Wound healing is an unmet therapeutic challenge among medical society since wound assessment and management is a complex procedure including several factors playing major role in healing process. Wounds can mainly be categorized as acute or chronic. It is well referred that the acute wound displays normal wound physiology while healing, in most cases, is seemed to progress through the normal phases of wound healing. On the other hand, a chronic wound is physiologically impaired. The main problem in wound management is that the majority of wounds are colonized with microbes, whereas this does not mean that all wounds will be infected. In this review, we address the problems that clinicians face to manage while treat acute and chronic wounds. Moreover, we demonstrate the pathophysiology, etiology, prognosis and microbiology of wounds. We further introduce the state of art in pharmaceutical technology field as part of wound management aiming to assist health professionals to overcome the current implications on wound assessment. In addition, authors review researches which included the use of gels and dermal films as wound healing agents. It can be said that natural and synthetic drugs or carriers provide promising solutions in order to meet the wound management standards. However, are the current strategies as desirable as medical society wish?

Nanocarriers, due to their unique features, are of increased interest among researchers working with pharmaceutical formulations. Polymeric nanoparticles and nanocapsules, involving non-toxic biodegradable polymers, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, and inorganic–organic nanomaterials, are among the most used carriers for drugs for a broad spectrum of targeted diseases. In fact, oral, injectable, transdermal-dermal and ocular formulations mainly consist of the aforementioned nanomaterials demonstrating promising characteristics such as long circulation, specific targeting, high drug loading capacity, enhanced intracellular penetration, and so on. Over the last decade, huge advances in the development of novel, safer and less toxic nanocarriers with amended properties have been made. In addition, multifunctional nanocarriers combining chemical substances, vitamins and peptides via coupling chemistry, inorganic particles coated by biocompatible materials seem to play a key role considering that functionalization can enhance characteristics such as biocompatibility, targetability, environmental friendliness, and intracellular penetration while also have limited side effects. This review aims to summarize the “state of the art” of drug delivery carriers in nanosize, paying attention to their surface functionalization with ligands and other small or polymeric compounds so as to upgrade active and passive targeting, different release patterns as well as cell targeting and stimuli responsibility. Lastly, future aspects and potential uses of nanoparticulated drug systems are outlined.

No abstract

No abstract

In the last decade, the use of nanotheranostics as emerging diagnostic and therapeutic tools for various diseases, especially cancer, is held great attention. Up to date, several approaches have been employed in order to develop smart nanotheranostics, which combine bioactive targeting on specific tissues as well as diagnostic properties. The nanotheranostics can deliver therapeutic agents by concomitantly monitor the therapy response in real-time. Consequently, the possibility of over- or under-dosing is decreased. Various non-invasive imaging techniques have been used to quantitatively monitor the drug delivery processes. Radiolabeling of nanomaterials is widely used as powerful diagnostic approach on nuclear medicine imaging. In fact, various radiolabeled nanomaterials have been designed and developed for imaging tumors and other lesions due to their efficient characteristics. Inorganic nanoparticles as gold, silver, silica based nanomaterials or organic nanoparticles as polymers, carbon based nanomaterials, liposomes have been reported as multifunctional nanotheranostics. In this review, the imaging modalities according to their use in various diseases are summarized, providing special details for radiolabeling. In further, the most current nanotheranostics categorized via the used nanomaterials are also summed up. To conclude, this review can be beneficial for medical and pharmaceutical society as well as material scientists who work in the field of nanotheranostics since they can use this research as guide for producing newer and more efficient nanotheranostics.

In this work, a comparison between two different preparation methods for the improvement of dissolution rate of an antifungal agent is presented. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) electrospun fibers and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) complexes, which were produced via an electrospinning process and an inclusion complexation method, respectively, were addressed for the treatment of fungal infections. Voriconazole (VRCZ) drug was selected as a model drug. PCL nanofibers were characterized on the basis of morphology while phase solubility studies for β-CDs complexes were performed. Various concentrations (5, 10, 15 and 20 wt %) of VRCZ were loaded to PCL fibers and β-CD inclusions to study the in vitro release profile as well as in vitro antifungal activity. The results clearly indicated that all formulations showed an improved VRCZ solubility and can inhibit fungi proliferation.

NLC-based inserts developed with COL and glycerin may be offered as appropriate vehicles for ocular delivery.

Sufficient ophthalmic drug delivery is still challenging for pharmaceutical technologists, despite various scientific efforts. Several ocular drug carriers have been designed to enhance bioavailability by prolonging the drug retention time. One of the current encouraging approaches is the utilization of colloidal carriers with the characteristic submicron-nanometer size. Microemulsions (MEs) are such colloid systems that present sizes between 5 and 200 nm with significant thermodynamic stability and low surface tension. In addition, MEs as topical ocular carriers can lead to great ocular drug adsorption due to their enhanced retention time. Furthermore, considering that MEs are stable for long time and various temperatures, their ocular application is of great interest. The aim of this study is to cover basic physicochemical principals of ocular MEs such as their possible size, stability, and therapeutic efficacy against various eye disorders. Thus, a comprehensive review for ocular drug delivery systems in the form of MEs that show promising characteristics as their stability and therapeutic efficiency is performed.