Natural polymers are revolutionizing current pharmaceutical dosage forms design as excipient and gained huge importance because of significant influence in formulation development and drug delivery. Oral health refers to the health of the teeth, gums, and the entire oral-facial system that allows us to smile, speak, and chew. Since years, biopolymers stand out due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, low toxicity, and stability. Polysaccharides such as cellulose and their derivatives possess properties like novel mechanical robustness and hydrophilicity that can be easily fabricated into controlled-release dosage forms. Cellulose attracts the dosage design attention because of constant drug release rate from the precursor nanoparticles. This review discusses the origin, extraction, preparation of cellulose derivatives and their use in formulation development of nanoparticles having multidisciplinary applications as pharmaceutical excipient and in drug delivery, as bacterial and plant cellulose have great potential for application in the biomedical area, including dentistry, protein and peptide delivery, colorectal cancer treatment, and in 3D printable dosage forms.

The present work aimed to develop nanoparticles of tobramycin (TRM) using thiolated chitosan (TCS) in order to improve the mucoadhesion, antibacterial effect and pharmacokinetics. The nanoparticles were evaluated for their compatibility, thermal stability, particle size, zeta potential, mucoadhesion, drug release, kinetics of TRM release, corneal permeation, toxicity and ocular irritation. The thiolation of chitosan was confirmed by ¹H NMR and FTIR, which showed peaks at 6.6 ppm and 1230 cm⁻¹, respectively. The nanoparticles had a diameter of 73 nm, a negative zeta potential (−21 mV) and a polydispersity index of 0.15. The optimized formulation, NT8, exhibited the highest values of mucoadhesion (7.8 ± 0.541h), drug loading (87.45 ± 1.309%), entrapment efficiency (92.34 ± 2.671%), TRM release (>90%) and corneal permeation (85.56%). The release pattern of TRM from the developed formulations was fickian diffusion. TRM-loaded nanoparticles showed good antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The optimized formulation NT8 (0.1% TRM) greatly increased the AUC_(0-∞) (1.5-fold) while significantly reducing the clearance (5-fold) compared to 0.3% TRM. Pharmacokinetic parameters indicated improved ocular retention and bioavailability of TRM loaded nanoparticles. Our study demonstrated that the TRM-loaded nanoparticles had improved mucoadhesion and pharmacokinetics and a suitable candidate for effective treatment of ocular bacterial infections.

Candidiasis is one of the frequently encountered opportunistic infections in the oral cavity and can be found in acute and chronic presentations. The study aimed to develop fluconazole-loaded sesame oil containing nanotransfersomes (FS-NTF) by the thin-layer evaporation technique to improve the local treatment of oral candidiasis. Optimization of the formulation was performed using the Box‒Behnken statistical design to determine the variable parameters that influence the vesicle size, entrapment efficiency, zone of inhibition, and ulcer index. Finally, the formulated FS-NTF was embedded within the hyaluronic acid‒based hydrogel (HA-FS-NTF). The rheological behavior of the optimized HA-FS-NTF was assessed and the thixotropic behavior with the pseudoplastic flow was recorded; this is desirable for an oral application. An in vitro release study revealed the rapid release of fluconazole from the HA-FS-NTF. This was significantly higher when compared with the fluconazole suspension and hyaluronic acid hydrogel containing fluconazole. Correspondingly, the ex vivo permeation was also found to be higher in HA-FS-NTF in sheep buccal mucosa (400 μg/cm²) when compared with the fluconazole suspension (122 μg/cm²) and hyaluronic acid hydrogel (294 μg/cm²). The optimized formulation had an inhibition zone of 14.33 ± 0.76 mm and enhanced antifungal efficacy for the ulcer index (0.67 ± 0.29) in immunocompromised animals with Candida infection; these findings were superior to those of other tested formulations. Hence, it can be summarized that fluconazole can effectively be delivered for the treatment of oral candidiasis when it is entrapped in a nanotransfersome carrier and embedded into cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogel.

Oral health is a key contributor to a person’s overall health and well-being. Oral microbiota can pose a serious threat to oral health. Thus, the present study aimed to develop a cinnamon oil (CO)-loaded nanoemulsion gel (NEG1) to enhance the solubilization of oil within the oral cavity, which will enhance its antibacterial, antifungal, and analgesic actions against oral microbiota. For this purpose, the CO-loaded nanoemulsion (CO-NE) was optimized using I-optimal response surface design. A mixture of Pluracare L44 and PlurolOleique CC 497 was used as the surfactant and Capryol was used as the co-surfactant. The optimized CO-NE had a globule size of 92 ± 3 nm, stability index of 95% ± 2%, and a zone of inhibition of 23 ± 1.5 mm. This optimized CO-NE formulation was converted into NEG1 using 2.5% hydroxypropyl cellulose as the gelling agent. The rheological characterizations revealed that the NEG1 formulation exhibited pseudoplastic behavior. The in vitro release of eugenol (the marker molecule for CO) from NEG1 showed an enhanced release compared with that of pure CO. The ex vivo mucosal permeation was found to be highest for NEG1 compared to the aqueous dispersion of CO-NE and pure cinnamon oil. The latency reaction time during the hot-plate test in rats was highest (45 min) for the NEG1 sample at all-time points compared with those of the other tested formulations. The results showed that the CO-NEG formulation could be beneficial in enhancing the actions of CO against oral microbiota, as well as relieving pain and improving overall oral health.

Tofacitinib is an antirheumatic drug characterized by a short half-life and poor permeability, which necessitates the development of sustained release formulation with enhanced permeability potential. To achieve this goal, the free radical polymerization technique was employed to develop mucin/chitosan copolymer methacrylic acid (MU-CHI-Co-Poly (MAA))-based hydrogel microparticles. The developed hydrogel microparticles were characterized for EDX, FTIR, DSC, TGA, X-ray diffraction, SEM, drug loading; equilibrium swelling (%), in vitro drug release, sol–gel (%) studies, size and zeta potential, permeation, anti-arthritic activities, and acute oral toxicity studies. FTIR studies revealed the incorporation of the ingredients into the polymeric network, while EDX studies depicted the successful loading of tofacitinib into the network. The thermal analysis confirmed the heat stability of the system. SEM analysis displayed the porous structure of the hydrogels. Gel fraction showed an increasing tendency (74–98%) upon increasing the concentrations of the formulation ingredients. Formulations coated with Eudragit (2% w/w) and sodium lauryl sulfate (1% w/v) showed increased permeability. The formulations equilibrium swelling (%) increased (78–93%) at pH 7.4. Maximum drug loading and release (%) of (55.62–80.52%) and (78.02–90.56%), respectively, were noticed at pH 7.4, where the developed microparticles followed zero-order kinetics with case II transport. Anti-inflammatory studies revealed a significant dose-dependent decrease in paw edema in the rats. Oral toxicity studies confirmed the biocompatibility and non-toxicity of the formulated network. Thus, the developed pH-responsive hydrogel microparticles seem to have the potential to enhance permeability and control the delivery of tofacitinib for the management of rheumatoid arthritis.

The genus Cotula (Asteraceae) comprises about 80 species, amongst them Cotula anthemoides L. It is a wild plant growing in Egypt that possesses many traditional uses as a headache, colic, and chest cold remedy. In our study, the chemical composition of C. anthemoides essential oils was analyzed using GC-MS spectroscopy. Sixteen components of leave and stem oils and thirteen components of flower oils were characterized. The main components in both essential oil parts were camphor (88.79% and 86.45%) and trans-thujone (5.14% and 10.40%) in the leaves and stems and the flowers, respectively. The anti-inflammatory activity of the oils in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells was evaluated. The flower oil showed its predominant effect in the amelioration of proinflammatory cytokines and tumor necrosis factor-α, as well as cyclooxygenase-2. The bornyl acetate showed the highest affinity for the cyclooxygenase-2 receptor, while compound cis-p-menth-2-ene-1-ol had the best affinity for the tumor necrosis factor receptor, according to the results of molecular docking. In addition, the molecule cis-β-farnesene showed promising dual affinity for both studied receptors. Our findings show that essential oils from C. anthemoides have anti-inflammatory properties through their control over the generation of inflammatory mediators. These findings suggest that C. anthemoides essential oils could lead to the discovery of novel sources of anti-inflammatory treatments.