Inflammation is one of the common events in the majority of acute as well as chronic debilitating diseases and represent a chief cause of morbidity in today’s era of modern lifestyle. If unchecked, inflammation leads to development of rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and atherosclerosis along with pulmonary, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases. Inflammation involves a complex network of many mediators, a variety of cells, and execution of multiple pathways. Current therapy for inflammatory diseases is limited to the steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents. The chronic use of these drugs is reported to cause severe adverse effects like gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal abnormalities. There is a massive need to explore new anti-inflammatory agents with selective action and lesser toxicity. Plants and isolated phytoconstituents are promising and interesting sources of new anti-inflammatories. However, drug development from natural sources has been linked with hurdles like the complex nature of extracts, difficulties in isolation of pure phytoconstituents, and the yield of isolated compounds in minute quantities that is insufficient for subsequent lead development. Although various in-vivo and in-vitro models for anti-inflammatory drug development are available, judicious selection of appropriate animal models is a vital step in the early phase of drug development. Systematic evaluation of phytoconstituents can facilitate the identification and development of potential anti-inflammatory leads from natural sources. The present review describes various techniques of anti-inflammatory drug screening with its advantages and limitations, elaboration on biological targets of phytoconstituents in inflammation and biomarkers for the prediction of adverse effects of anti-inflammatory drugs. The systematic approach proposed through present article for anti-inflammatory drug screening can rationalize the identification of novel phytoconstituents at the initial stage of drug screening programs.

The polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) are versatile formulations formed by electrostatic interactions between oppositely charged biopolymers. PECs have been investigated widely by the researchers to explore the virtues of this formulation viz. high biocompatibility, excellent biodegradability, low toxicity, cost-effective, environment-friendly, and energy-efficient production. The prime object of the present review is to present the prominent features of PECs including mechanism of PEC formation, structural models of PECs, interactions involved in PEC formation, steps involved in PEC fabrication, factors affecting the formation of PECs and applications of PECs. The patents pertaining to PECs have briefly been tabulated as well.

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RESUMO: "Atividade hipolipidemica de Moringa oleifera Lam., Moringaceae, na hiperlipidemia induzida por dieta rica em gordura em ratos albinos." As Unitermos: Moringa oleifera, HMG Co-A reductase, hypolipidemic effect, lipid profile. ABSTRACT:The leaves of Moringa oleifera Lam., Moringaceae, are used by the Indians in their herbal medicine as a hypolipidemic agent in obese patients. Albino Wistar rats were fed with methanolic extract of M. oleifera (150, 300 and 600 mg/kg, p.o.) and simvastatin (4 mg/ kg, p.o.) along with hyperlipidemic diet for 30 days. Moringa oleifera and simvastatin were found to lower the serum cholesterol, triacylglyceride, VLDL, LDL, and atherogenic index, but were found to increase the HDL as compared to the corresponding high fed cholesterol diet group (control). The Moringa oleifera methanolic extract was also investigated for its mechanism of action by estimating HMG CO-A reductase activity. Moringa oleifera was found to increase the excretion of fecal cholesterol. Thus, the study demonstrates that M. oleifera possesses a hypolipidemic effect.

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Nose to brain delivery of neurotherapeutics have been tried by several researchers to explore the virtues of this route viz. circumvention of BBB, avoidance of hepatic metabolism, practicality, safety, ease of administration and non-invasiveness. Nanoparticle (NP) therapeutics is an emerging modality for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) as it offers targeted delivery and enhances the therapeutic efficacy and/or bioavailability of neurotherapeutics. This review presents a concise incursion into the nanomedicines suitable for PD therapy delivered via naso-brain transport. Clinical signs of PD, its pathophysiology, specific genetic determinants, diagnosis and therapy involved have been hashed out. Properties of brain-targeting NPs, transport efficacy and various nanocarriers developed so far also been furnished. In our opinion, nanotechnology-enabled naso-brain drug delivery is an excellent means of delivering neurotherapeutics and is a promising avenue for researchers to develop new formulations for the effective management of PD.