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Amphotericin B, a gold standard broad spectrum antibiotic used in treatment of systemic fungal infections and visceral leishmaniasis, though is effective parenterally offers severe nephrotoxicity whereas the oral delivery is reported to give very meager oral bioavailability. Thus, to alleviate the toxicity and to improve oral bioavailability, an effective oral delivery approach in the form of solid lipid nanoparticles of amphotericin B (AmbiOnp) was reported earlier by our group. In this investigation, we report the predominant formation of nontoxic superaggregated form of amphotericin B, resulting from the probe sonication-assisted nanoprecipitation technique. The developed formulation was further confirmed to retain this nontoxic form and was found to be stable over the varied gastrointestinal conditions. Further, in vitro antifungal activity of AmbiOnp against Candida albicans showed minimum inhibitory concentration value of 7.812 μg/mL attributed to controlled release of drug from nanoparticulate matrix. In vivo pharmacokinetic studies revealed a relative bioavailability of AmbiOnp to be 1.05-fold with a C max of 1109.31 ± 104.79 ng/mL at the end of 24 h which was comparable to C max of 1417.49 ± 85.52 ng/mL achieved with that of marketed formulation (Fungizone®) given intravenously establishing efficacy of AmbiOnp. In vivo biodistribution studies indicated very low levels of Amphotericin B in kidneys when given as AmbiOnp as compared to that of marketed formulation proving its safety and was further corroborated by renal toxicity studies. Further, the formulations were found to be stable under refrigeration condition over a period of 3 months.

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The present investigation is aimed at development and characterization of sumatriptan succinate orodispersible tablets (ODTs) prepared by freeze drying technology. The tablet excipients were screened and the composition was optimized based on parameters which involved general appearance, tablet size and shape, uniformity of weight, mechanical properties, surface pH, moisture analysis, drug content, wetting time, in vitro and in vivo disintegration time. Furthermore, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, scanning electron micrograph of cross-section of the tablet and in vitro dissolution studies were performed. Studies revealed that formulation containing gelatin-mannitol (3.75% w/v and 3.5% w/v, respectively) with camphor as a volatile pore forming agent exhibited superior properties with disintegration time of less than 10 s. Furthermore, in vitro release studies revealed 90% release of drug from developed dosage form within 10 min, thus suggesting rapid drug dissolution followed by faster onset of action, which forms a strong rationale for development of ODTs of sumatriptan succinate. The developed technology is simple, which involves few steps and can be easily scaled up. Thus, it holds enormous potential for commercial exploitation.

Celastrol (also called tripterine) is a quinone methide triterpene isolated from the root extract of Tripterygium wilfordii (thunder god vine in traditional Chinese medicine). Over the past two decades, celastrol has gained wide attention as a potent anti-inflammatory, anti-autoimmune, anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, and neuroprotective agent. However, its clinical translation is very challenging due to its lower aqueous solubility, poor oral bioavailability, and high organ toxicity. To deal with these issues, various formulation strategies have been investigated to augment the overall celastrol efficacy in vivo by attempting to increase the bioavailability and/or reduce the toxicity. Among these, nanotechnology-based celastrol formulations are most widely explored by pharmaceutical scientists worldwide. Based on the survey of literature over the past 15 years, this mini-review is aimed at summarizing a multitude of celastrol nanoformulations that have been developed and tested for various therapeutic applications. In addition, the review highlights the unmet need in the clinical translation of celastrol nanoformulations and the path forward.

Pancreatic cancer (PC), currently the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the USA, is projected to become the second leading cause, behind lung cancer, by 2020. The increasing incidence, low survival rate, and limited treatment opportunities necessitate the use of alternative approaches such as chemoprevention, to tackle PC. In this study, we report significant synergistic chemoprevention efficacy for the first time from a low-dose combination of a classical antihistaminic drug, Loratadine (LOR) and a neutraceutical compound, Sulforaphane (SFN) using a self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) formulation. The formulation was developed using Quality by Design approach (globule size, 95.13 ± 7.9 nm; PDI, 0.17 ± 0.04) and revealed significant (p < 0.05) enhancement in the in vitro dissolution profile confirming the enhanced solubility of BCS class II drug LOR with SMEDDS formulation. The LOR-SFN combination revealed ~ 40-fold reduction in IC50 concentration compared to LOR alone in MIA PaCa-2 and Panc-1 cell lines respectively, confirming the synergistic enhancement in chemoprevention. Further, the nanoformulation resulted in ~ 7-fold and ~ 11-fold reduction in IC50 values compared to LOR-SFN combination. Hence, our studies successfully demonstrate that a unique low-dose combination of LOR encapsulated within SMEDDs with SFN shows significantly enhanced chemopreventive efficacy of PC.

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