserpub.com/index.php/AMTT/article/view/2530
As an introductory information, this editorial is useful for all readers to overall the main contents, aspects, and academic values of Microbial Nanotechnology.
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