Spironolactone (SL) is a US Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for the treatment of hypertension and various edematous conditions. SL has gained a lot of attention for treating androgenic alopecia due to its potent antiandrogenic properties. Recently, there has been growing interest for follicular targeting of drug molecules for treatment of hair and scalp disorders using nanocolloidal lipid-based delivery systems to minimize unnecessary systemic side effects associated with oral drug administration. Accordingly, the objective of this study is to improve SL efficiency and safety in treating alopecia through the preparation of colloidal nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) for follicular drug delivery. SL-loaded NLCs were prepared by an emulsion solvent diffusion and evaporation method using 2³ full factorial design. All of the prepared formulations were spherical in shape with nanometric size range (215.6–834.3 nm) and entrapment efficiency >74%. Differential scanning calorimetry thermograms and X-ray diffractograms revealed that SL exists in amorphous form within the NLC matrices. The drug release behavior from the NLCs displayed an initial burst release phase followed by sustained release of SL. Confocal laser scanning microscopy confirmed the potential of delivering the fluorolabeled NLCs within the follicles, suggesting the possibility of using SL-loaded NLCs for localized delivery of SL into the scalp hair follicles.

The shift in the pharmacist's role from simply dispensing medications to effective delivery of pharmaceutical care interventions and drug therapy management has influenced pharmacy education.(1-3) The educational focus has shifted from basic sciences to clinical and integrated courses that require incorporating active-learning strategies to provide pharmacy graduates with higher levels of competencies and specialized skills. As opposed to passive didactic lectures, active-learning strategies address the educational content in an interactive learning environment to develop interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills needed by pharmacists to function effectively in their new roles.(4-6) One such strategy is using educational games. The aim of this paper is to review educational games adopted in different pharmacy schools and to aid educators in replicating the successfully implemented games and overcoming deficiencies in educational games. This review also highlights the main pitfalls within this research area.

To circumvent the low and erratic absorption of orally administrated cinnarizine (CN), intranasal lyophilized gels containing unsaturated fatty acid liposomes (ufasomes) and encapsulating CN were prepared from oleic acid using a simple assembling strategy. The effects of varying drug concentration and cholesterol percentage on ufasomes size, polydispersity index and entrapment efficiency were investigated using 3¹4¹ full factorial design. The optimized ufasomes that contained 14% cholesterol relative to oleic acid displayed spherical morphology with average size of 788 nm and entrapment efficiency of 80.49%. To overcome the colloidal instability of CN-loaded ufasomes dispersions and their short residence time in the nasal cavity, the ufasomes were incorporated into mucoadhesive hydrogels that were lyophilized into unit dosage forms for accurate dosing. Scanning electron micrographs of the lyophilized gel revealed that the included ufasomes were intact, non-aggregating and maintained their spherical morphology. Rheological characterization of reconstituted ufasomal lyophilized gel ensured ease of application. Furthermore, the gel induced minor histopathological alterations in sheeps’ nasal mucosa. Ex-vivo confocal laser imaging confirmed the ability of ufasomes to penetrate deep through nasal mucosa layers. The results highlighted in the current work confirm the feasibility of using CN-loaded ufasomal gels for intranasal drug delivery.