Abstract. Dilutable nanoemulsions are potent drug delivery vehicles for ophthalmic use due to their numerous advantages as sustained effect and high ability of drug penetration into the deeper layers of the ocular structure and the aqueous humor. The aim of this article was to formulate the antiglaucoma drug dorzolamide hydrochloride as ocular nanoemulsion of high therapeutic efficacy and prolonged effect. Thirty-six systems consisting of different oils, surfactants, and cosurfactants were prepared and their pseudoternary-phase diagrams were constructed by water titration method. Seventeen dorzolamide hydrochloride nanoemulsions were prepared and evaluated for their physicochemical and drug release properties. These nanoemulsions showed acceptable physicochemical properties and exhibited slow drug release. Draize rabbit eye irritation test and histological examination were carried out for those preparations exhibiting superior properties and revealed that they were nonirritant. Biological evaluation of dorzolamide hydrochloride nanoemulsions on normotensive albino rabbits indicated that these products had higher therapeutic efficacy, faster onset of action, and prolonged effect relative to either drug solution or the market product. Formulation of dorzolamide hydrochloride in a nanoemulsion form offers, thus, a more intensive treatment of glaucoma, a decrease in the number of applications per day, and a better patient compliance compared to conventional eye drops.

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of a possible direct correlation between vesicle elasticity and the amount of drug reaching the brain intranasally. Therefore, transfersomes were developed using phosphatidylcholine (PC) as the lipid matrix and sodium deoxycholate (SDC), Span® 60, Cremophor® EL, Brij® 58, and Brij® 72 as surfactants. The influence of the type of surfactant and PC-to-surfactant ratio on vesicle morphology, size, membrane elasticity, drug entrapment, and in vitro drug release was studied. The prepared transfersomes were mainly spherical in shape, with diameters ranging from 310 to 885 nm. Transfersomes containing SDC and Span 60 with optimum lipid-to-surfactant molar ratio showed suitable diameters (410 and 380 nm, respectively) and deformability indices (17.68 and 20.76 mL/sec, respectively). Values for absolute drug bioavailability in rat plasma for transfersomes containing SDC and those containing Span 60 were 24.75 and 51.35%, whereas AUC(0-360 min) values in rat brain were 22,334.6 and 36,486.3 ng/mL/min, respectively. The present study revealed that the deformability index is a parameter having a direct relation with the amount of the drug delivered to the brain by the nasal route.

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These results demonstrate the superiority of in situ gel NE to conventional ocular eye drops and in situ gels to enhance ocular drug bioavailability.

Glipizide is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs for treatment of type 2 diabetes. Oral therapy with glipizide comprises problems of bioavailability fluctuations and may be associated with severe hypoglycaemia and gastric disturbances. As a potential for convenient, safe and effective antidiabetic therapy, the rationale of this study was to develop a transdermal delivery system for glipizide. For this purpose, inclusion complexes of the drug in beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CyD), dimethyl-beta-cyclodextrin (DM-beta-CyD), hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CyD), and hydroxypropyl-gamma-cyclodextrin (HP-gamma-CyD) were prepared. Several percutaneous formulations of the drug and the prepared complexes in different bases (o/w emulsion, polyethylene glycol, carboxymethyl cellulose and Carbopol) were developed. Release studies revealed an improved release of the drug from formulations containing glipizide-CyD complexes. Ex vivo permeation studies through full thickness rat abdominal skin were conducted, whereby the effect of several conventional penetration enhancers (propylene glycol [PG], oleic acid, urea, dimethyl sulfoxide, menthol, limonene and cineole) was monitored. Highest flux was obtained from ointments prepared with Carbopol gel base containing a combination of PG and oleic acid as well as ointments prepared in the same base utilizing glipizide-DM-beta-CyD complex and urea. In vivo studies on diabetic male Wistar rats revealed a marked therapeutic efficacy sustained for about 48 hours. In this respect, two formulations showed best biological performance. In the first formulation, the drug was incorporated in Carbopol gel base in the presence of 20% PG together with 15% oleic acid. The second was prepared by incorporating glipizide-DM-beta-CyD complex in Carbopol gel base in presence of 15% urea. The glucose tolerance test showed suppression of hyperglycaemia induced in glucose-loaded rats. The above-mentioned results might shed a strong beam of light on the feasibility of using glipizide in a transdermal delivery system for treatment of type 2 diabetes with the aim of improving both patient compliance and pathophysiology of the disease.

Nanoparticles fabricated from the biodegradable and biocompatible polymer, polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), could be a promising system for targeting ocular drug delivery. The objective of this work was to investigate the possibility of encapsulating brinzolamide in PLGA nanoparticles in order to be applied as a subconjunctival injection that could represent a starting point for developing new therapeutic strategies against increase in ocular pressure. The brinzolamide-loaded PLGA nanoparticles were fabricated using emulsion-diffusion-evaporation method with varying concentrations of Tween 80 or poloxamer 188 (Plx) in aqueous and organic phases. The nanoparticles were characterized in terms of particle size and size distribution, entrapment efficiency and in-vitro drug release pattern as well as DSC and X-ray analysis. Nanoparticles prepared using Tween 80 in the aqueous phase showed higher encapsulation efficiency and smaller particle size-values compared to those prepared using Plx. Furthermore, the addition of Plx 188 or Brij 97 to the organic phase in the formulation containing Tween 80 in the aqueous phase led to an increase in the particle diameter-values of the obtained nanoparticles. The nanoparticles had the capacity to release the brinzolamide in a biphasic release profile. The nanoparticles were spherical in shape and the drug was entraped in the nanoparticles in an amorphous form. Selected nanoparticles, injected subconjunctivally in normotensive Albino rabbits, were able to reduce the IOP for up to 10 days. Nanoparticles loaded with brinzolamide with lower particle size were able to reduce the IOP for longer period compared to those with higher particle size. Histopathological studies for the anterior cross sections of the rabbits' eyes revealed that the tested nanoparticles were compatible with the ocular tissue. The overall results support that PLGA nanoparticles, applied as subconjunctival injection, can be considered as a promising carrier for ocular brinzolamide delivery with targeting delivery of the drug to the eye tissues.