The greatest hindrance for transdermal drug delivery (TDD) is the barrier property of skin, especially the stratum corneum (SC). Various methodologies have been investigated and developed to enhance the penetration of drugs through the skin. Among them, the most popular approach is the application of penetration enhancers (PEs), including natural terpenes, a very safe and effective class of PEs...

Research in natural language generation promises significant advances in the ways in which we can make available the contents of underlying information sources. Most work in the field relies on the existence of carefully constructed artificial intelligence knowledge bases; however, the reality is that most information currently stored on computers is not represented in this format. In this pape...

The transdermal route of administration offers an alternative pathway for systemic drug delivery with numerous advantages over conventional routes. Regrettably, the stratum corneum forms a formidable barrier that hinders the percutaneous penetration of most drugs, offering an important protection mechanism to the organism against entrance of possible dangerous exogenous molecules. Different typ...

Polymers are the backbone of a transdermal drug delivery system as they control the release of the drug from the device. Biodegradable polymers attracts the attention of its use as they can be degraded to non-toxic monomers and most important, a constant rate of drug release can be achieved from a biodegradable polymer based controlled release device. Natural polymers can be used as the means o...

This review seeks to give an overview of the current approaches to drug delivery from scaffolds for neural tissue engineering applications. The challenges presented by attempting to replicate the three types of nervous tissue (brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerve) are summarized. Potential scaffold materials (both synthetic and natural) and target drugs are discussed with the benefits and d...

We report that delivery of first-generation replication-deficient adenovirus (RDAd) vectors into primary human fibroblasts is associated with the induction of natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytolysis in vitro. RDAd vector delivery induced cytolysis by a range of NK cell populations including the NK cell clone NKL, primary polyclonal NK lines and a proportion of NK clones (36 %) in autologous...

Natural oils are commonly used in topical pharmaceutical formulations as emulsifiers, stabilizers or solubility enhancers. They are presented as safe and inert components, mainly used for formulation purposes. It is confirmed that natural oils can affect the skin penetration of various substances. Fatty acids are mainly responsible for this effect. Current understanding lacks reliable scientifi...

Natural products have been used in medicine for many years. Many top-selling pharmaceuticals are natural compounds or their derivatives. These plant- or microorganism-derived compounds have shown potential as therapeutic agents against cancer, microbial infection, inflammation, and other disease conditions. However, their success in clinical trials has been less impressive, partly due to the co...

A large number of both natural and synthetic polymers have been studied for powible application in drug delivery. The great advantage of synthetic polymers is their advantageous properties and wide choice availability. Two promising synthetic polymers which have been developed for biomedical applications are polyvinylpyrolidone and polyethylene glycol acrylate based hydrogels. Both of them are ...