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Muhammad Ahmad Mahmood,1,2 Asadullah Madni,1 Mubashar Rehman,3 Muhammad Abdur Rahim,1 Abdul Jabar1 1Department of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan; 2Drug Testing Laboratory, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan; 3Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Central Punjab, Lahore 54000, PakistanCorrespondence: Asadullah MadniDepartment of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Khawaja Fareed Campus, Railway Road, Bahawalpur, Punjab, PakistanTel +92 62 925 5243Fax +92 62 925 5565Email asadpharmacist@hotmail.comIntroduction: Polymeric nanoparticles are potential carriers for the efficient delivery of hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs due to their multifaceted applications. Docetaxel is relatively less hydrophobic and twice as potent as paclitaxel. Like other taxane chemotherapeutic agents, docetaxel is not well tolerated and shows toxicity in the patients. Nanoencapsulation of potent chemotherapeutic agents has been shown to improve tolerability and therapeutic outcome. Therefore, the present study was designed to fabricate chitosan and sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) based on ionically cross-linked nanoparticles for sustained release of docetaxel.Methods: Nanoparticles were prepared by the ionic-gelation method by dropwise addition of the STPP solution into the chitosan solution in different ratios. CNPs were characterized for post-formulation parameters like size, zeta potential, scanning electron microscope (SEM), FTIR, DSC/TGA, pXRD, and in-vitro drug release, as well as for acute oral toxicity studies in Wistar rats.Results and discussion: The optimized docetaxel loaded polymeric nanoparticles were in the size range (172.6nm–479.65 nm), and zeta potential (30.45–35.95 mV) required to achieve enhanced permeation and retention effect. In addition, scanning electron microscopy revealed rough and porous surface, whereas, FTIR revealed the compatible polymeric nanoparticles. Likewise, the thermal stability was ensured through DSC and TG analysis, and powder X-ray diffraction analysis exhibited solid-state stability of the docetaxel loaded nanoparticles. The in-vitro drug release evaluation in phosphate buffer saline (pH 7.4) showed sustained release pattern, i.e. 51.57–69.93% within 24 hrs. The data were fitted to different release kinetic models which showed Fickian diffusion as a predominant release mechanism (R2= 0.9734–0.9786, n= 0.264–0.340). Acceptable tolerability was exhibited by acute oral toxicity in rabbits and no abnormality was noted in growth, behavior, blood biochemistry or histology and function of vital organs.Conclusion: Ionically cross-linked chitosan nanoparticles are non-toxic and biocompatible drug delivery systems for sustained release of chemotherapeutic agents, such as docetaxel.Keywords: tripolyphosphate, ionic gelation, sustained release, targeting, biocompatible, biodegradable

Mubashar Rehman,1 Asadullah Madni,1 Ayesha Ihsan,2 Waheed Samraiz Khan,2 Muhammad Imran Khan,1 Muhammad Ahmad Mahmood,1 Muhammad Ashfaq,1 Sadia Zafar Bajwa,2 Imran Shakir31Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Alternative Medicine, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan; 2Nanobiotechnology Group, Industrial Biotechnology Division, National Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan; 3Sustainable Energy Technologies (SET) centre, College of Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaAbstract: Binary fatty acid mixture-based solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) were prepared for delivery of diacerein, a novel disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug, with and without simultaneously loaded gold nanoparticles (GNPs). In order to optimize SLNs for temperature-responsive release, lipid mixtures were prepared using different ratios of solid (stearic acid or lauric acid) and liquid (oleic acid) fatty acids. SLNs were prepared by microemulsification (53 nm), hot melt encapsulation (10.4 nm), and a solvent emulsification-evaporation technique (7.8 nm). The physicochemical characteristics of SLNs were studied by Zetasizer, Fourier transform infrared, and X-ray diffraction analysis. High encapsulation of diacerein was achieved with diacerein-loaded and simultaneously GNP-diacerein-loaded SLNs. In vitro dissolution studies revealed a sustained release pattern for diacerein over 72 hours for diacerein-loaded SLNs and 12 hours for GNP-diacerein-loaded SLNs. An increase in diacerein payload increased the release time of diacerein while GNPs decreased it. In addition, rapid release of diacerein over 4 hours was observed at 40°C (melting point of optimized fatty acid mixture), demonstrating that these binary SLNs could be used for thermoresponsive drug delivery. Kinetic modeling indicated that drug release followed zero order and Higuchi diffusion models (R2>0.9), while the Korsmeyer-Peppas model predicted a diffusion release mechanism (n

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of work-related ill health, and a major cost burden for the individual, industry and the community. Despite the broad range of risk factors that have been identified, most studies have focused only on specific occupations or categories of risk factors, meaning that there is limited understanding of the relative contributions of individual and organisational, physical and psychosocial factors Objective: This cross-sectional survey of workers in medium-to-large workplaces in South Australia sought to examine a broad range of factors within various workplaces and industries. Participants: 404 workers from 29 workgroups and 23 separate companies participated in the research. Methods: Questionnaires were administered face-to-face, assessing demographic and job characteristics, safety climate, musculoskeletal pain and discomfort (MSPD) and job satisfaction. Potential predictors were grouped in terms of personal/job and organizational characteristics and associations with MSPD examined Results: A considerable proportion of workers (40%) had experienced MSPD in the last 7 days and 15% had experienced severe MSPD. In a multivariate model, four variables were found to be significantly associated with MSPD, namely being aged >= 40 years (adjusted odds ratio = 1.73), overall job satisfaction (negatively associated) (AOR = 0.37), medium (vs. large) company size (AOR = 1.80) and workgroup safety climate score (negatively associated) (AOR = 0.58). Conclusions: The results confirm a link between non-physical factors and work-related musculoskeletal disorders, suggesting that these factors should received increased attention as part of overall health and safety strategies. Organizations should give greater consideration to both the satisfaction of their employees and organizational factors that set the tone for safety climate. Refereed/Peer-reviewed