Search results for: THC-induced adverse drug reactions

Authors: Timea Harmath-Tánczos

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Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) is defined as the persistence of seizures despite at least two syndrome-adapted antiseizure drugs (ASD) used at efficacious daily doses. About a third of patients with epilepsy suffer from drug resistance. Cognitive assessment has a crucial role in the diagnosis and clinical management of epilepsy. Previous studies have addressed the clinical targets and indications for measuring neuropsychological functions; best to our knowledge, no studies have examined it in a Hungarian therapy-resistant population. To fill this gap, we investigated the Hungarian diagnostic protocol between 18 and 65 years of age. This study aimed to describe and analyze neuropsychological functions in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy and identify factors associated with neuropsychology deficits. We perform a prospective case-control study comparing neuropsychological performances in 50 adult patients and 50 healthy individuals between March 2023 and July 2023. Neuropsychological functions were examined in both patients and controls using a full set of specific tests (general performance level, motor functions, attention, executive facts., verbal and visual memory, language, and visual-spatial functions). Potential risk factors for neuropsychological deficit were assessed in the patient group using a multivariate analysis. The two groups did not differ in age, sex, dominant hand and level of education. Compared with the control group, patients with drug-resistant epilepsy showed worse performance on motor functions and visuospatial memory, sustained attention, inhibition and verbal memory. Neuropsychological deficits could therefore be systematically detected in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy in order to provide neuropsychological therapy and improve quality of life. The analysis of the classical and complex indices of the special neuropsychological tasks presented in the presentation can help in the investigation of normal and disrupted memory and executive functions in the DRE.

Keywords: drug-resistant epilepsy, Hungarian diagnostic protocol, memory, executive functions, cognitive neuropsychology

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Authors: Ermias A. Tegegn, Million Meshesha

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Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a major cause of death for most African countries. Ethiopia is one of the seriously affected countries in sub Saharan Africa. Previously in Ethiopia, having HIV/AIDS was almost equivalent to a death sentence. With the introduction of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), HIV/AIDS has become chronic, but manageable disease. The study focused on a data mining technique to predict future living status of HIV/AIDS patients at the time of drug regimen change when the patients become toxic to the currently taking ART drug combination. The data is taken from University of Gondar Hospital ART program database. Hybrid methodology is followed to explore the application of data mining on ART program dataset. Data cleaning, handling missing values and data transformation were used for preprocessing the data. WEKA 3.7.9 data mining tools, classification algorithms, and expertise are utilized as means to address the research problem. By using four different classification algorithms, (i.e., J48 Classifier, PART rule induction, Naïve Bayes and Neural network) and by adjusting their parameters thirty-two models were built on the pre-processed University of Gondar ART program dataset. The performances of the models were evaluated using the standard metrics of accuracy, precision, recall, and F-measure. The most effective model to predict the status of HIV patients with drug regimen substitution is pruned J48 decision tree with a classification accuracy of 98.01%. This study extracts interesting attributes such as Ever taking Cotrim, Ever taking TbRx, CD4 count, Age, Weight, and Gender so as to predict the status of drug regimen substitution. The outcome of this study can be used as an assistant tool for the clinician to help them make more appropriate drug regimen substitution. Future research directions are forwarded to come up with an applicable system in the area of the study.

Keywords: HIV drug regimen, data mining, hybrid methodology, predictive model

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Authors: Vagolu S. Krishna, Shan Zheng, Estharla M. Rekha, Luke W. Guddat, Dharmarajan Sriram

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Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major threat to human health. This due to the fact that current drug treatments are less than optimal as well as the rising occurrence of multi drug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant strains of the etiological agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt). Given the wide-spread significance of this disease, we have undertaken a design and evaluation program to discover new anti-TB drug leads. Here, our attention is focused on ketol-acid reductoisomerase (KARI), the second enzyme in the branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis pathway. Importantly, this enzyme is present in bacteria but not in humans, making it an attractive proposition for drug discovery. In the present work, we used high-throughput virtual screening to identify seventeen potential inhibitors of KARI using the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in-house database. Compounds were selected based on high docking scores, which were assigned as the result of favourable interactions between the compound and the active site of KARI. The Ki values for two leads, compounds 14 and 16 are 3.71 and 3.06 µM, respectively for Mt KARI. To assess the mode of binding, 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations for these two compounds in association with Mt KARI were performed and showed that the complex was stable with an average RMSD of less than 2.5 Å for all atoms. Compound 16 showed an MIC of 2.06 ± 0.91 µM and a 1.9 fold logarithmic reduction in the growth of Mt in an infected macrophage model. The two compounds exhibited low toxicity against murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cell lines. Thus, both compounds are promising candidates for development as an anti-TB drug leads.

Keywords: ketol-acid reductoisomerase, macrophage, molecular docking and dynamics, tuberculosis

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Authors: Santosh Sharma

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Background: Drug abuse, needle sharing, and risky sexual behaviour are often compounded to increase the risk of HIV transmission. Injecting Drug Users are at the duel risk of needle sharing and risky sexual Behaviour, becoming more vulnerable to STI and HIV. Thus, studying the interface of injecting drug use and risky sexual behaviour is important to curb the pace of HIV epidemic among IDUs. The aim of this study is to determine the factor associated with HIV among injecting drug users in three states of India. Materials and methods: This paper analyzes covariates of multiplicity of risk behavior among injecting drug users. Findings are based on data from Integrated Behavioral and Biological Assessment (IBBA) round 2, 2010. IBBA collects the information of IDUs from the six districts. IDUs were selected on the criteria of those who were 18 years or older, who injected addictive substances/drugs for non-medical purposes at least once in past six month. A total of 1,979 in round 2 were interviewed in the IBBA. The study employs quantitative techniques using standard statistical tools to achieve the above objectives. All results presented in this paper are unweighted univariate measures. Results: Among IDUs, average duration of injecting drugs is 5.2 years. Mean duration between first drug use to first injecting drugs among younger IDUs, belongs to 18-24 years is 2.6 years Needle cleaning practices is common with above two-fifths reporting its every time cleaning. Needle sharing is quite prevalent especially among younger IDUs. Further, IDUs practicing needle sharing exhibit pervasive multi-partner behavior. Condom use with commercial partners is almost 81 %, whereas with intimate partner it is 39 %. Coexistence of needle sharing and unprotected sex enhances STI prevalence (6.8 %), which is further pronounced among divorced/separated/widowed (9.4 %). Conclusion: Working towards risk reduction for IDUs must deal with multiplicity of risk. Interventions should deal with covariates of risk, addressing youth, and risky sexual behavior.

Keywords: IDUs, HIV, STI, behaviour

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Authors: Sun Tao, Lou Liang, Tan Xing Haw Marvin, Gu Yuandong Alex

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Patients with blood clots in their brains can experience problems with their vision or speech, seizures and general weakness. To treat blood clots, clinicians presently have two options. The first involves drug therapy to thin the blood and thus reduce the clot. The second choice is to invasively remove the clot using a plastic tube called a catheter. Both approaches carry a high risk of bleeding, and invasive procedures, such as catheter intervention, can also damage the blood vessel wall and cause infection. Ultrasonic treatment as a potential alternative therapy to break down clots is attracting growing interests due to the reduced adverse effects. To demonstrate the concept, in this investigation a microfabricated ultrasonic device was electrically packaged with printed circuit board to treat healthy human blood. The red blood cells could be broken down after 3-hour ultrasonic treatment.

Keywords: microfabrication, blood clot, ultrasonic thrombolysis device, ultrasonic device

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Authors: Yalçın Kılıç, İbrahim Kani

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The conversion of hydrocarbons to carbonyl compounds by oxidation reaction is one of the most important reactions in the synthesis of fine chemicals. As a result of the oxidation of hydrocarbons containing aliphatic sp3-CH groups in their structures, aldehydes, ketones or carboxylic acids can be obtained. In this study, OSSO-type 2,2'-[1,4-butanedylbis(thio)]bis-benzoic acid (tsabutH2) ligand and [Zn(µ-tsabut)(phen)]n complex (where phen = 1,10-phenantroline) were synthesized and their structures were characterized by single crystal x-ray diffraction method. The catalytic efficiency of the complex in the catalytic oxidation studies of organic compounds such as cyclohexane, ethylbenzene, diphenylmethane, and p-xylene containing sp3-C-H in its structure was investigated.

Keywords: metal complex, OSSO-type ligand, catalysis, oxidation

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Authors: Ashish Kumar Jain, Deepak Mishra

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The objective of the present investigation was to prepare and evaluate a vesicular dual drug delivery system for effective management of mucosal ulcer. Inner encapsulating and Double liposomes were prepared by glass bead and reverse phase evaporation method respectively. The formulation consisted of inner liposomes bearing Ranitidine Bismuth Citrate (RBC) and outer liposomes encapsulating Amoxicillin trihydrate (AMOX). The optimized inner liposomes and double liposomes were extensively characterized for vesicle size, morphology, zeta potential, vesicles count, entrapment efficiency and in vitro drug release. In vitro, the double liposomes demonstrated a sustained release of AMOX and RBC viz 91.4±1.8% and 77.2±2.1% respectively at the end of 72 hr. Furthermore binding specificity and targeting propensity toward H. pylori (SKP-56) was confirmed by agglutination and in situ adherence assay. Reduction of the absolute alcohol induced ulcerogenic index from 3.01 ± 0.25 to 0.31 ± 0.09 and 100% H. pylori clearance rate was observed. These results suggested that double liposomes are potential vector for the development of dual drug delivery for effective treatment of H. pylori-associated peptic ulcer.

Keywords: double liposomes, H. pylori targeting, PE liposomes, glass-beads method, peptic ulcers

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Authors: Usha Barahmand, Maria Stalias, Abdul Haq, Esther Rotlevi, Ying Xiang

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Misophonia is a condition in which specific repetitive oral, nasal, or other sounds and movements made by humans trigger impulsive aversive reactions of irritation or disgust that instantly become anger. A few measures exist for the assessment of misophonia, but each has some limitations, and evidence for a formal diagnosis is still lacking. The objective of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measure of misophonia for use in the general population. Adopting a purely descriptive approach, this study focused on developing a self-report measure using all triggers and reactions identified in previous studies on misophonia. A measure with two subscales, one assessing the aversive quality of various triggers and the other assessing reactions of individuals, was developed. Data were gathered from a large sample of both men and women ranging in age from 18 to 65 years. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three main triggers: oral/nasal sounds, hand and leg movements, and environmental sounds. Two clusters of reactions also emerged: nonangry attempts to avoid the impact of the aversive stimuli and angry attempts to stop the aversive stimuli. The examination of the psychometric properties of the scale revealed its internal consistency and test-retest reliability to be excellent. The scale was also found to have very good concurrent and convergent validity. Significant annoyance and disgust in response to the triggers were reported by 12% of the sample, although for some specific triggers, rates as high as 31% were also reported. These findings have implications for the delineation of the criteria for identifying misophonia as a clinical condition.

Keywords: adults, factor analysis, misophonia, psychometric properties, scale

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Authors: Olumayede Emmanuel Gbenga, Adeniyi Azeez Adebayo

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Carbonyls are the first-generation products from tropospheric degradation reactions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This computational study examined the mechanism of removal of carbonyls from the atmosphere via hydroxyl radical. The kinetics of the reactions were computed from the activation energy (using enthalpy (ΔH**) and Gibbs free energy (ΔG**). The minimum energy path (MEP) analysis reveals that in all the molecules, the products have more stable energy than the reactants, which implies that the forward reaction is more thermodynamically favorable. The hydrogen abstraction of the aromatic aldehyde, especially without methyl substituents, is more kinetically favorable compared with the other aldehydes in the order of aromatic (without methyl or meta methyl) > alkene (short chain) > diene > long-chain aldehydes. The activation energy is much lower for the forward reaction than the backward, indicating that the forward reactions are more kinetically stable than their backward reaction. In terms of thermodynamic stability, the aromatic compounds are found to be less favorable in comparison to the aliphatic. The study concludes that the chemistry of the carbonyl bond of the aldehyde changed significantly from the reactants to the products.

Keywords: atmospheric carbonyls, oxidation, mechanism, kinetic, thermodynamic

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Authors: Chieh-Nan Chen, Ji-Yu Lin, I-Ming Chu

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Polypeptide thermosensitive hydrogel is an excellent candidate as a smart device to deliver drugs and cells due to its remarkable biocompatibility, low gelation concentration, and respond to temperature stimuli, it can be easily injected as a polymer solution into the patient’s body where it undergoes gelation due to an elevation in temperature. Poly (ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether-poly (ethyl-l-glutamate) (mPEG-PELG) contains a hydrophobic side chain –C2H5 which is useful in encapsulating and stabilizing hydrophobic drugs. In this study, we plan to focus on the hydrophobic anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory drug curcumin, which due its insolubility in water, requires a proper carrier for delivery into the body. Our main concept is to use mPEG-PELG to stabilize curcumin, inject the curcumin-loaded hydrogel into the tumor site, and allow the enzymatically-sensitive hydrogel to be degraded by bodily fluids and release the drug. The polymers of interest have been successfully synthesized and characterized by 1H-NMR, FT-IR, SEM, and CMC. Curcumin loading content and drug release were assayed using HPLC. Preliminary results show that these materials have potential as a delivery vehicle for poorly soluble drugs.

Keywords: curcumin, drug release, hydrogel, polypeptide material

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Authors: Iva Blazkova, Amitava Moulick, Vedran Milosavljevic, Pavel Kopel, Marketa Vaculovicova, Vojtech Adam, Rene Kizek

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Doxorubicin is one of the most commonly used and the most effective chemotherapeutic drugs. This antracycline drug isolated from the bacteria Streptomyces peuceticus var. caesius is sold under the trade name Adriamycin (hydroxydaunomycin, hydroxydaunorubicin). Doxorubicin is used in single therapy to treat hematological malignancies (blood cancers, leukaemia, lymphoma), many types of carcinoma (solid tumors) and soft tissue sarcomas. It has many serious side effects like nausea and vomiting, hair lost, myelosupression, oral mucositis, skin reactions and redness, but the most serious one is the cardiotoxicity. Because of the risk of heart attack and congestive heart failure, the total dose administered to patients has to be accurately monitored. With the aim to lower the side effects and to targeted delivery of doxorubicin into the tumor tissue, the different nanoparticles are studied. The drug can be bound on a surface of nanoparticle, encapsulated in the inner cavity, or incorporated into the structure of nanoparticle. Among others, carbon nanoparticles (graphene, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes) are highly studied. Besides the number of inorganic nanoparticles, a great potential exhibit also organic ones mainly lipid-based and polymeric nanoparticle. The aim of this work was to perform a toxicity study of free doxorubicin compared to doxorubicin conjugated with various nanotransporters. The effect of liposomes, fullerenes, graphene, and carbon nanotubes on the toxicity was analyzed. As a first step, the binding efficacy of between doxorubicin and the nanotransporter was determined. The highest efficacy was detected in case of liposomes (85% of applied drug was encapsulated) followed by graphene, carbon nanotubes and fullerenes. For the toxicological studies, the chicken embryos incubated under controlled conditions (37.5 °C, 45% rH, rotation every 2 hours) were used. In 7th developmental day of chicken embryos doxorubicin or doxorubicin-nanotransporter complex was applied on the chorioallantoic membrane of the eggs and the viability was analyzed every day till the 17th developmental day. Then the embryos were extracted from the shell and the distribution of doxorubicin in the body was analyzed by measurement of organs extracts using laser induce fluorescence detection. The chicken embryo mortality caused by free doxorubicin (30%) was significantly lowered by using the conjugation with nanomaterials. The highest accumulation of doxorubicin and doxorubicin nanotransporter complexes was observed in the liver tissue

Keywords: doxorubicin, chicken embryos, nanotransporters, toxicity

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Authors: Y. J. Lin, Y. F. Lin

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CO2 is the primary greenhouse gas which causes global warming in recent years. As the carbon capture and storage (CCS) getting maturing, the reuse of carbon dioxide which made from CCS is the important issue. In this way, the most common method is the synthesis of cyclic carbonate chemicals from the cycloaddition reaction of carbon dioxide and epoxide. The catalyst plays an important role in the CO2/epoxide cycloaddition reactions. The Lewis acid and base sites are both needed on the catalyst surface for the help of epoxide ring opening, leading to the synthesis of cyclic carbonate. Furthermore, the larger specific surface area and more active site of the catalyst are also needed to enhance the efficiency of the CO2/epoxide cycloaddition reactions. Aerogel is a mesoporous nanomaterial (pore size between 2~50 nm) with high specific surface area and porosity (at least 90%) and low density. In this study, the ternary metal oxide aerogels, Mg-doped Al2O3 aerogels, with higher specific surface area and Lewis acid and base sites on the aerogel surface are successfully prepared by using a facile sol-gel reaction. The as-prepared Mg-doped Al2O3 aerogels are also served as heterogenous catalyst for the CO2/propylene- oxide cycloaddition reaction. Compared to the pristine Al2O3 aerogels, the Mg-doped Al2O3 aerogels possessed both Lewis acid and base sites on the surface are able to enhance the efficiency of the CO2/propylene oxide cycloaddition reactions. As a result, the as-prepared Mg-doped Al2O3 aerogels are a promising and novel catalyst for the CO2/epoxide cycloaddition reactions.

Keywords: ternary, metal oxide aerogel, CO2 reuse, cycloaddition, propylene oxide

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Authors: Erna Judith Roach, Nalini Bhaskaranand

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Background & Significance: Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children. Education is the cornerstone of management of asthma to help the affected children. In India there are about 1.5- 3.0 million asthmatic children in the age group of 5-11 years. Many parents face management dilemmas in administration of medications to their children. Mothers being primary caregivers of children are often responsible for administering medications to them. The purpose of the study was to develop an educational package on techniques of drug administration for mothers of asthmatic children and determine its effectiveness in terms of improvement in skill in drug administration. Methodology: A quasi- experimental time series pre-test post -test control group design was used. Mothers of asthmatic children attending paediatric outpatient departments of selected hospitals along with their children between 5 and 12 years were included. Sample size consisted of 40 mothers in the experimental and 40 mothers in the control groups. Block randomization was used to assign samples to both the groups. The data collection instruments used were Baseline Proforma, Clinical Proforma, Daily asthma drug intake and symptoms diary and Observation Rating Scales on technique of using a metered dose inhaler with spacer; metered dose inhaler with facemask; metered dose inhaler alone and dry powder inhaler. The educational package consisted of a video and booklet on techniques of drug administration. Data were collected at baseline, 1, 3 and 6 months. Findings: The mean post-test scores in techniques of drug administration were higher than the mean pre-test scores in the experimental group in all techniques. The Friedman test (p < 0.01), Wilcoxon Signed Rank test (p < 0.008) and Mann Whitney U (p < 0.01) showed statistically significant difference in the experimental group than the control group. There was significant decrease in the average number of symptom days (11 Vs. 4 days/ month) and hospital visits (5 to 1 per month) in the experimental group when compared to the control group. Conclusion: The educational package was found to be effective in improving the skill of mothers in drug administration in all the techniques, especially with using the metered dose inhaler with spacer.

Keywords: childhood asthma, drug administration, mothers of children, inhaler

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Authors: Yasser Ahmed Mahmoud Ali Helal

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The use of CAD (Computer Aided Design) technology is ubiquitous in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. This has led to its inclusion in the curriculum of architecture schools in Nigeria as an important part of the training module. This article examines the ethical issues involved in implementing CAD (Computer Aided Design) content into the architectural education curriculum. Using existing literature, this study begins with the benefits of integrating CAD into architectural education and the responsibilities of different stakeholders in the implementation process. It also examines issues related to the negative use of information technology and the perceived negative impact of CAD use on design creativity. Using a survey method, data from the architecture department of University was collected to serve as a case study on how the issues raised were being addressed. The article draws conclusions on what ensures successful ethical implementation. Millions of people around the world suffer from hepatitis C, one of the world's deadliest diseases. Interferon (IFN) is treatment options for patients with hepatitis C, but these treatments have their side effects. Our research focused on developing an oral small molecule drug that targets hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins and has fewer side effects. Our current study aims to develop a drug based on a small molecule antiviral drug specific for the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Drug development using laboratory experiments is not only expensive, but also time-consuming to conduct these experiments. Instead, in this in silicon study, we used computational techniques to propose a specific antiviral drug for the protein domains of found in the hepatitis C virus. This study used homology modeling and abs initio modeling to generate the 3D structure of the proteins, then identifying pockets in the proteins. Acceptable lagans for pocket drugs have been developed using the de novo drug design method. Pocket geometry is taken into account when designing ligands. Among the various lagans generated, a new specific for each of the HCV protein domains has been proposed.

Keywords: drug design, anti-viral drug, in-silicon drug design, hepatitis C virus (HCV) CAD (Computer Aided Design), CAD education, education improvement, small-size contractor automatic pharmacy, PLC, control system, management system, communication

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Authors: Pravina Gurjar, Bothiraja Pour, Vijay Kumbhar, Ganesh Dama

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Andrographolide (AG), a bioactive phytoconstituent, has a wider range of pharmacological action. However, due to the intestinal degradation, shows low oral bioavailability. The aim of the present work was to develop Floating In-situ gelling Gastro retentive System (FISGS) for AG in order to enhance its site specific absorption and minimize pH dependent hydrolysis in alkaline environment. Further to increase its therapeutic efficacy for peptic ulcer disease caused by H. pyroli. Gellan based floating in situ gelling system of AG were prepared by using sodium citrate and calcium carbonate. The 32 factorial designs was used to study the effect of gellan and calcium carbonate concentration (independent variables) on dependent variable such as viscosity, floating lag time and drug release. Developed system was evaluated for drug content, floating lag time, viscosity, and drug release studies. Drug content, viscosity, and floating lag time was found to be 81-99%, 67-117 Cps, and 3-5 sec, respectively. The obtained system showed good in vitro floating ability for more than 12 h using 0.1 N HCl as dissolution medium with initial burst release followed by the controlled zero order drug release up to 24 hrs. In vivo testing of FISGS of AG to rats demonstrated significant antiulcer activity that were evaluated by various parameters like pH, volume, total acidity, millimole equivalent of H+ ions/30 min, and protein content of gastric content. The densities of all the formulation batches were found to be near about 0.9 and floating duration above 12 hr. It was observed that with the increase in conc. of gellan there was increase in the viscosity of formulation but all formulations were in optimum range. The drug content of optimized batch was found to be 99.23. In histopathology study of stomach, the villi at the mucosal surface, the intercellular junction, the intestinal lumen were intact; no destruction of the epithelium, and submucosal gland in formulation treated and control group animals as compared to pure drug AG and standard ranitidine. Gellan-based in situ gastro retentive floating system could be advantageous in terms of increased bioavailability of AG to maintain an effective drug conc. in gastric fluid as well as in serum for longer period of time.

Keywords: andrographolide, floating drug delivery, in situ gelling system, gastroretentive system

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Authors: Masoumeh Kazemi

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Depression is one of the most common mental disorders that damage mental health. In addition to mental distress, mental health damage affects other dimensions of human health, including physical and social health. According to the national study of diseases and injuries in Iran, the third health problem of the country is depression. The purpose of this study was to measure the level of depression in people referred to Karaj psychiatric treatment centers, and to investigate the relationship between depression and drug and alcohol consumption. The statistical population included 5000 people. Morgan table was used to determine the sample size. The research questions sought to identify the relationship between depression and factors such as drug and alcohol use, employment and marital status, and gender. Beck standard questionnaire was used to collect complete information. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to confirm the reliability of the questionnaire. To test research hypotheses, non-parametric methods of correlation coefficient, Spearman's rank, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used. The results of using SPSS statistical software showed that there is a direct relationship between depression and drug and alcohol use. Also, the rate of depression was higher in women, widows and unemployed people. Finally, by conducting the present study, it is suggested that people use the following treatments in combination for effective recovery: 1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) 2. Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) 3. Treatment with appropriate medication 4. Special light therapy 5. Electric shock treatment (in acute and exceptional cases) 6. Self-help

Keywords: alcohol, depression, drug, Iran

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Authors: Danilo A. F. Fontes, Magaly A. M.Lyra, Maria L. C. Moura, Leslie R. M. Ferraz, Salvana P. M. Costa, Amanda C. Q. M. Vieira, Larissa A. Rolim, Giovanna C. R. M. Schver, Ping I. Lee, Severino Alves-Júnior, José L. Soares-Sobrinho, Pedro J. Rolim-Neto

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Efavirenz (EFV) is a first-choice drug in antiretroviral therapy with high efficacy in the treatment of infection by Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). EFV has low solubility in water resulting in a decrease in the dissolution rate and, consequently, in its bioavailability. Among the technological alternatives to increase solubility, the Lamellar Double Hydroxides (LDH) have been applied in the development of systems with poorly water-soluble drugs. The use of analytical techniques such as X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Infrared Spectroscopy (IR) and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) allowed the elucidation of drug interaction with the lamellar compounds. The objective of this work was to characterize and develop the binary systems with EFV and LDH in order to increase the solubility of the drug. The LDH-CaAl was synthesized by the method of co-precipitation from salt solutions of calcium nitrate and aluminum nitrate in basic medium. The systems EFV-LDH and their physical mixtures (PM) were obtained at different concentrations (5-60% of EFV) using the solvent technique described by Takahashi & Yamaguchi (1991). The characterization of the systems and the PM’s was performed by XRD techniques, IR, DSC and dissolution test under non-sink conditions. The results showed improvements in the solubility of EFV when associated with LDH, due to a possible change in its crystal structure and formation of an amorphous material. From the DSC results, one could see that the endothermic peak at 173°C, temperature that correspond to the melting process of EFZ in the crystal form, was present in the PM results. For the EFZ-LDH systems (with 5, 10 and 30% of drug loading), this peak was not observed. XRD profiles of the PM showed well-defined peaks for EFV. Analyzing the XRD patterns of the systems, it was found that the XRD profiles of all the systems showed complete attenuation of the characteristic peaks of the crystalline form of EFZ. The IR technique showed that, in the results of the PM, there was the appearance of one band and overlap of other bands, while the IR results of the systems with 5, 10 and 30% drug loading showed the disappearance of bands and a few others with reduced intensity. The dissolution test under non-sink conditions showed that systems with 5, 10 and 30% drug loading promoted a great increase in the solubility of EFV, but the system with 10% of drug loading was the only one that could keep substantial amount of drug in solution at different pHs.

Keywords: Efavirenz, Lamellar Double Hydroxides, Pharmaceutical Techonology, Solubility

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Authors: Mustafa Al Sukar, Azzam Sleit, Abdullatif Abu-Dalhoum, Bassam Al-Kasasbeh

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Use and abuse of drugs by teens is very common and can have dangerous consequences. The drugs contribute to physical and sexual aggression such as assault or rape. Some teenagers regularly use drugs to compensate for depression, anxiety or a lack of positive social skills. Teen resort to smoking should not be minimized because it can be "gateway drugs" for other drugs (marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, and heroin). The combination of teenagers' curiosity, risk taking behavior, and social pressure make it very difficult to say no. This leads most teenagers to the questions: "Will it hurt to try once?" Nowadays, technological advances are changing our lives very rapidly and adding a lot of technologies that help us to track the risk of drug abuse such as smart phones, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), Internet of Things (IoT), etc. This technique may help us to early discovery of drug abuse in order to prevent an aggravation of the influence of drugs on the abuser. In this paper, we have developed a Decision Support System (DSS) for detecting the drug abuse using Artificial Neural Network (ANN); we used a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) feed-forward neural network in developing the system. The input layer includes 50 variables while the output layer contains one neuron which indicates whether the person is a drug addict. An iterative process is used to determine the number of hidden layers and the number of neurons in each one. We used multiple experiment models that have been completed with Log-Sigmoid transfer function. Particularly, 10-fold cross validation schemes are used to access the generalization of the proposed system. The experiment results have obtained 98.42% classification accuracy for correct diagnosis in our system. The data had been taken from 184 cases in Jordan according to a set of questions compiled from Specialists, and data have been obtained through the families of drug abusers.

Keywords: drug addiction, artificial neural networks, multilayer perceptron (MLP), decision support system

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Authors: Monika Patel, Kazuaki Matsumura

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Synthetic hydrogels, with their unique properties such as porosity, strength, and swelling in aqueous environment, are being used in many fields from food additives to regenerative medicines, from diagnostic and pharmaceuticals to drug delivery systems (DDS). But, hydrogels also have some limitations in terms of homogeneity of drug distribution and quantity of loaded drugs. As an alternate, polymeric micelles are extensively used as DDS. With the ease of self-assembly, and distinct stability they remarkably improve the solubility of hydrophobic drugs. However, presently, combinational therapy is the need of time and so are systems which are capable of releasing more than one drug. And it is one of the major challenges towards DDS to control the release of each drug independently, which simple DDS cannot meet. In this work, we present an amphiphilic polypeptide based micelle hydrogel composite to study the dual drug release for wound healing purposes using Amphotericin B (AmpB) and Curcumin as model drugs. Firstly, two differently charged amphiphilic polypeptide chains were prepared namely, poly L-Lysine-b-poly phenyl alanine (PLL-PPA) and poly Glutamic acid-b-poly phenyl alanine (PGA-PPA) through ring opening polymerization of amino acid N-carboxyanhydride. These polymers readily self-assemble to form micelles with hydrophobic PPA block as core and hydrophilic PLL/PGA as shell with an average diameter of about 280nm. The thus formed micelles were loaded with the model drugs. The PLL-PPA micelle was loaded with curcumin and PGA-PPA was loaded with AmpB by dialysis method. Drug loaded micelles showed a slight increase in the mean diameter and were fairly stable in solution and lyophilized forms. For forming the micelles hydrogel composite, the drug loaded micelles were dissolved and were cross linked using genipin. Genipin uses the free –NH2 groups in the PLL-PPA micelles to form a hydrogel network with free PGA-PPA micelles trapped in between the 3D scaffold formed. Different composites were tested by changing the weight ratios of the both micelles and were seen to alter its resulting surface charge from positive to negative with increase in PGA-PPA ratio. The composites with high surface charge showed a burst release of drug in initial phase, were as the composites with relatively low net charge showed a sustained release. Thus the resultant surface charge of the composite can be tuned to tune its drug release profile. Also, while studying the degree of cross linking among the PLL-PPA particles for effect on dual drug release, it was seen that as the degree of crosslinking increases, an increase in the tendency to burst release the drug (AmpB) is seen in PGA-PPA particle, were as on the contrary the PLL-PPA particles showed a slower release of Curcumin with increasing the cross linking density. Thus, two different pharmacokinetic profile of drugs were seen by changing the cross linking degree. In conclusion, a unique charged amphiphilic polypeptide based micelle hydrogel composite for dual drug delivery. This composite can be finely tuned on the basis of need of drug release profiles by changing simple parameters such as composition, cross linking and pH.

Keywords: amphiphilic polypeptide, dual drug release, micelle hydrogel composite, tunable DDS

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Authors: Nitin Jadhav, Pradeep R. Vavia

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Poor water soluble drugs are difficult to promote for oral drug delivery as they demonstrate poor and variable bioavailability because of its poor solubility and dissolution in GIT fluid. Nowadays lipid based formulations especially self microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS) is found as the most effective technique. With all the impressive advantages, the need of high amount of surfactant (50% - 80%) is the major drawback of SMEDDS. High concentration of synthetic surfactant is known for irritation in GIT and also interference with the function of intestinal transporters causes changes in drug absorption. Surfactant may also reduce drug activity and subsequently bioavailability due to the enhanced entrapment of drug in micelles. In chronic treatment these issues are very conspicuous due to the long exposure. In addition the liquid self microemulsifying system also suffers from stability issues. Recently one novel approach of solid stabilized micro and nano emulsion (Pickering emulsion) has very admirable properties such as high stability, absence or very less concentration of surfactant and easily converts into the dry form. So here we are exploring pickering dry emulsion system for dissolution enhancement of anti-lipemic, extremely poorly water soluble drug (Fenofibrate). Oil moiety for emulsion preparation was selected mainly on the basis of higher solubility of drug. Captex 300 was showed higher solubility for fenofibrate, hence selected as oil for emulsion. With Silica (solid stabilizer); Span 20 was selected to improve the wetting property of it. Emulsion formed by Silica and Span20 as stabilizer at the ratio 2.5:1 (silica: span 20) was found very stable at the particle size 410 nm. The prepared emulsion was further preceded for spray drying and formed microcapsule evaluated for in-vitro dissolution study, in-vivo pharmacodynamic study and characterized for DSC, XRD, FTIR, SEM, optical microscopy etc. The in vitro study exhibits significant dissolution enhancement of formulation (85 % in 45 minutes) as compared to plain drug (14 % in 45 minutes). In-vivo study (Triton based hyperlipidaemia model) exhibits significant reduction in triglyceride and cholesterol with formulation as compared to plain drug indicating increasing in fenofibrate bioavailability. DSC and XRD study exhibit loss of crystallinity of drug in microcapsule form. FTIR study exhibit chemical stability of fenofibrate. SEM and optical microscopy study exhibit spherical structure of globule coated with solid particles.

Keywords: captex 300, fenofibrate, pickering dry emulsion, silica, span20, stability, surfactant

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Authors: Majid Afkhami, Maryam Ehsanpour

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The present study provides information about the nature of adverse effects on fish and the ecological impact that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollutant are having in the northern coast of Hormuz Strait. The glucose and cholesterol levels were higher in fish from the St3 than in Walton's mudskipper from other stations however St3 samples had lowest total proteins levels. There was a significant positive correlation between glucose and cholesterol with PAHs concentrations in sediment and tissue samples (P<0.05). However, total proteins had adverse significant correlation with PAHs concentrations (P>0.05). The adverse correlation was seen between length and body weight of fish samples with PAHs concentrations. According to the results of this study, the monitoring of contaminants bioaccumulation in the northern part of Hormuz Strait is necessary, because this will give an indication of the temporal and spatial extent of the process, as well as an assessment of the potential impact on aquatic organisms health.

Keywords: PAHs, blood metabolic factors, Periophthalmus waltoni, Hormuz Strait

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Authors: Jai Myung Yang, Na Young Kim, Sung Ho Shin

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The adverse reactions of current live smallpox vaccines and potential use of smallpox as a bioterror weapon have heightened the development of new effective vaccine for this infectious disease. In the present study, DNA vaccine vector was produced which was optimized for expression of the vaccinia virus L1 antigen in the mouse model. A plasmid IgM-tL1R, which contains codon-optimized L1R gene, was constructed and fused with an IgM signal sequence under the regulation of a SV40 enhancer. The expression and secretion of recombinant L1 protein was confirmed in vitro 293 T cell. Mice were administered the DNA vaccine by electroporation and challenged with vaccinia virus. We observed that immunization with IgM-tL1R induced potent neutralizing antibody responses and provided complete protection against lethal vaccinia virus challenge. Isotyping studies reveal that immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) antibody predominated after the immunization, indicative of a T helper type 1 response. Our results suggest that an optimized DNA vaccine, IgM-tL1R, can be effective in stimulating anti-vaccinia virus immune response and provide protection against lethal orthopoxvirus challenge.

Keywords: DNA vaccine, electroporation, L1R, vaccinia virus

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Authors: Maryam Shayani Rad, Seyed Ahmad Mohajeri, Mohsen Mouhebati, Seyed Danial Mousavi

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High blood pressure is one of the most important and serious health-threatening because of no symptoms in most people, which can lead to sudden heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. Nowadays, herbal medicine is one of the best and safest strategies for treatment that have no adverse effects. Apium graveolens (celery) can be used as an alternative treatment for many health conditions such as hypertension. Natural compounds reduce blood pressure via different mechanisms in which Apium graveolens extract provides potent calcium channel blocking properties. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over clinical trial was done to evaluate the efficacy of formulated Apium graveolens extract with a maximum yield of 3-n-butylphthalide to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients with hypertension. 54 hypertensive patients in the range of 20-68 years old were randomly assigned to the treatment group (26 cases) and the placebo control group (26 cases) and were crossed over after washout duration. The treatment group received at least 2 grams of formulated powder in hard capsules orally, before each meal, 2 times daily. The control group received 2 grams of placebo in hard capsules orally, exactly as the same as shape, time, and doses of treatment group. Treatment was administrated in 12 weeks with 4 weeks washout period at the middle of the study, meaning 4 weeks drug consumption for the treatment group, 4 weeks washout and 4 weeks placebo consumption, and vice versa for the placebo control group. The clinical assessment was done 4 times, including at the beginning and ending of the drug and placebo consumption period by 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) holter, which measured blood pressure every 15 minutes continuously. There was a statistically significant decrease in both systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at the end of drug duration compared to baseline. The changes after 4 weeks on average was about 12.34 mm Hg for the SBP (P < 0.005) and 7.83 mm Hg for the DBP (P < 0.005). The results from this clinical trial study showed this Apium graveolens extract formulation in the mentioned dosage had a significant effect on blood pressure-lowering for hypertensive patients.

Keywords: Apium graveolens extract, clinical trial, cross-over, hypertension

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Authors: Li Chen

Abstract:

For an aerofoil or hydrofoil in high Reynolds number flows, broadband noise is generated efficiently as the result of the turbulence convecting over the trailing edge. This noise can be related to the surface pressure fluctuations, which can be predicted by either CFD or empirical models. However, in reality, the aerofoil or hydrofoil often operates at an angle of attack. Under this situation, the flow is subjected to an Adverse-Pressure-Gradient (APG), and as a result, a flow separation may occur. This study is to assess trailing-edge noise models for such flows. In the present work, the trailing-edge noise from a 2D airfoil at 6 degree of angle of attach is investigated. Under this condition, the flow is experiencing a strong APG, and the flow separation occurs. The flow over the airfoil with a chord of 300 mm, equivalent to a Reynold Number 4x10⁵, is simulated using RANS with the SST k-ɛ turbulent model. The predicted surface pressure fluctuations are compared with the published experimental data and empirical models, and show a good agreement with the experimental data. The effect of the APG on the trailing edge noise is discussed, and the associated trailing edge noise is calculated.

Keywords: aero-acoustics, adverse-pressure gradient, computational fluid dynamics, trailing-edge noise

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Authors: Bhupendra G. Prajapati, Alpesh R. Patel

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The aim of this research work is to develop sustained release multi-particulates dosage form of Dexketoprofen trometamol, which is the pharmacologically active isomer of ketoprofen. The objective is to utilization of active enantiomer with minimal dose and administration frequency, extended release multi-particulates dosage form development for better patience compliance was explored. Drug loaded and sustained release coated pellets were prepared by fluidized bed coating principle by wurster coater. Microcrystalline cellulose as core pellets, povidone as binder and talc as anti-tacking agents were selected during drug loading while Kollicoat SR 30D as sustained release polymer, triethyl citrate as plasticizer and micronized talc as an anti-adherent were used in sustained release coating. Binder optimization trial in drug loading showed that there was increase in process efficiency with increase in the binder concentration. 5 and 7.5%w/w concentration of Povidone K30 with respect to drug amount gave more than 90% process efficiency while higher amount of rejects (agglomerates) were observed for drug layering trial batch taken with 7.5% binder. So for drug loading, optimum Povidone concentration was selected as 5% of drug substance quantity since this trial had good process feasibility and good adhesion of the drug onto the MCC pellets. 2% w/w concentration of talc with respect to total drug layering solid mass shows better anti-tacking property to remove unnecessary static charge as well as agglomeration generation during spraying process. Optimized drug loaded pellets were coated for sustained release coating from 16 to 28% w/w coating to get desired drug release profile and results suggested that 22% w/w coating weight gain is necessary to get the required drug release profile. Three critical process parameters of Wurster coating for sustained release were further statistically optimized for desired quality target product profile attributes like agglomerates formation, process efficiency, and drug release profile using central composite design (CCD) by Minitab software. Results show that derived design space consisting 1.0 to 1.2 bar atomization air pressure, 7.8 to 10.0 gm/min spray rate and 29-34°C product bed temperature gave pre-defined drug product quality attributes. Scanning Image microscopy study results were also dictate that optimized batch pellets had very narrow particle size distribution and smooth surface which were ideal properties for reproducible drug release profile. The study also focused on optimized dexketoprofen trometamol pellets formulation retain its quality attributes while administering with common vehicle, a liquid (water) or semisolid food (apple sauce). Conclusion: Sustained release multi-particulates were successfully developed for dexketoprofen trometamol which may be useful to improve acceptability and palatability of a dosage form for better patient compliance.

Keywords: dexketoprofen trometamol, pellets, fluid bed technology, central composite design

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Inês N. Peça , A. Bicho, Rui Gardner, M. Margarida Cardoso

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Inorganic/organic nanocomplexes offer tremendous scope for future biomedical applications, including imaging, disease diagnosis and drug delivery. The combination of Fe3O4 with biocompatible polymers to produce smart drug delivery systems for use in pharmaceutical formulation present a powerful tool to target anti-cancer drugs to specific tumor sites through the application of an external magnetic field. In the present study, we focused on the evaluation of the effect of the magnetic field application time on the rate of drug release from iron oxide polymeric nanoparticles. Doxorubicin, an anticancer drug, was selected as the model drug loaded into the nanoparticles. Nanoparticles composed of poly(d-lactide-co-glycolide (PLGA), a biocompatible polymer already approved by FDA, containing iron oxide nanoparticles (MNP) for magnetic targeting and doxorubicin (DOX) were synthesized by the o/w solvent extraction/evaporation method and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), by dynamic light scattering (DLS), by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry and by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. The produced particles yielded smooth surfaces and spherical shapes exhibiting a size between 400 and 600 nm. The effect of the magnetic doxorubicin loaded PLGA nanoparticles produced on cell viability was investigated in mammalian CHO cell cultures. The results showed that unloaded magnetic PLGA nanoparticles were nontoxic while the magnetic particles without polymeric coating show a high level of toxicity. Concerning the therapeutic activity doxorubicin loaded magnetic particles cause a remarkable enhancement of the cell inhibition rates compared to their non-magnetic counterpart. In vitro drug release studies performed under a non-permanent magnetic field show that the application time and the on/off cycle duration have a great influence with respect to the final amount and to the rate of drug release. In order to determine the mechanism of drug release, the data obtained from the release curves were fitted to the semi-empirical equation of the the Korsmeyer-Peppas model that may be used to describe the Fickian and non-Fickian release behaviour. Doxorubicin release mechanism has shown to be governed mainly by Fickian diffusion. The results obtained show that the rate of drug release from the produced magnetic nanoparticles can be modulated through the magnetic field time application.

Keywords: drug delivery, magnetic nanoparticles, PLGA nanoparticles, controlled release rate

Procedia PDF Downloads 236

Authors: P. S. Jain, K. D. Bobade, S. J. Surana

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A simple, selective, precise and Stability-indicating High-performance thin-layer chromatographic method for analysis of Naftopidil both in a bulk and in pharmaceutical formulation has been developed and validated. The method employed, HPTLC aluminium plates precoated with silica gel as the stationary phase. The solvent system consisted of hexane: ethyl acetate: glacial acetic acid (4:4:2 v/v). The system was found to give compact spot for Naftopidil (Rf value of 0.43±0.02). Densitometric analysis of Naftopidil was carried out in the absorbance mode at 253 nm. The linear regression analysis data for the calibration plots showed good linear relationship with r2=0.999±0.0001 with respect to peak area in the concentration range 200-1200 ng per spot. The method was validated for precision, recovery and robustness. The limits of detection and quantification were 20.35 and 61.68 ng per spot, respectively. Naftopidil was subjected to acid and alkali hydrolysis, oxidation and thermal degradation. The drug undergoes degradation under acidic, basic, oxidation and thermal conditions. This indicates that the drug is susceptible to acid, base, oxidation and thermal conditions. The degraded product was well resolved from the pure drug with significantly different Rf value. Statistical analysis proves that the method is repeatable, selective and accurate for the estimation of investigated drug. The proposed developed HPTLC method can be applied for identification and quantitative determination of Naftopidil in bulk drug and pharmaceutical formulation.

Keywords: naftopidil, HPTLC, validation, stability, degradation

Procedia PDF Downloads 378

Authors: Indu Verma, Santanu Kumar Pal

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Interactions between DNA and adsorbed Poly (L-lysine) (PLL) on liquid crystal (LC) droplets were investigated using polarizing optical microcopy (POM) and epi-fluorescence microscopy. Earlier, we demonstrated that adsorption of PLL to the LC/aqueous interface resulted in homeotropic orientation of the LC and thus exhibited a radial configuration of the LC confined within the droplets. Subsequent adsorption of DNA (single stranded DNA/double stranded DNA) at PLL coated LC droplets was found to trigger a LC reorientation within the droplets leading to pre-radial/bipolar configuration of those droplets. To our surprise, subsequent exposure of complementary ssDNA (c-ssDNA) to ssDNA/ adsorbed PLL modified LC droplets did not cause the LC reorientation. This is likely due to the formation of polyplexes (DNA-PLL complex) as confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and atomic force microscopy. In addition, dsDNA adsorbed PLL droplets have been found to be effectively used to displace (controlled release) propidium iodide (a model drug) encapsulated within dsDNA over time. These observations suggest the potential for a label free droplet based LC detection system that can respond to DNA and may provide a simple method to develop DNA-based drug nano-carriers.

Keywords: DNA biosensor, drug delivery, interfaces, liquid crystal droplets

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Samson F. Agberotimi, Rachel B. Asagba, Choja Oduaran

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Disturbing rate of use of different substances such as cannabis, alcohol, as well as pharmaceutical drugs among Nigerian youth in recent times has been affirmed in the literature. There is, however, a paucity of literature addressing the pattern of usage of such drugs, especially for clinical relevance and intervention planning. The present study investigated the prevalence and pattern of drug usage among youth in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey involving 92 purposively selected participants comprising of 82 males and 10 females aged between 15 and 24 years was conducted. A measure of drug involvement and demographic characteristics was administered to the participants. Descriptive analysis was done using the SPSS v.21. Cannabis (79.4%), alcohol (77.2%), codeine (70.7%), tobacco (65.2%) and tramadol (47.8%) are the five most frequently used substances. However, the majority of the users of tobacco (68.3%) and alcohol (62.0%) are casual users indicating a mild level of use of the substances among the participants. On the other hand, 49.2% of the codeine users, 27.3% of the tramadol users, and 21.9% of the cannabis users reported harmful/intensive levels of use. Furthermore, the results revealed individuals at the pathological level of use as 28.8% for cannabis, 25.0% for tramadol, and 21.6% for codeine, and thus require clinical/therapeutic intervention. In conclusion, cannabis remains the most frequently used substance among youths. However, there appears to be a shift from the use of conventional psychoactive substances to pharmaceutical/prescription drugs such as codeine and tramadol. The findings of this study raised the need for both preventive and therapeutic interventions addressing the problem of substance use disorder among youth in contemporary society.

Keywords: Ogbomoso, pattern of drug use, prevalence of drug use, youth

Procedia PDF Downloads 136

Authors: Nizar Jawad Hadi, Sajad Abd Alabbas

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Because of their ability to encapsulate and release drugs in a controlled manner, microspheres fabricated from polymer emulsions using microfluidic devices have shown promise for drug delivery applications. In this study, the effects of velocity, density, viscosity, and surface tension, as well as channel diameter, on microsphere generation were investigated using Fluent Ansys software. The software was programmed with the physical properties of the polymer emulsion such as density, viscosity and surface tension. Simulation will then be performed to predict fluid flow and microsphere production and improve the design of drug delivery applications based on changes in these parameters. The effects of capillary and Weber numbers are also studied. The results of the study showed that the size of the microspheres can be controlled by adjusting the speed and diameter of the channel. Narrower microspheres resulted from narrower channel widths and higher flow rates, which could improve drug delivery efficiency, while smaller microspheres resulted from lower interfacial surface tension. The viscosity and density of the polymer emulsion significantly affected the size of the microspheres, ith higher viscosities and densities producing smaller microspheres. The loading and drug release properties of the microspheres created with the microfluidic technique were also predicted. The results showed that the microspheres can efficiently encapsulate drugs and release them in a controlled manner over a period of time. This is due to the high surface area to volume ratio of the microspheres, which allows for efficient drug diffusion. The ability to tune the manufacturing process using factors such as speed, density, viscosity, channel diameter, and surface tension offers a potential opportunity to design drug delivery systems with greater efficiency and fewer side effects.

Keywords: polymer emulsion, microspheres, numerical simulation, microfluidic device

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