One of the major challenges in the psoriasis therapies is the systemic side effects. This research investigation intended to design, formulate, and characterize topical Apremilast (APR) nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) embedded hydrogel. APR-loaded NLCs were prepared using the hot melt ultrasonication technique using glyceryl monostearate (GMS) and Capmul® MCM, followed by high-speed homogenization. The entrapment and size were 85.5 ± 2.1

Heavy metals are lethal and hazardous pollutants for the ecosystem owing to their virtues including acute toxicity, prolonged persistence, and bioaccumulation. These contaminants are not only a threat to aquatic/terrestrial biota but also pose serious health issues to humans. Natural and anthropologic processes consistently upsurge heavy metal concentration beyond acceptable limits and mobilization and hence disturb biogeochemical cycles and the food chain, although several conventional strategies including adsorption, chemical precipitation, ion exchange, and membrane separation methods are being employed for the removal of these lethal heavy metals from the ecosystem but failed due to lower efficiency rates and high application charges. The current scenario highly demands advanced biosorption or bioaccumulation processes that slow down heavy metal mobilization within the acceptable limit in the ecosystem. Genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs) with desired features are developed through interdisciplinary participation of genomics, molecular microbiology, and bioinformatics that have more potential to bioremediate heavy metals than the native microbes from polluted ecosystems. The study focuses on different sources of heavy metals, their impact on the ecosystem, and the bioremediation of toxic heavy metals via GMMs.

Colonic disorders include a variety of problems such as inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease), colonic polyps, and colorectal cancer. Various conventional drug delivery systems are available for the management of colonic disorders, which rely on frequent and long-term administration in large doses resulting in higher adverse effects and poor therapeutic efficacy. Hence, there is a need for advanced drug delivery systems to reduce the adverse effects and increase the therapeutic effectiveness in the management of colonic disorders. Nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems are viable options for colonic disorders due to various attributes like reduced size, ability to drug targeting, reduced dose and its frequency, improved solubility, improved bioavailability, and lesser adverse effects. The nanotechnology-based novel drug delivery systems include liposomes, nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, polymeric nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, carbon nanotubes, and metallic nanoparticles. This chapter entails the traditional approaches for delivering the drug to the colon and various nanoparticulate drug delivery systems for colonic disorders along with recent research, patents, and clinical trials.

Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide that has earned much credit in the pharmaceutical field due to its broad implementation in drugs, antigens, and vaccine delivery. Owing to unique characteristics of biocompatibility, biodegradability, mucoadhesiveness, and less toxicity, chitosan holds promise as a vaccine adjuvant or vaccine delivery system. Furthermore, chitosan exhibits antiviral properties making it an ideal vaccine adjuvant and carrier for the delivery of vaccine. The presence of ridiculous functional groups in the parent structure of chitosan enables the creation of modified chitosan derivatives having improved physiochemical properties which provide enhanced vaccine adjuvant properties of chitosan. This review summarizes the potential of chitosan and its modified derivatives as an antiviral agent and vaccine adjuvant along with patents related to the application of chitosan as a vaccine adjuvant and vaccine carrier.

Chemotherapy in the management of cancer is constrained by limitations like off-target effects, poor bioavailability, and dose-dependent toxicity. Nutraceuticals have been explored as an innovative strategy to overcome chemotherapy drawbacks.However, the clinical utility of nutraceuticals is restricted due to their complex structures, less water solubility, reduced stability, decreased bioavailability and more obstacles in the gastrointestinal tract. Nanonutraceuticals are nanosized nutraceutical particles having enhanced solubility, improved bioavailability, stability, and targeted delivery to specific cells. Nutraceuticals can be co-delivered with other chemotherapeutic drugs in nanocarriers to elicit synergistic effects. The targeting of nutraceuticals against cancer cells can be enabled by coupling ligands with the nanocarriers, which direct to the overexpressed receptors found at the surface of the cancer cells. Transitioning a nanonutraceutical from pre-clinical research to clinical trials is a pivotal step. This focus on advancing their application holds great potential for impacting clinical research and improving the treatment landscape for cancer patients. This review focuses on the role of nutraceuticals for cancer treatment, various nanocarriers for the efficient delivery of nutraceuticals along with co-administration of nutraceuticals with chemotherapeutic drugs using nanocarriers. Also, emphasize the targeting of ligands coupled nanocarriers to the cancer cells along with patents and clinical trials for nanonutraceuticals.