Topic Review
Chitosan-Nanoparticles for Oral Insulin Delivery
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic endocrine disease, affecting more than 400 million people around the world. Patients with poorly controlled blood glucose levels are liable to suffer from life-threatening complications, such as cardiovascular, neuropathy, retinopathy and even premature death. Today, subcutaneous parenteral is still the most common route for insulin therapy. Oral insulin administration is favourable and convenient to the patients. In contrast to injection route, oral insulin delivery mimics the physiological pathway of endogenous insulin secretion. However, oral insulin has poor bioavailability (less than 2%) due to the harsh physiological environment through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Over the last few decades, many attempts have been made to achieve an effective oral insulin formulation with high bioavailability using insulin encapsulation into nanoparticles as advanced technology. Various natural polymers have been employed to fabricate nanoparticles as a delivery vehicle for insulin oral administration. Chitosan, a natural polymer, is extensively studied due to the attractive properties, such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, bioactivity, nontoxicity and polycationic nature. Numerous studies were conducted to evaluate chitosan and chitosan derivatives-based nanoparticles capabilities for oral insulin delivery. This review highlights strategies that have been applied in the recent five years to fabricate chitosan/chitosan derivatives-based nanoparticles for oral insulin delivery. A summary of the barriers hurdle insulin absorption rendering its low bioavailability such as physical, chemical and enzymatic barriers are highlighted with an emphasis on the most common methods of chitosan nanoparticles preparation. Nanocarriers are able to improve the absorption of insulin through GIT, deliver insulin to the blood circulation and lower blood glucose levels. In spite of some drawbacks encountered in this technology, chitosan and chitosan derivatives-based nanoparticles are greatly promising entities for oral insulin delivery.
  • 1.8K
  • 02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Chitosan-Based Nano-Smart Drug Delivery System in Breast Cancer
Chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) have prospects as a revolutionary delivery system capable of enhancing anticancer drug activity and reducing negative impacts on normal cells. The use of smart drug delivery systems (SDDs) as delivering materials to improve the bioactivity of NPs and to understand the intricacies of breast cancer has garnered significant interest. 
  • 430
  • 16 May 2023
Topic Review
Chitosan in Lowering Cholesterol
Chitosan is one of the polymers containing acetyl glucosamine and glucosamine.
  • 1.3K
  • 28 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Chinese Herbal Medicines for Sepsis Treatment
Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection; the pathophysiology of sepsis is complex. The incidence of sepsis is steadily increasing, with worldwide mortality ranging between 30% and 50%. Current treatment approaches mainly rely on the timely and appropriate administration of antimicrobials and supportive therapies, but the search for pharmacotherapies modulating the host response has been unsuccessful. Chinese herbal medicines, i.e., Chinese patent medicines, Chinese herbal prescriptions, and single Chinese herbs, play an important role in the treatment of sepsis through multicomponent, multipathway, and multitargeting abilities and have been officially recommended for the management of COVID-19.
  • 1.1K
  • 01 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Childhood Asthma
Asthma is a complex and multifactorial respiratory disease with a high prevalence in the pediatric population. Variation in treatment response to asthma therapies has been described among patients, and difficult-to-treat asthma carries both high healthcare and socioeconomic burden to the patients and society. Omic studies can be used to discover the molecular mechanisms underlying asthma susceptibility and treatment response, contributing to a better knowledge and definition of asthma pathogenesis and therefore, to the development of precision medicine. This entry aims to summarize the recent findings of omic studies of treatment response in childhood asthma. Between 2018-2019 a total of 13 omic studies has been performed involving genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and the microbiome. These have been focused on the response to three common asthma medications: short-acting beta agonists, inhaled corticosteroids, and leukotriene receptor antagonists. Novel associations of different biomarkers with asthma treatment response have been described. However, stronger evidence and more consistent results are required to implement these molecular biomarkers into clinical practice by establishing the most appropriate therapy for each patient.
  • 1.4K
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Chemical Structures and Biological Activities of of Aplysinopsins
Marine products are among the most promising sources of biologically active molecules. Aplysinopsins, tryptophan-derived marine natural products, were isolated from different natural marine sources including sponges, stony corals (hard corals) especially genus scleractinian, as well as sea anemone, in addition to one nudibranch. Aplysinopsins were reported to be isolated from different marine organisms related to various geographic areas such as Pacific, Indonesia, Caribbean, and Mediterranean regions.
  • 204
  • 09 May 2023
Topic Review
Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI
Recently, Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) MRI is emerging as an attractive approach with the capability of directly using low concentration, exchangeable protons-containing agents for generating quantitative MRI contrast. The ability to utilize diamagnetic compounds has been extensively exploited to detect many clinical compounds, such as FDA approved drugs, X-ray/CT contrast agents, nutrients, supplements, and biopolymers. The ability to directly off-label use clinical compounds permits CEST MRI to be rapidly translated to clinical settings.
  • 862
  • 12 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Characterization of Sodium-Alginate-Based Hydrogels
Alginates are polysaccharides that are produced naturally and can be isolated from brown sea algae and bacteria. Sodium alginate (SA) is utilized extensively in the field of biological soft tissue repair and regeneration owing to its low cost, high biological compatibility, and quick and moderate crosslinking.
  • 369
  • 14 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Characteristics of Mucosal Layer in Gastrointestinal Tract
The main constituents of mucus are water (90–95%), electrolytes, lipids (1–2%), and proteins. Owing to the presence of mucin, a large complex glycosylated protein, mucus can form mesh-like structured viscous gel layers on various mucosal tissues, such as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, eyes, nose, and respiratory tract. In the GI tract, the mucus layer on the surface of the epithelial membrane can act as a smart physiological barrier not only for foreign substances with harmful potential and pathogens but also for orally dosed drugs. For effective and sufficient oral drug delivery, avoiding protective mechanisms and/or even turning barrier mechanisms should be considered. Therefore, several strategies have been developed to control the diffusive properties of drug nanoparticles within the mucus layer, including the mucopenetration and mucoadhesion of NCs.
  • 132
  • 19 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Chalepin and Chalepensin
Dihydrofuranocoumarin, chalepin (1) and furanocoumarin, chalepensin (2) are 3-prenylated bioactive coumarins, first isolated from the well-known medicinal plant Ruta chalepensis L. (Fam: Rutaceae) but also distributed in various species of the genera Boenminghausenia, Clausena and Ruta.
  • 433
  • 14 May 2021
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