• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.401-406
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• 2004

To develop an intravenous delivery system of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) for the cancer therapy, poly(L-lactic acid) nanoparticles were prepared and characterized. Emulsification-solvent evaporation method was chosen to prepare submicron sized nanoparticles. Spherical nanoparticles less than 200 nm in diameter with narrow size distribution were prepared, and the entrapment efficiency of drug was more than 95%. The endothermic peak at $183^{\circ}C$ and X-ray crystallographic peak of ATRA appeared in the nanoparticle system, suggesting the inhibition of crystallization of ATRA by polymer adsorption during the precipitation process. ATRA was released at $37^{\circ}C$ for 60 days and the release rate was dependent on the concentration of drug incorporated in the nanoparticles. While ATRA was unstable in the light, it was very stable at $4^{\circ}C$. These results suggest the usefulness of PLA nanoparticles as a sustained and prolonged release carrier for ATRA.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.10
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• pp.4423-4436
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• 2024

The development and assessment of pharmaceutical dosage forms make considerable use of gamma-scintigraphy. Gamma scintigraphy is an imaging technique that is integrated with CT to assess and evaluate the targeting of drugs to various delivery sites, the impact of treatment, and the severity of the disease. A small number of radioisotopes were tagged with the delivery system and emitted radiation can be visualized by the gamma camera which forms a 2-D image displaying the tissue-specific distribution of radioactivity. The isotopes that are used widely include Technetium-99 m (99Tc), Iodine (131I), Fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), Fluoromisonidazole (18F-FMISO) and Gallium (Ga67), Indium (111In). This review mainly covers different applications of gamma scintigraphy for the assessment of drug targeting via different routes to different organs and their visualization by gamma scintigraphy. The review mainly focuses assessment of drug targeting in the tumor tissue, thyroid gland, brain, pulmonary pathway, skin deposition, detection of renal impairment as well as cardiac diseases, drug release from formulations, drug deposition in arthritis, drug retention in the scalp, and behavior of formulation when administered via intra-vaginal route. Various pre-clinical and clinical studies were included in the review that demonstrates the importance and future of gamma scintigraphy in sensing drug delivery.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.1097-1102
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• 2009

Classification of subjects with unknown distribution in small sample size setup may involve order-restricted constraints in multivariate parameter setups. Those problems makes optimality of conventional likelihood ratio based statistical inferences not feasible. Fortunately, Roy (1953) introduced union-intersection principle(UIP) which provides an alternative avenue. Redescending M-estimator along with that principle yields a considerably appropriate robust testing procedure. Furthermore, conditionally distribution-free test based upon exact permutation theory is used to generate p-values, even in small sample. Applications of this method are illustrated in simulated data and read data example (Lobenhofer et al., 2002)

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.175-179
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• 1993

Gas chromoatography with flame ionization detector (FID) along with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were used for the screening and quantification of methamphetamine (MA) and its major metabolite, amphetamine (AM0, in blood and urine in eleven fatal cases in which MA abuse was suspected. Postmortem blood MA varied from $0.5-30.2\;\mu{g/ml}$, while Am levels ranged from none detected (6 of 11 cases) to 4.8 .mu.g/ml. Additionally, distribution studies were performed in three of these cases in which tissue smaples were available for evaluation. Liver contained the highest ocncentration of MA among the tissu samples. In eight of the eleven cases, when no other direct cause of death was evident (i.e. 3 cases of traumatic dath0, either no blood AM was found or the ratio of MA/AM was 3.4 or greater. These data are consistent with acute MA use followed by death due to acute drug intoxication or by the occurrence of hypersensitivity and reverse seen in cases of chronic drug abuse.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.289-294
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• 2015

The aim of this study was to develop rapid screening method for the identification of Chinese herbal medicine species with similar appearance, Polygonum multiflorum, Cynanchum wilfordii and C. auriculatum, by using genetic markers. As a genetic marker, psbA-trnH gene in chloroplast was selected due to differences in sequence among the three species. Species-specific primers were designed based on the sequences of the marker gene of P. multiflorum, C. wilfordii, and C. auriculatum, and the expected size of PCR products was 160, 147, and 119 bp, respectively. Under the developed conditions, cross-reaction was not detected among these three plant species. To confirm the efficiency of our species-specific primers, the optimized method was applied to a variety of processed products composed of mostly P. multiflorum and C. wilfordii, demonstrating that our method was a rapid and easy screening assay. Our findings suggest this screening method can be utilized to prevent the distribution of economically motivated adulteration food and to improve consumer's right.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.161-166
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• 2007

A model theory of passive-targeted drug delivery in sphere-shaped solid tumors is introduced on the basis of Fick's law of diffusion, with appropriate boundary and initial conditions. For a uniform initial concentration inside the tumor, the concentration is obtained as a function of time and radial position. The concentration is shown to approach the equilibrium distribution as the time elapses, as is expected by the Gedanken Experiment. The time-evolution rate is found to be determined by the diffusion coefficient of the drug in the tissue, the size of the tumor, the volume of the drug-injected region, and the concentration gradient at the boundary.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 1999

ABSTRACT-A self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) was developed to enhance the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly water soluble drug, biphenyl dimethyl dicarboxylate, DDB. The system was optimized by evaluating the solubility of DDB and the microemulsion existence range after the preparation of microemulsions with varying compositions of triacetin and surfactant-cosurfactant mixtures (Labrasol as surfactant (S) and the combination of Transcutol, Cremophor RH 40 and Plurol oleique as cosurfactant (CoS)). SMEDDS in this study markedly improved the solubility of DDB in water up to 10 mg/ml and the size of the o/w microemulsion droplets measured by dynamic light scattering showed a narrow monodisperse size distribution with an average diameter less than 50 nm. The microemulsion existing range is increased proportional to the ratio of S/CoS, however, it decreased remarkably as the oil content was more than 20%. In vitro dissolution study of SMEDDS showed a significantly increased dissolution rate of DDB in water (> 12 fold over DDB powder), and SMEDDS also had significantly greater permeability of DDB in Caco-2 cell compared to powders.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.439-446
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• 2013

Chitosan (CS) and hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC) blend microspheres were prepared by water-in-oil emulsion technique and were loaded with an anti-cancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). CS-HPMC microspheres were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to confirm the cross-linking reaction. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also used to assess the surface morphology of particles prepared. The quantity of release of 5-FU from the microspheres have been studied in terms of blend composition and amount of cross-linking agent. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction techniques indicated a uniform distribution of 5-FU particles in microspheres, whereas SEM suggested the spherical structure of the microspheres with slight rough surface. The in vitro drug release indicated that the particle size and release kinetics depend upon blend composition, amount of cross-linking agent used and amount of 5-FU present in the microspheres.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.257-263
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• 2001

The microspheres have been developed as a new drug delivery system. Although many particulate drug carriers, such as liposome, niosome and emulsion, have been introduced, injectable and biodegradable microspheres appears to be a particularly ideal delivery system because the local anesthesia is not necessary for the insertion of large implants and for the removal of the device after the drug release is finished. Biodegradable microspheres with nicotine and triamcinolone acetonide are prepared and evaluated. As biodegradible polymers, PLA (M.W. 15,000, PLA-0015), PLGA (M.W. 17,000, RG 502) and PLGA (M.W. 8,600, RG 502H) are used. This study attempted to prepare and evaluate the nicotine and triamcinolone acetonide-incorporated microspheres, which were prepared by two methods, solvent-evaporation and spray-drying methods. The microspheres, as a disperse system for injections, were evaluated by particle size, size distribution, entrapment efficiency, and in vitro drug release patterns. The differences of preparation method, partition coefficient, types of polymer, and preparation conditions of microspheres influence the particle size, entrapment efficiency, and in vitro drug release patterns.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.309-314
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• 2006

The multicellular layers(MCL) of human cancer cells is a three dimensional(3D) in vitro model for human solid tumors which has been used primarily for the assessment of avascular penetration of anti-cancer drugs. For anti-cancer drugs with penetration problem, MCL represents a good experimental model that can provide clinically relevant data. Calcein-AM is a fluorescent dye that demonstrates the cellular vitality in a graded manner in cancer cell culture system. In the present study, we evaluated the use of calcein-AM for determination of anti-proliferative activity of anti-cancer agents in MCL model of DLD-1 human colorectal cancer cells. Optical sectioning of confocal imaging was compromised with photonic attenuation and penetration barrier in the deep layers of MCL. By contrast, fluorescent measurement on the cryo-sections provided a feasible alternative. Cold pre-incubation did not enhance the calcein-AM distribution to a significant degree in MCL of DLD-1 cells. However, the simultaneous determination of drug penetration and cellular vitality appeared to be possible in drug treated MCL. In conclusion, these data suggest that calcein-AM can be used for the simultaneous determination of drug-induced anti-proliferative effect and drug penetration in MCL model.