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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a foremost type of cancer problem in which asialoglycoprotein receptors are overexpressed. In this study, asialoglycoprotein receptor–targeted nanoformulation (galactose-conjugated TPGS micelles) loaded with docetaxel (DTX) was developed to achieve its site-specific delivery for HCC therapy. The pharmaceutical characteristics like shape morphology, average particle size and zeta potential, drug entrapment efficiency, and in vitro release kinetics of developed system were evaluated. DTX-loaded galactosylated TPGS (DTX-TPGS-Gal) micelles and TPGS micelles (DTX-TPGS) were having 58.76 ± 1.82% and 54.76 ± 1.42% entrapment of the DTX, respectively. In vitro drug release behavior from micelles was controlled release. Cytotoxicitiy (IC50) of DTX-TPGS-Gal formulation on HepG2 cell lines was significantly (p ≤ 0.01) lower (6.3 ± 0.86 μg/ml) than DTX-TPGS (9.06 ± 0.82 μg/ml) and plain DTX (16.06 ± 0.98 μg/ml) indicating higher efficacy of targeted formulation. Further, in vivo biodistribution studies in animal model showed maximum drug accumulation at target site, i.e., the liver in the case of DTX-TPGS-Gal as compared with non-targeted one. It is concluded from the findings that TPGS-Gal micelles can be utilized for targeted drug delivery of cytotoxic drugs towards HCC with minimized side effects.

Background Transdermal drug delivery represents an extremely attractive and innovative route across the skin owing to the possibility for achieving systemic effect of drugs. The present scenario demands a special focus on developing safe medicine with minimized toxic adverse effects related to most of the pharmacologically active agents. Transdermal drug delivery would be a focal paradigm which provides patient convenience, first-pass hepatic metabolism avoidance, local targeting and reduction in toxic effect related to various categories of drugs like, analgesics, antiinflammatory, antibiotics, antiviral, anaesthetic, anticancer etc. Even this route has challenges due to highly organized structure of skin which acts as a main barrier to penetration of drug via the skin. Method Several alternative possible strategies are available which overcome these barriers, including use of penetration enhancer, eletroporation, iontophoresis and various nanotechnologically developed nanocarrier systems. The latest one includes employing liposome, dendrimers, nanoparticles, ethosome, carbon nanotube and many more to avoid associated limitations of conventional formulations. Numerous transdermal products such as Estrasorb, Diractin, VivaGel®, Daytrana®, Aczone, Sileryst® are available in the market having a novel strategy to achieve higher penetration of drugs. This encourages formulation fraternity to develop structurally deformable and stable nanocarriers as an alternative approach for controlled and reliable drug delivery across the skin barrier. Discussion In this review, we will discuss nanocarriers mediated approaches that come-up with the solutions to the different challenges towards transdermal drug delivery, its clinical importance and latest insight to research in it. Conclusion The reports presented in this review confirm the wide application of nanocarriers for transdermal delivery of drug/gene.

Heparin, a well known drug for anticoagulant therapy and prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis and coronary syndromes, is also involved in numerous pathological processes such as inflammation, immune cell migration, tumor cell metastasis, smooth muscle cell proliferation etc. Though heparin is a clinically used anticoagulant with minimal side effects and drug interactions, its clinical use is limited due to parenteral administration. Alternatively, noninvasive delivery approaches such as oral, nasal, pulmonary or transdermal route are being explored that may deal with problems associated with parenteral heparin without compromising therapeutic benefits. For the successful noninvasive delivery of such a large drug candidate, the biological and biochemical barriers must be overcome to achieve a clinically acceptable therapeutic advantage. Nanocarriers significantly improve the pharmacokinetics and clinical effectiveness of the loaded therapeutics by either protecting them from unfavorable bioenvironment or modifying their release at the target site. Novel carriers such as liposomes, nanoparticles, dendrimers etc. have been developed to improve the bioavailability of heparin through various routes of delivery. Overall, the present review provides complete insight to the research that has been carried out for heparin delivery through various routes.

Today Cancer still remains a major cause of mortality and death worldwide, in humans. Chemotherapy, a key treatment strategy in cancer, has significant hurdles such as the occurrence of chemoresistance in cancer, which is inherent unresponsiveness or acquired upon exposure to chemotherapeutics. The resistance of cancer cells to an antineoplastic agent accompanied to other chemotherapeutic drugs with different structures and mechanisms of action called multi-drug resistance (MDR) plays an important role in the failure of chemo- therapeutics. MDR is primarily based on the overexpression of drug efflux pumps in the cellular membrane, which belongs to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of proteins, are P-gp (P-glycoprotein) and multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP). Over the years, various strategies have been evaluated to overcome MDR, based not only on the use of MDR modulators but also on the implementation an innovative approach and advanced nanosized drug delivery systems. Nanomedicine is an emerging tool of chemotherapy that focuses on alternative drug delivery for improvement of the treatment efficacy and reducing side effects to normal tissues. This review aims to focus on the details biology, reversal strategies option with the limitation of MDR and various advantages of the present medical science nanotechnology with intracellular delivery aspects for overcoming the significant potential for improving the treatment of MDR malignancies.