PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Nano drugs

Insoluble medicines can be made orally available if in nano crystal form

2010-10-07
(Press-News.org) Researchers in India have demonstrated that producing nanoscopic crystals of a pharmaceutical product can allow the medication to be absorbed by the gut even if the drug is not soluble in water.

Research suggests that more than half of the medicinal drugs being developed by the pharmaceutical industry dissolve only very weakly in water, if at all. This is a major problem for administering such drugs as it means they are not effective if taken by mouth. The industry has developed many approaches to addressing this problem, such as adding a small quantity of an organic solvent, such as ethanol, to the mixture, coupling the drug with a charged ion to increase bioavailability and in more recent times using water-soluble "carriers", such as the ring-shaped cyclodextrin. A much more effective approach would be to somehow make the drug soluble without resorting to such additives.

Scientists have, over the last decade or so, discovered that producing microscopic crystals of a pharmaceutical product can make it soluble in water even if the bulk compound is not. The tiny particle size, means a much greater surface area to volume ratio giving access to more water molecules that can surround the particles, which is the essence of dissolving a compound. This effect can then allow the particles to be carried across the lining of the gut wall where they would previously simply move past with no interaction. The effect can be explained in terms of the physical chemistry and mathematics known to nineteenth century scientist Lord Kelvin, Herbert Freundlich, and Wilhelm Ostwald.

Now, R. Ravichandran of the Regional Institute of Education (NCERT), in Bhopal, India, writing in the International Journal of Nanoparticles, has demonstrated that gymnemic acids derived from the herb Gymnema sylvestre , can be made more readily bioavailable by forming the active compounds as nanoscopic crystals, nanocrystals. The compounds have medicinal activity in a range of diseases, in particular diabetes mellitus, with the native herb having been used in traditional medicine for several centuries.

Ravichandran's detailed examination of the physical and chemical properties of nanocrystals of gymnemic acids could provide important clues as to how to transfer the medical benefits of the herb to a regulated pharmaceutical product for further investigation and with a more strict profile in treating disease.

INFORMATION: "Physico-chemical evaluation of gymnemic acids nanocrystals" in Int. J. Nanoparticles, 2010, 3, 280-296


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Study sheds new light on how the sun affects the Earth's climate

2010-10-07
The Sun's activity has recently affected the Earth's atmosphere and climate in unexpected ways, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature. The study, by researchers from Imperial College London and the University of Colorado, shows that a decline in the Sun's activity does not always mean that the Earth becomes cooler. It is well established that the Sun's activity waxes and wanes over an 11-year cycle and that as its activity wanes, the overall amount of radiation reaching the Earth decreases. Today's study looked at the Sun's activity over the period ...

Provocative new Montreal study probes link between breast cancer and air pollution

2010-10-07
Air pollution has already been linked to a range of health problems. Now, a ground-breaking new study suggests pollution from traffic may put women at risk for another deadly disease. The study, published in the prestigious journal Environmental Health Perspectives, by researchers from The Research Institute of the MUHC (RI MUHC; Dr. Mark Goldberg), McGill University (Drs. Goldberg, Dan Crouse and Nancy Ross), and Université de Montréal (Dr. France Labrèche), links the risk of breast cancer – the second leading cause of death from cancer in women – to traffic-related air ...

VTT printed hemoglobin test on paper

2010-10-07
VTT printed the paper with antibodies that react to the sample. The test result can be read in the form of a line, for example, which either does or does not appear depending on the sample – just like in the pregnancy tests already familiar to consumers. It is also possible to print instructional images or text, for example, either on or alongside the test. Printed paper test can be used to test quickly and easily for the presence of a given substance. The test can be adapted to different purposes by exchanging the identifying antibody printed on the paper for another, ...

First clinical trial of gene therapy for muscular dystrophy lends insight into the disease

First clinical trial of gene therapy for muscular dystrophy lends insight into the disease
2010-10-07
CHAPEL HILL – A clinical trial designed to replace the genetic defect causing the most common form of muscular dystrophy has uncovered an unexpected aspect of the disease. The trial, based on therapy designed by scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, showed that some patients mount an immune response to the dystrophin protein even before they have received the gene therapy. The puzzling results, which came from trials at Columbus Children's Hospital in Ohio, suggest that the immune systems of a number of patients -- once thought ...

BLADE software eliminates 'drive-by downloads' from malicious websites

2010-10-07
Insecure Web browsers and the growing number of complex applets and browser plug-in applications are allowing malicious software to spread faster than ever on the Internet. Some websites are installing malicious code, such as spyware, on computers without the user's knowledge or consent. These so-called "drive-by downloads" signal a shift away from using spam and malicious e-mail attachments to infect computers. Approximately 560,000 websites -- and 5.5 million Web pages on those sites -- were infected with malware during the fourth quarter of 2009. A new tool that ...

Psychologist finds 'shocking' impact on name recall

2010-10-07
It's an experience shared by everyone: You run into someone you know, but his or her name escapes you. Now, Temple psychologist Ingrid Olson has found a way to improve the recall of proper names. Olson dedicates her research to understanding human memory. In a recent study, she found that electric stimulation of the right anterior temporal lobe of the brain improved the recall of proper names in young adults by 11 percent. Her study appears this month in the journal Neuropsychologia. "We know a lot about how to make people's memory worse, but we don't know very ...

New fish feeds made from fish byproducts

2010-10-07
Fish byproducts may be a new source of fish feed, thanks to research by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded scientists in Hawaii. Research scientist Dong-Fang Deng and her colleagues with the Oceanic Institute in Waimanalo, Hawaii, are collaborating with USDA food technologist Peter Bechtel to develop the new fish feeds. Bechtel is with the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Subarctic Agricultural Research Unit in Kodiak, Alaska. ARS is the USDA's principal intramural scientific research agency. The scientists are taking fish parts that would normally ...

One lock, many keys

One lock, many keys
2010-10-07
In order to track down pathogens and render them harmless, the immune system must be able to recognize myriad different foreign substances and react to them. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and the Centre for Biological Signalling Studies BIOSS at the University of Freiburg have discovered how the immune system's B-cells can be activated by numerous substances from our environment. The receptor molecules on the surface of the B-cells are only activated when the receptor subunits separate following the binding of foreign substances. These findings ...

$5 million NSF grant will upgrade and expand NJIT radio telescope array

$5 million NSF grant will upgrade and expand NJIT radio telescope array
2010-10-07
A $5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to upgrade and expand a set of radio frequency antennas at Owens Valley Solar Array (OVSA) http://www.ovsa.njit.edu/ has been awarded to NJIT. The new facility is expected to help scientists better understand the nature of solar flares which greatly interest government, industry and the military. "Space weather incidents such as coronal mass ejections and solar flares can cause problems with cell phone reception, GPS systems, power grids and other technologies," said NJIT Distinguished Professor Dale Gary, a world-renowned ...

Experts advocate realigning type 2 diabetes treatments with disease's natural history

2010-10-07
Chevy Chase, MD— A new consensus statement published in the September, 2010, issue of The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) finds that the increasing recognition that beta-cell failure occurs much earlier and severely than commonly believed suggests that regular glycemia screening, early identification of patients at metabolic risk and prompt and aggressive intervention deserves greater emphasis. The consensus statement is based on the findings of a working group of basic researchers, clinical endocrinologists and primary care ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

H.E.S.S. collaboration detects the most energetic cosmic-ray electrons and positrons ever observed

Novel supernova observations grant astronomers a peek into the cosmic past

Association of severe maternal morbidity with subsequent birth

Herodotus' theory on Armenian origins debunked by first whole-genome study

Women who suffer pregnancy complications have fewer children

Home testing kits and coordinated outreach substantially improve colorectal cancer screening rates

COVID-19 vaccine reactogenicity among young children

Generalizability of clinical trials of novel weight loss medications to the US adult population

Wildfire smoke exposure and incident dementia

Health co-benefits of China's carbon neutrality policies highlighted in new review

Key brain circuit for female sexual rejection uncovered

Electrical nerve stimulation eases long COVID pain and fatigue

ASTRO issues update to clinical guideline on radiation therapy for rectal cancer

Mount Sinai opens the Hamilton and Amabel James Center for Artificial Intelligence and Human Health to transform health care by spearheading the AI revolution

Researchers develop tools to examine neighborhood economic effects on spinal cord injury outcomes

Case Western Reserve University awarded $1.5 million to study vaginal bacterial linked to serious health risks

The next evolution of AI begins with ours

Using sunlight to recycle black plastics

ODS FeCrAl alloys endure liquid metal flow at 600 °C resembling a fusion blanket environment

A genetic key to understanding mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome

The future of edge AI: Dye-sensitized solar cell-based synaptic device

Bats’ amazing plan B for when they can’t hear

Common thyroid medicine linked to bone loss

Vaping causes immediate effects on vascular function

A new clock to structure sleep

Study reveals new way to unlock blood-brain barrier, potentially opening doors to treat brain and nerve diseases

Viking colonizers of Iceland and nearby Faroe Islands had very different origins, study finds

One in 20 people in Canada skip doses, don’t fill prescriptions because of cost

Wildlife monitoring technologies used to intimidate and spy on women, study finds

Around 450,000 children disadvantaged by lack of school support for color blindness

[Press-News.org] Nano drugs
Insoluble medicines can be made orally available if in nano crystal form