Background/Objectives: With advancements in biomaterial sciences, biofunctional excipients have emerged to focus on solving issues with the drugs’ inherent biopharmaceutical characteristics such as poor solubility, permeability, in vivo dissolution, and effective targeting. These advanced excipients significantly impact drug solubility, dissolution rates, absorption rates, permeation rates, penetration ability, targeting ability, and pharmacokinetic profiles. Methods: A literature review of recently published articles was prepared. Data were collected using scientific search engines. This review provided a detailed discussion of various biofunctional excipients including smart polymers, targeted polymers, bioadhesive polymers, lipids, amino acids, cyclodextrins, and biosurfactants. Each category was discussed in detail concerning its biofunctional applications, the mechanisms underlying these biofunctions, and examples of their effects on drug performance. Results: The data obtained indicated that the rapid advances in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical excipients have resulted in the development of a diverse array of smart or intelligent excipients that play a crucial role in enhancing inherent poor biopharmaceutical characteristics. Conclusions: These advancements have also facilitated the development of various drug delivery systems, including immediate, controlled, sustained, and targeted drug release systems. Also, numerous nano-based delivery systems have emerged utilizing the newly produced excipients.

Background: Acute lung injury (ALI) is a severe condition distinguished by inflammation and impaired gas exchange in the lungs. Staphylococcus Aureus, a common bacterium, can cause ALI through its virulence factors. Aloe vera is a medicinal plant that has been traditionally used to treat a variety of illnesses due to its anti-inflammatory properties. Chitosan nanoparticles is biocompatible and totally biodegradable material have shown potential in drug delivery systems. Aim: To explore antibacterial activity of Aloe vera-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (AV-CS-NPs) against S. aureus in vitro and in vivo with advanced techniques. Methods: The antibacterial efficacy of AV-CS-NPs was evaluated through a broth microdilution assay. Additionally, the impact of AV-CS-NPs on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)-induced ALI in rats was examined by analyzing the expression of genes linked to inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Furthermore, rat lung tissue was scanned histologically. The rats were divided into three groups: control, ALI, and treatment with AV-CS-NPs. Results: The AV-CS-NPs that were prepared exhibited clustered semispherical and spherical forms, having an average particle size of approximately 60 nm. These nanoparticles displayed a diverse structure with an uneven distribution of particle sizes. The maximum entrapment efficiency of 95.5%±1.25 was achieved. The obtained findings revealed that The MIC and MBC values were determined to be 5 and 10 ug/mL, respectively, indicating the potent bactericidal effect of the nanoparticles. Also, S. aureus infected rats explored upregulation in the mRNA expression of TLR2 and TLR4 compared to healthy control groups. AV-CS-NPs treatment reverses the case where there was repression in mRNA expression of TLR2 and TLR4 compared to S. aureus-treated rats. Conclusion: These nanoparticles can serve as potential candidates for the development of alternative antimicrobial agents.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is one of the most common chronic diseases that affect the entire gastrointestinal tract (GIT) especially the colon. Its symptoms extend from mild diarrhea, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea to severe conditions which affect the quality of life. Many treatments have been developed to treat and cure IBD and to improve patient’s quality of life. The big challenge faces the newly developed treatments is the site of action as the colon presents at the distal end of the GIT and have a complex biological environment. Many technologies have been investigated to target the colon, load higher amounts of active ingredients, and decrease unwanted side effects resulted from upper GIT absorption. This review briefly discusses the IBD, treatment lines, physiological considerations, and all methods of colon targeting technologies starting from the traditional methods which based on pH, time, and microbial content of the colon. Also, we discussed in detail all new techniques based on Micro and Nanotechnology which improve the effectiveness of used therapeutics.