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Calophyllum inophyllum L. (Calophyllaceae), locally called "tamanu" in French Polynesia, is an evergreen pantropical tree growing mostly along the seashores. Its barks, leaves, and fruits are still used in traditional medicine. The oil expressed from the nuts has been also traditionally used. Tamanu oil is topically applied on skins as well as mucous membrane lesions. This oil is especially recommended to heal all kinds of skin ailments. Bioassays and different assessments of Tamanu oil revealed numerous biological activities (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, wound healing...), so bringing scientific evidence of beneficial effects of this oil on human skin healing. Such biological properties may explain the use of tamanu oil as an active cosmetic ingredient recorded as "Calophyllum inophyllum seed oil" by the INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients). Most of the bioactive properties of tamanu oil are attributed to oil composition including the presence of resinous compounds in tamanu oil beside common fatty acids, which constitutes a unique characteristic of this healing oil. Actually, resinous part of tamanu oil is known to contain bioactive secondary metabolites mostly constituted by neoflavonoids including pyranocoumarin derivatives. Herein, chemical constituents and biological properties of tamanu oil are presented with a focus of its traditional use inspiring modern valuations related to cosmetic field., Calophyllum inophyllum L (Calophyllacée), appelé localement ≪ tamanu » en Polynésie française, est un arbre pérenne tropical, poussant le plus souvent le long des rivages marins. Ses écorces, feuilles et fruits, dont l’huile extraite de ses noix, sont encore couramment utilisés en médecine traditionnelle. L’huile de tamanu est particulièrement recommandée pour traiter différentes sortes d’affections dermatologiques et soins de la peau, et est employée en application topiques aussi bien sur la peau que sur les lésions membranaires de la muqueuse. Différentes études scientifiques menées sur l’huile de tamanu, avec notamment des tests d’activités biologiques ciblées, ont révélé de nombreuses propriétés biologiques (anti-oxydante, anti-inflammatoire, antibactérienne, cicatrisante…), prouvant ainsi les effets bénéfiques de cette huile sur les soins de la peau humaine. Ces propriétés biologiques avérées confortent l’utilisation de l’huile de tamanu comme un ingrédient actif en cosmétique, enregistrée sous la dénomination ≪ huile de noix de Calophyllum inophyllum » par l’INCI (International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients). La plupart des propriétés biologiques de l’huile de tamanu est ainsi attribuée au contenu de cette huile, incluant la présence de composés résineux de l’huile à côté des acides gras communs qui constituent une caractéristique unique de cette huile de soin. En effet, la partie résineuse de l’huile de tamanu contient des métabolites secondaires bioactifs, principalement constitués de néoflavoïdes incluant des dérivés de pyranocoumarines. Ainsi, les constituants chimiques et les propriétés de l’huile de tamanu seront présentés en se focalisant sur ses usages traditionnels et sa valorisation dans le domaine de la cosmétique.

We have investigated drug loading and release from thermosensitive gel emulsions with external triggering by an alternating magnetic field (AMF) for on-demand drug delivery. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles dispersed in gel emulsions were used to study the loading and release capabilities, with the stable nitroxide radical 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy ( TEMPO) serving as the model drug. AMF activation gave similar results to temperature activation in a water bath at 37 degrees C, showing that the principal effect of the AMF is a temperature increase without burst release. These results suggest that the system could play an important role in the development of advanced drug delivery. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

In the present study we demonstrate that a bulk inverse micellar cubic phase of Fd3m structure can be obtained by adding a hydrophobic component, such as the food-grade limonene, to the binary system monolinolein/water in a well-defined composition. The Fd3m structure studied in this work had a very slow kinetics of formation, as a consequence of partitioning of water into two types of micelle populations with different sizes. The Fd3m structure formed at a ratio of limonene oil to total lipids of α = 0.4 is stable in the bulk up to a maximum hydration of 12.68 wt % water, beyond which it starts to coexist with dispersed water. At full hydration, by combining small-angle X-ray scattering and available topological models, the inverse micellar cubic phase of Fd3m structure was shown to be formed by 16 small micelles and 8 larger micelles per cubic lattice cell (Q²²⁷ group), with radii of the micellar polar cores ranging between 1 and 3 nm and 149-168 monolinolein molecules per micelle depending on the water content. The temperature dependence of the structural and rheological properties of the Fd3m mesophase was investigated using SAXS, rheology, and turbidimetry. It appeared that the Fd3m phase underwent crystallization below 18 °C and began melting in an inverse microemulsion (L₂ phase) coexisting with water above 28.5 °C with complete melting obtained at 40-45 °C, as evidenced by SAXS and rheology. Macroscopic phase separation between the L₂ phase and excess water was observed with time at higher temperatures. The investigation of the viscoelastic properties of the Fd3m inverse discrete micellar cubic phase revealed a rheological signature similar to that of the bicontinuous cubic phases Pn3m and Ia3d observed in homologous binary systems. However, the Fd3m phase presented a complex set of slower relaxation mechanisms leading t