Insulin is a hormone that is synthesized in the β-cells of the pancreas as a proinsulin precursor and is converted to insulin by enzymatic cleavage. The resulting insulin molecule is composed of 51 amino acids arranged into two polypeptide chains the A and B chains which are connected by two interchain disulphide bridges. In the A chain, there is an additional intrachain disulphide linkage [1]....

The potential of therapeutic peptides to address a growing range of diseases has gained increasing recognition in recent years. Due mainly to their poor stability and short plasma half-life, peptides are usually administered by injection, often several times daily. Injectable sustained-release formulations of peptides demonstrated the power of drug delivery technologies to enhance patient adher...

Due to low cost, ease of administration, and lack need for trained personnel, the oral route is the most convenient and accessible way to design different medicines that could be simply consumed by patients. Regardless of the great benefits of this route, the main challenge in the bioavailability of oral medications is gastrointestinal instability. Nanotechnology is used to improve the solubili...

With an increasing number of lipophilic drugs under development, homolipids and heterolipids have gained renewed interests as excipients for oral drug delivery systems. Oral administration has many advantages for chronic drug therapy. It is relatively safe, convenient for the patient and allows self administration. This article is not intended to review the broad area of lipid-based vehicle for...

Copyright © 2010 Frederick Furness Publishing 14 Oral delivery continues to be the most popular route of administration due to its versatility, ease of administration and probably most importantly patient compliance. In a recent New England Healthcare Institute report, the cost of non-compliance in the US alone was estimated to be as much as $290 billion, or 13% of total annual health care expe...

microRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small RNAs, are important regulators of various developmental processes in both plants and animals. Several years ago, a report showed the detection of diet-derived plant miRNAs in mammalian tissues and their regulation of mammalian genes, challenging the traditional functions of plant miRNAs. Subsequently, multiple efforts have attempted to replicate these findin...

The performance of regenerated cellulose (RC) films and capsules was investigated for their applications in oral controlled drug delivery. Regenerated cellulose films were prepared by non-solvent-mediated, phase inversion of native and depolymerized cotton linter solutions (methylolcellulose; cellulose dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide/ paraformaldehyde solvent system) in water as well as by phas...

Oral delivery is the most accepted and economical route for drug administration and leads to substantial reduction in dosing frequency. However, this route still remains a challenge for the pharmaceutical industry due to poorly soluble and permeable drugs leading to poor oral bioavailability. Incorporating bioactives into nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) has helped in boosting their therape...