Oral cancer is emerging as a major cause of mortality globally. Oral cancer occupies a significant proportion of the head and neck, including the cheeks, tongue, and oral cavity. Conventional methods in the treatment of cancer involve surgery, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, and these have not proven to completely eradicate cancerous cells, may lead to the reoccurrence of oral cancer, and possess numerous adverse side effects. Advancements in novel drug delivery approaches have gained popularity in cancer management with an increase in the number of cases associated with oral cancer. Natural products are potent sources for drug discovery, especially for anticancer drugs. Natural product delivery has major challenges due to its low solubility, poor absorption, inappropriate size, instability, poor permeation, and first-pass metabolism. Therefore, it is of prime importance to investigate novel treatment approaches for the delivery of bioactive natural products. Nanotechnology is an advanced method of delivering cancer therapy with minimal damage to normal cells while targeting cancer cells. Therefore, the present review elaborates on the advancements in novel strategies for natural product delivery that lead to the significant enhancement of bioavailability, in vivo activity, and fewer adverse events for the prevention and treatment of oral cancer. Various approaches to accomplish the desired results involve size reduction, surface property modification, and polymer attachment, which collectively result in the higher stability of the formulation.

Introduction: Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) have been investigated for their therapeutic potential in Parkinson’s disease (PD) due to their potent and regenerative antioxidant activity. In the present study, CONPs were used to ameliorate the oxidative stress caused by free radicals in haloperidol-induced PD in rats following intranasal administration.Method: The antioxidant potential of the CONPs was evaluated in vitro using ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. The penetration and local toxicity of the CONPs was evaluated ex-vivo using goat nasal mucosa. The acute local toxicity of intranasal CONPs was also studied in rat. Gamma scintigraphy was used to assess the targeted brain delivery of CONPs. Acute toxicity studies were performed in rats to demonstrate safety of intranasal CONPs. Further, open field test, pole test, biochemical estimations and brain histopathology was performed to evaluate efficacy of intranasal CONPs in haloperidol-induced PD rat model.Results: The FRAP assay revealed highest antioxidant activity of prepared CONPs at a concentration of 25 μg/mL. Confocal microscopy showed deep and homogenous distribution of CONPs in the goat nasal mucus layers. No signs of irritation or injury were seen in goat nasal membrane when treated with optimized CONPs. Scintigraphy studies in rats showed targeted brain delivery of intranasal CONPs and acute toxicity study demonstrated safety. The results of open field and pole test showed highly significant (p < 0.001) improvement in locomotor activity of rats treated with intranasal CONPs compared to untreated rats. Further, brain histopathology of treatment group rats showed reduced neurodegeneration with presence of more live cells. The amount of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was reduced significantly, whereas the levels of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and GSH were increased significantly, while amounts of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) showed significant reduction after intranasal administration of CONPs. Also, the intranasal CONPs, significantly high (p < 0.001) dopamine concentration (13.93 ± 0.85 ng/mg protein) as compared to haloperidol-induced control rats (5.76 ± 0.70 ng/mg protein).Conclusion: The overall results concluded that the intranasal CONPs could be safe and effective therapeutics for the management of PD.

In the present study we investigated the protective role of intranasal rosuvastatin liquid crystalline nanoparticles (Ros-LCNPs) against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced seizures, increasing current electroshock (ICES) induced seizures, and PTZ-induced status epilepticus. From the dose titration study, it was evident that intranasal rosuvastatin (ROS), at lower dose, was more effective than oral and intraperitoneal ROS. The Ros-LCNPs equivalent to 5 mg/kg ROS were developed by hydrotrope method using glyceryl monooleate (GMO) as lipid phase. The high resolution TEM revealed that the formed Ros-LCNPs were cubic shaped and multivesicular with mean size of 219.15 ± 8.14 nm. The Ros-LCNPs showed entrapment efficiency of 70.30 ± 1.84% and release was found to be biphasic following Korsmeyer–Peppas kinetics. Intranasal Ros-LCNPs (5 mg/kg) showed significant increase in latency to PTZ-induced seizures and ICES seizure threshold compared to control and intranasal ROS solution. Additionally, intranasal Ros-LCNPs provided effective protection against PTZ-induced status epilepticus. No impairment in cognitive functions was observed following intranasal Ros-LCNPs. The results suggested that Ros-LCNPs could be an effective and promising therapeutics for the epilepsy management.

The oil of the Unani medicinal herb Baboona (Matricaria chamomilla) has shown potential in the management of pain. However, predicaments such as poor skin penetration, skin sensitization, liable to degradation, and volatile nature restrict its use. Therefore, our group for the first time has developed a carrier-based delivery system to facilitate the direct application of chamomile oil to the forehead. The developed nanogel was characterized for physical parameters such as compatibility, TEM, and stability studies. Further, it was also evaluated for pH, viscosity, spread ability, and extrudability, as well as through texture analyses, in vitro studies, and skin irritation tests. The formulation was successfully developed with all the necessary attributes. The in vitro studies revealed the enhanced skin penetration of chamomile oil nanogel. The in vivo studies were also performed in chemically induced pain models, mimicking migraine. The studies show significant improvement of the pain threshold for chamomile nanogel when compared to the positive control group and the results were comparable to marketed diclofenac formulations. Finally, the encapsulation into nanogel reduced the skin irritation property. The nanogel formulation showed promising effects in the pain management of migraine.