Context: Delivery of a drug into the central nervous system (CNS) is considered difficult. Most of the drugs discovered over the past decade are biological, which are high in molecular weight and polar in nature. The delivery of such drugs across the blood-brain barrier presents problems.Objective: This review discusses some of the options available to reach the CNS by systemic route. The focus is mainly on the recent developments in systemic delivery of a drug to the CNS. Materials and methods: Databases such as Scopus, Google scholar, Science Direct, SciFinder and online journals were referred for preparing this article including 89 references. Results: There are at least nine strategies that could be adopted to achieve the required drug concentration in the CNS. Conclusion: The recent developments in drug delivery are very promising to deliver biologicals into the CNS.
Monoclonal antibodies requiring higher doses for exerting therapeutic effect but having lower stability, are administered as dilute infusions, or as two (low concentration) injections both resulting in reduced patient compliance. Present research summarizes impact of manufacturing conditions on ultra-high concentration (≥150mg/mL) IgG1 formulation, which can be administered as one subcutaneous injection. IgG1 was concentrated to ∼200mg/mL using tangential flow filtration (TFF). Alternatively, spray dried (SPD) and spray freeze dried (SFD) IgG1, was reconstituted in 30%v/v propylene glycol to form ultra-high concentration (∼200 mg/mL) injectable formulation. Reconstituted, SPD and SFD IgG1 formulations, increased viscosity beyond an acceptable range for subcutaneous injections (<20 cP). Formulations developed by reconstitution of SPD IgG1, demonstrated increase in high and low molecular weight impurities, at accelerated and stressed conditions. Whereas, the stability data suggested reconstituted SFD IgG1 was comparable to control IgG1 formulation concentrated by TFF. Also, formulation of IgG1 diafiltered with proline using TFF, reduce viscosity from ∼21.9 cP to ∼11 cP at 25°C and had better stability. Thus, conventional TFF technique stands to be one of the preferred methods for manufacturing of ultra-high concentration IgG1 formulations. Additionally, SFD could be an alternative method for long term storage of IgG1 in a dry powder state.
Even after 20 years of granting orphan status for chondroitinase by US FDA, there is no visible outcome in terms of clinical use. The reasons are many. One of them could be lack of awareness regarding the biological application of the enzyme. The biological activity of chondroitinase is due to its ability to act on chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs). CSPGs are needed for normal functioning of the body. An increase or decrease in the level of CSPGs results in various pathological conditions. Chondroitinase is useful in conditions where there is an increase in the level of CSPGs, namely spinal cord injury, vitreous attachment and cancer. Over the last decade, various animal studies showed that chondroitinase could be a good drug candidate. Research focusing on developing a suitable carrier system for delivering chondroitinase needs to be carried out so that pharmacological activity observed in vitro and preclinical studies could be translated to clinical use. Further studies on distribution of chondroitinase as well need to be focused so that chondroitinase with desired attributes could be discovered. The present review article discusses about various biological applications of chondroitinase, drug delivery systems to deliver the enzyme and distribution of chondroitinase among microbes.
Hyaluronidase is an enzyme that catalyzes breakdown of hyaluronic acid. This property is utilized for hypodermoclysis and for treating extravasation injury. Hyaluronidase is further studied for possible application as an adjuvant for increasing the efficacy of other drugs. Development of suitable carrier system for hyaluronidase would help in coadministration of other drugs. In the present study, the hyaluronidase was encapsulated in liposomes. The effect of variables, namely, phosphatidylcholine (PC), cholesterol, temperature during film formation (T
1), and speed of rotation of the flask during film formation (SPR) on percentage of protein encapsulation, was first analyzed using factorial design. The study showed that level of phosphatidylcholine had the maximum effect on the outcome. The effect of interaction of PC and SPR required for preparation of nanoliposomes was identified by central composite design (CCD). The dependent variables were percentage protein encapsulation, particle size, and zeta potential. The study showed that ideal conditions for production of hyaluronidase loaded nanoliposomes are PC—140 mg and cholesterol 1/5th of PC when the SPR is 150 rpm and T
1 is 50°C.
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