Cardiovascular diseases, like atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases affecting the central nervous system (CNS) are closely linked to alterations of cholesterol metabolism. Therefore, innovative pharmacological approaches aiming at counteracting cholesterol imbalance display promising therapeutic potential. However, these approaches need to take into account the existence of biological barriers such as intestinal and blood-brain barriers which participate in the organ homeostasis and are major defense systems against xenobiotics. Interest in cyclodextrins (CDs) as medicinal agents has increased continuously based on their ability to actively extract lipids from cell membranes and to provide suitable carrier system for drug delivery. Many novel CD derivatives are constantly generated with the objective to improve CD bioavailability, biocompatibility and therapeutic outcomes. Newly designed drug formulation complexes incorporating CDs as drug carriers have demonstrated better efficiency in treating cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. CD-based therapies as cholesterol-sequestrating agent have recently demonstrated promising advances with KLEPTOSE^® CRYSMEB in atherosclerosis as well as with the 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) in clinical trials for Niemann-Pick type C disease. Based on this success, many investigations evaluating the therapeutical beneficial of CDs in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases are currently on-going.

During the past twenty years, cyclodextrins (CDs) have proven to be very effective in aqueous biphasic catalysis. They could act as molecular receptors for numerous organic substrates and favour their conversion at the aqueous/organic interface. Recently, new applications have been found for CDs in aqueous catalysis. CDs can now be defined as polyfunctional entities between the substrate-containing phase and the catalyst-containing phase. In this paper, we highlight the latest breakthroughs in the use of CDs in catalysis through several examples from the literature.

During these last years, cyclodextrins have greatly contributed to the development of catalytic processes in water. These cyclic oligosaccharides composed of 6(α), 7(β) or 8(γ) glucopyranose units improve the mass transfer in aqueous-organic two-phase systems and are useful compounds to design new catalysts. Thus, chemically modified cyclodextrins can be used to: (1) significantly increase the rate and selectivity of reactions catalyzed by water-soluble organometallic complexes; (2) design new water-soluble ligands for aqueous organometallic catalysis; (3) stabilize catalytically active noble metal nanoparticles in water; (4) facilitate reactions catalyzed by supported metals or metallic powder in water.

Cyclodextrins (CDs) can be envisaged to cure some diseases related to the brain, but the behavior of these compounds toward the blood-brain barrier (BBB) remains largely unexplored to envisage such clinical applications. To fulfill this gap, the toxicity and endothelial permeability for native, methylated, and hydroxypropylated α-, β-, and γ-CDs have been studied on an in vitro model of BBB. As shown by the endothelial permeability for sucrose and immunofluorescence stainings, the native CDs are the most toxic CDs (α- > β- > γ-CD). Whereas the chemical modification of β-CD did not affect the toxicity of this CD, differences are observed for the α- and γ-CD. To determine the origin of toxicity, lipid effluxes on the brain capillary endothelial cells were performed in the presence of native CDs. It was found that α-CD removed phospholipids and that β-CD extracted phospholipids and cholesterol. γ-CD was less lipid-selective than the other CDs. Finally, the endothelial permeability of each CD has been determined. Surprisingly, no structure/permeability relationship has been observed according to the nature and chemical modifications of CDs.

Among the most widespread starch derivatives, etherified and esterified starches play an important role. These derivatives are generally prepared by using thermal energy and conventional solvents. This review summarizes the recent advancements in the etherification and esterification of starch in unconventional media, i.e. ionic liquids or supercritical CO₂, and by employing unconventional technologies, i.e. microwaves, ultrasounds or ball-milling. The present contribution aims to provide an overview to help researchers seeking an alternative medium or technology to functionalize starch. The green aspects of unconventional approaches are presented and the physical-chemical properties of modified starches obtained by these approaches are also described. Whenever possible, the advantages and disadvantages of each system are discussed. Finally, even if it is not always mentioned in the publications, the use of these experimental conditions probably leads to a partial degradation of the starch molecular structure.