Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in which there is an insufficient production of insulin by the pancreas, or the insulin produced is unable to be utilized effectively by the body. Diabetes affects more than 415 million people globally and is estimated to strike about 642 million people in 2040. The WHO reported that diabetes will become the seventh biggest cause of mortality in 2030. Insulin injection and oral hypoglycemic agents remain the primary treatments in diabetes management. These often present with poor patient compliance. However, over the last decade, transdermal systems in diabetes management have gained increasing attention and emerged as a potential hope in diabetes management owing to the advantages that they offer as compared to invasive injection and oral dosage forms. This review presents the recent advances and developments in transdermal research to achieve better diabetes management. Different technologies and approaches have been explored and applied to the transdermal systems to optimize diabetes management. Studies have shown that these transdermal systems demonstrate higher bioavailability compared to oral administration due to the avoidance of first-pass hepatic metabolism and a sustained drug release pattern. Besides that, transdermal systems have the advantage of reducing dosing frequency as drugs are released at a predetermined rate and control blood glucose level over a prolonged time, contributing to better patient compliance. In summary, the transdermal system is a field worth exploring due to its significant advantages over oral route in administration of antidiabetic drugs and biosensing of blood glucose level to ensure better clinical outcomes in diabetes management.

Background: Paclitaxel (PTX) is a widely used anti-cancer drug for treating various types of solid malignant tumors including breast, ovarian and lung cancers. However, PTX has a low therapeutic response and is linked with acquired resistance, as well as a high incidence of adverse events, such as allergic reactions, neurotoxicity and myelosuppression. The situation is compounded when its complex chemical structure contributes towards hydrophobicity, shortening its circulation time in blood, causing off-target effects and limiting its therapeutic activity against cancer cells. Formulating a smart nano-carrier may overcome the solubility and toxicity issues of the drug and enable its more selective delivery to the cancerous cells. Among the nano-carriers, natural polymers are of great importance due to their excellent biodegradability, non-toxicity and good accessibility. The aim of the present research is to develop self-assembled sodium caseinate nanomicelles (NaCNs) with PTX loaded into the hydrophobic core of NaCNs for effective uptake of the drug in cancer cells and its subsequent intracellular release. Methods: The PTX-loaded micelle was characterized with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectra (FTIR), High Resolution-Transmission Electron Microscope (HR-TEM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX). Following treatment with PTX-loaded NaCNs, cell viability, cellular uptake and morphological changes were analyzed using MCF-7 and MDA-MB 231 human breast cancer cell lines. Results: We found that PTX-loaded NaCNs efficiently released PTX in an acidic tumor environment, while showing an enhanced cytotoxicity, cellular uptake and in-vivo anti-tumor efficacy in a mouse model of breast cancer when compared to free drug and blank micelles. Additionally, the nanomicelles also presented improved colloidal stability for three months at 4 °C and −20 °C and when placed at a temperature of 37 °C. Conclusions: We conclude that the newly developed NaCNs is a promising carrier of PTX to enhance tumor accumulation of the drug while addressing its toxicity issues as well.

Introduction: The use of alcohol as an excipient in pharmaceutical preparations raises safety concerns, especially when used in high concentration. This study aims to scrutinize the ethanol concentration in traditional herbal cough syrups available over-the-counter (OTC) in Malaysia. Method: Enzymatic analysis was adopted to estimate the alcohol contents of five selected syrups. The principle reaction involved ethanol oxidation by nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NAD) in the presence of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), forming acetaldehyde, reduced NAD (NADH) and a proton. The ethanol concentration of each syrup was quantitatively determined by detecting NADH using UV spectrophotometry at detection wavelength of 340 nm. Results: The ethanol percentage by volume (% v/v) in the tested syrups ranges from 0.102% to 2.576%. All five syrups studied comply with the FDA requirement for drugs for adults and children >6 years since they do not contain more than 5% ethanol. However, three syrups do not fulfil the requirement for use in children 3 years. In terms of safety, all studied syrups fulfil European Medicine Agency's (EMA) recommendation as they will not induce a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) higher than 0.125g/L after a single dose. Nevertheless, none of these syrups comply with Malaysian Drug Registration Guidance on labelling requirements as they do not disclose their alcohol contents on the packaging. Conclusion: More rigorous regulation on alcohol content in herbal preparations, and disclosure of alcohol content in product packagings should be enforced.

Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a well-studied biodegradable polymer used in drug delivery and other medical applications such as in tissue regeneration. It is often necessary to impart porosity within the scaffold (microparticles) in order to promote the growth of tissue during the regeneration process. Sodium chloride and ammonium bicarbonate have been extensively used as porogens in the generation of porous microstructure. In this study, we compared the effect of volumes (250 μl, 500 μl and 750 μl) of two porogens, sodium chloride (1.71 M) and ammonium bicarbonate (1.71 M), on the porosity of PLGA microparticles.