Enhancing the deposition and permeation of 5-fluorouracil across human epidermis assisted by appropriately charged and well-defined peptide dendrimers was investigated. Peptide dendrimers with arginine as the terminal amino acid and having a range of terminal positive charges (4þ and 16 þ ) were synthesized by solid phase peptide synthesis. Various parameters including effect of peptide dendrimers on the solubility and partition coefficient of 5-FU, degradation of drug in skin as well as deposition and permeation of 5-FU in/through skin were studied. All the tested dendrimers increased the aqueous solubility and partition coefficient of 5-FU with each also significantly (p50.05) enhancing the deposition and permeation of 5-FU in/across human epidermis in a concentration-dependent manner. Of the three peptide dendrimers examined, R8 dendrimer (bearing 8 þ charge derived from four terminal arginines and MW of &1000 Da) showed greatest values for flux, Q 48 (cumulative amount of drug permeated at the end of 48 h) and amount of drug retained in human skin. Furthermore, this study also scrutinized and reports on the likely mechanisms by which peptide dendrimers act as transdermal permeation enhancers.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

The present study reveals the successful application of sonophoresis in enhancing the permeation of peptide dendrimers across human skin.

No abstract

A B S T R A C TRadio-frequency identification (RFID) is a small electronic device that utilizes the radio waves for the purpose of security, personnel identification, surveillance, medical identification, patient history, library automation, baggage application, toll collection, file tracking, electronic payment, etc. Three types of RFID tags namely, active, passive, and semi-passive RFID tags, are currently available. The basic components of RFID system are RFID transponder, antenna, and transceiver. This review mainly focuses on the various applications of RFIDs in the pharmaceutical sector. RFID has potential applicability in pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors such as product tracking and inventory control, limiting the Bullwhip effect, supply chain management, maintenance of dyes and punches, preclinical study, identification of patients and hospital staff, avoidance of medication errors, etc., which have been discussed in detail. Besides having innumerable applications, RFID technology is in its early stages in pharmaceutical systems and hence its potential is required to be explored more in practical. The RFID systems are expensive which makes the adaptability of this system very difficult. Hence the development of low cost RFIDs is a big challenge at present and more research activities are required in this direction.RFID tags may be so tiny that consumers cannot clearly see them. [5] RFID's capability to distinctively recognize each object, and firmly capture information without line-of-sight has many benefits in the pharmaceutical industry including insight, visibility and efficiency, accountability and brand protection, product safety, recalls and regulatory requirements, reducing theft and counterfeiting, etc. [6] There are few recent articles on the applications of RFIDs in health system and biomedical fields. [7][8][9][10][11][12] In this review, we discuss the various applications of RFIDs both in pharmaceutical and health care systems. Comparison between radio-frequency identification and barcodeBoth Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and barcodes provide information about the products. However, there are many differences between RFID tags and barcodes. Barcode readers require a direct line of sight as an electronic handshake to the barcode. [13] Due to this, barcodes must be exposed outside the product, where it is subjected to greater wear and tear; whereas, RFID readers do not require a direct line of sight as an electronic handshake. The barcode range is much less; but RFID tags can be read from long distances. A barcode scanner can be pointed at a specific item and can read only that item; while RFID scanners basically create a sphere of activity within which they read all tags. Generally RFID tags have much faster read rates than barcode readers. Electronic components of RFID can be covered in a plastic wrap and hence they are more rugged than barcodes. RFID tags can also be set in the product itself, providing better ruggedness and reusability. Barcodes have no read/write ability;...