Quercetin (Q) and rutin (R) are well known and most studied flavonoids due to their activities in reduction of inflammation, oxidative damage, platelet aggregation and inhibition of cancer proliferation. Despite their remarkable potentials they have limited oral bioavailability due to the low water solubility. Therefore in this study inclusion complexes of Q and R with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) were formulated to improve the aqueous solubility, antiproliferative efficacy and also antioxidant activity of the flavonoids. According to the analyses results, aqueous solubilities of Q and R were increased up to ∼630 fold and ∼55 fold, respectively. ZP values were ranged between -21.7±0.3 mV and -6.1±0.8 mV showing the anionic structure of the complexes. ¹H-NMR analyses revealed the complex formation considering the shifts of the protons of the APIs as well as HP-β-CD. The in vitro release analyses revealed that the cumulative release of Q was decreased from 22.9 % to 18.1 and 15.2 for T9 and T 24 formulations respectively while the cumulative release of R increased from 26.8 % up to 64.5 % and 75.8 % with T14 and T24 formulations respectively. According MTT analyses results, Q showed higher antiproliferative effect in MDA-MB-231 and A549 cell lines compared to NIH-3T3 cell lines while R showed remarkable effect only on MDA-MB-231 cell lines at the end of 48 h of incubation period. A synergistic effect was observed in the formulation of combined flavonoid (Q/R) inclusion complexes and an antiproliferative effect was ordered as MDA-MB-231 > A549 > NIH-3T3. The selected complexes T9 (Q), T14 (R) and T24 (Q/R) have shown the highest antioxidant activity with 93.8 %, 65.3 % and 93.1 % respectively with DPPH analyses. In conclusion incoporation of Q, R and Q/R to HP-β-CD based inclusion complexes have great potentials with enhanced in vitro dissolution characteristics and antiproliferative effects on different types of cancer cell lines for efficient treatment of severe disorders.

The aim of the present study was to formulate levocetirizine hydrochloride (LCD)-loaded chitosan nanoparticles at submicron level with high entrapment efficiency and prolonged effect for optimizing the plasma drug concentration enhancing bioavailability. LCD was successfully incorporated into chitosan nanoparticles by spray drying for the purpose of oral application. In vitro characteristics were evaluated in detail. LCD was successfully loaded into the polymeric matrices by spray drying. Characterization of the nanoparticles including encapsulation efficiency, particle size, zeta potential, morphology, polydispersity index, solid-state characterizations, and LCD quantification by high performance liquid chromatography was performed. The release pattern of LCD from the nanoparticles was determined using a dialysis tube in simulated intestinal fluid (pH 6.8). In vitro release profiles indicated prolonged release of LCD from the nanoparticles that followed the Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetic model. Chitosan-based LCD-loaded polymeric nanoparticles appear to be a promising drug delivery system for the active agent.

Clarithromycin (CLR) is a member of the macrolide antibiotic group. CLR has low systemic oral bioavailability and is a drug of class II of the Biopharmaceutical Classification System. In many studies, using nanoparticles (NPs) as a drug delivery system has been shown to increase the effectiveness and bioavailability of active drug substances. This study describes the development and evaluation of poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs and chitosan (CS)-coated PLGA NPs for oral delivery of CLR. NPs were obtained by nanoprecipitation technique and characterized in detail, and the effect of three molecular weights (M_w1: 7.000–17.000, M_w2: 38.000–54.000, M_w3: 50.000–190.000) of PLGA and CS coating on particle size (PS), zeta potential (ZP), entrapment efficiency (EE%), and release properties etc. were elucidated. Gastrointestinal stability and cryoprotectant effect tests were performed on the NPs. The PS of the prepared NPs were in the range of 178 to 578 nm and they were affected by the M_w and CS coating. In surface-modified formulations with CS, the ZP of the NPs increased significantly to positive values. EE% varied from 62% to 85%, depending upon the M_w and CS coating. In vitro release studies of CLR-loaded NPs showed an extended release up to 144 h. Peppas–Sahlin and Weibull kinetic model was found to fit best for CLR release from NPs. By the broth microdilution test method, the antibacterial activity of the formulations was determined on Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC 1911), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 700603). The structures of the formulations were clarified by thermal (DSC), FT-IR, and ¹H-NMR analysis. The results showed that PS, ZP, EE%, and dissolution rates of NPs were directly related to the M_w of PLGA and CS coating.