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The goal of this study was to develop and evaluate the potential use of liposome and transfersome vesicles in the transdermal drug delivery of meloxicam (MX). MX-loaded vesicles were prepared and evaluated for particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency (%EE), loading efficiency, stability, and in vitro skin permeation. The vesicles were spherical in structure, 90 to 140 nm in size, and negatively charged (−23 to −43 mV). The %EE of MX in the vesicles ranged from 40 to 70%. Transfersomes provided a significantly higher skin permeation of MX compared to liposomes. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) analysis indicated that the application of transfersomes significantly disrupted the stratum corneum lipid. Our research suggests that MX-loaded transfersomes can be potentially used as a transdermal drug delivery system.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidative and neuroprotective activities of various extracts from the fruit hull of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn., GM). Materials and Methods: Four extracts: water, 50% ethanol, 95% ethanol and ethyl acetate, were used. The antioxidative activity was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl free-radical scavenging assay at extract concentrations of 1, 10, 50 and 100 µg/ml. Based on the free radical scavenging activity of the extracts, two (water and 50% ethanol) were selected for their protective activity in NG108-15 neuroblastoma cells against H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress and for cell viability using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Results: All extracts exhibited antioxidative activity. The water and 50% ethanol extracts showed high free-radical scavenging activity with IC₅₀ values of 34.98 ± 2.24 and 30.76 ± 1.66 µg/ml, respectively. Both water and 50% ethanol extracts exhibited neuroprotective activity on NG108-15 cells. The highest activity was observed at the concentration of 50 µg/ml for both the water and 50% ethanol extracts. For cytotoxicity test, none of the extracts was toxic to the cells except at the high concentration of 100 µg/ml. Conclusions: These results suggest that the water and 50% ethanol extracts from the fruit hull of GM may be potent neuroprotectants.

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Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of using pectinate micro/nanoparticles as gene delivery systems. Pectinate micro/nanoparticles were produced by ionotropic gelation. Various factors were studied for their effects on the preparation of pectinate micro/nanoparticles: the pH of the pectin solution, the ratio of pectin to the cation, the concentration of pectin and the cation, and the type of cation (calcium ions, magnesium ions and manganese ions). After the preparation, the size and charge of the pectin micro/nanoparticles and their DNA incorporation efficiency were evaluated. The results showed that the particle sizes decreased with the decreased concentrations of pectin and cation. The type of cations affected the particle size. Sizes of calcium pectinate particles were larger than those of magnesium pectinate and manganese pectinate particles. The DNA loading efficiency showed that Capectinate nanoparticles could entrap DNA up to 0.05 mg when the weight ratio of pectin:CaCl 2 :DNA was 0.2:1:0.05. However, Mg-pectinate could entrap only 0.01 mg DNA when the weight ratio of pectin: MgCl 2 :DNA was 1:100:0.01 The transfection efficiency of both Ca-pectinate and Mg-pectinate nanoparticles yielded relatively low levels of green fluorescent protein expression and low cytotoxicity in Huh7 cells. Given the negligible cytotoxic effects, these pectinate micro/nanoparticles can be considered as potential candidates for use as safe gene delivery carriers.

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The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of surfactant charge, surfactant carbon chain length, and surfactant content on the physicochemical characteristics (ie, vesicle size, zeta potential, elasticity, and entrapment efficiency), morphology, stability, and in vitro skin permeability of meloxicam (MX)-loaded liposome. Moreover, the mechanism for the liposome-enhanced skin permeation of MX was determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The model formulation used in this study was obtained using a response surface method incorporating multivariate spline interpolation (RSM-S). Liposome formulations with varying surfactant charge (anionic, neutral, and cationic), surfactant carbon chain length (C4, C12, and C16), and surfactant content (10%, 20%, and 29%) were prepared. The formulation comprising 29% cationic surfactant with a C16 chain length was found to be the optimal liposome for the transdermal delivery of MX. The skin permeation flux of the optimal formulation was 2.69-fold higher than that of a conventional liposome formulation. Our study revealed that surfactants affected the physicochemical characteristics, stability, and skin permeability of MX-loaded liposomes. These findings provide important fundamental information for the development of liposomes as transdermal drug delivery systems.