• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.111-115
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• 1999

We have studied the transdermal flux of prostaglandin $E_1$ $(PGE_1)$ from a hydrogel patch through hairless mouse skin, to test the possibility of developing a transdermal delivery system. Karaya gum patch containing $PGE_1$ was prepared by casting method. $PGE_1$ was stable in the patch for 10 weeks. The effect of current application, enhancer (propylene glycol monolaurate : PGML), adhesive and patch thickness on the flux was studied using side-by-side diffusion cell. Passive flux of $PGE_1$ was negligible. Cathodal delivery increased the flux about 20 fold. As the concentrations of PGML increased, flux increased. When 5% PGML was used as the enhancer, maximum flux by cathodal iontophoresis was $55\;{\mu}g/cm^2\;hr$. It increased about 2 folds to $100\;{\mu}g/cm^2\;hr$, when the amount of PGML used was 9%. Large increase in flux and the decrease in time to reach maximum flux were observed when the skin was pretreated with neat PGML (maximum flux obtained was about $200\;{\mu}g/cm^2\;hr$). Use of adhesive decreased the flux significantly. To the contrary of our expectation, increase in current density decreased the flux. These flux data together with the stability data indicate that, though the onset of sufficient delivery occur after 1-2 hours of application, therapeutic amount of $PGE_1$ can be delivered through skin using iontophoresis and penetration enhancer.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2010

The objective of this work is to study transdermal delivery of donepezil hydrochloride (DH) using iontophoresis and to evaluate various factors which affect the transdermal transport. After the flux study using 4 kinds of hydrogel, hydrogel containing 8% poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was chosen as the hydrogel for further studies. Under experimental condition, DH was stable. We have studied the effect of polarity, current density, drug concentration and current profile on transdermal flux and compared the results. In vitro flux study was performed at $33^{\circ}C$, using side-by-side diffusion cell and full thickness hairless mouse skin. DH is positively charged at pH 7.4, and anodal delivery was much larger than cathodal and passive delivery at all current densities studied (0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 mA/$cm^2$). Cathodal delivery showed higher flux than passive flux. Flux increased as the concentration of DH in hydrogel increased. Pulsatile application of current showed smaller flux value than the application of continuous current. Based on these results, we have evaluated the possibility of delivering enough amount of DH to reach the therapeutic level. The maximum cumulative amount of DH transported for 12 hours was 455 ${\mu}g/cm^2{\cdot}hr$ when the amount of DH in the hydrogel was 3 mg/mL and the current density was 0.4 mA/$cm^2$. If the patch size is 10 $cm^2$, then we can deliver 4.6 mg for 12 hours. Because the daily dosage of DH is 5 mg, it seems possible to deliver clinically effective amount of DH using iontophoresis. This study also provides some information about the role of electrorepulsion and electroosmosis during the transport through skin.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 2010

Osteoporosis was traditionally defined by the occurrence of nontraumatic fractures, especially of the spine, in the setting of low bone mass. Bisphosphonates are an important group of therapeutic agents for the management of osteoporosis, as they inhibit bone resorption and increase bone density, thereby potentially decreasing fracture risk. Risedronate sodium is a bisphosphonate class used by oral formulation. In this study, risedronate was transdermally delivered by iontophoresis. Effects of polarity, pH, current density, and drug concentration were studied using a side-by-side diffusion cell including the hairless mice skin. In addition we studied effect of enhancers. The flux was evaluated by HPLC/UV system. The amount of transported drug under iontophoretic delivery was approximately 186 fold higher than that under passive delivery. Flux was proportional to the increase of drug concentration and current density. The flux was observed about 0.68mg/$cm^2$ when the amout of Propyleneglycol monolaurate (PGML) used 1% as enhancer. Results indicated that iontophoresis is an effective method for transdermal administration of risedronate sodium

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 2024

This study focuses on the path planning algorithm for large-scale autonomous delivery using drones and robots in urban environments. When generating delivery routes in urban environments, it is essential that avoid obstacles such as buildings, parking lots, or any other obstacles that could cause property damage. A commonly used method for obstacle avoidance is the grid-based A* algorithm. However, in large-scale urban environments, it is not feasible to set the resolution of the grid too high. If the grid cells are not sufficiently small during path planning, inefficient paths might be generated when avoiding obstacles, and smaller obstacles might be overlooked. To solve these issues, this study proposes a method that initially creates a low-resolution wide-area grid and then progressively reduces the grid cell size in areas containing registered obstacles to maintain real-time efficiency in generating paths. To implement this, obstacles in the operational area must first be registered on the map. When obstacle information is updated, the cells containing obstacles are processed as a primary subdivision, and cells closer to the obstacles are processed as a secondary subdivision. This approach is validated in a simulation environment and compared with the previous research according to the computing time and the path distance.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.347-355
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• 2013

In this study, the porous cellulose hydrogel as a carrier to enhance the skin delivery of quercetin and its glycoside, rutin known as flavonoid antioxidants was prepared and its properties were investigated. The optimum cellulose hydrogel for quercetin and rutin was made by the reaction of 2 wt% cellulose with 12% ECH. In the release test of the hydrogel containing the flavonoids, the release of quercetin was diffusion-controlled at $10{\sim}500{\mu}M$, but rutin was released by the erosion of hydrogel system at $10{\sim}50{\mu}M$. Both the encapsulation efficiency and release amount of rutin in hydrogel were higher than quercetin. However, in skin permeation experiment using Franz diffusion cell, quercetin showed higher skin permeation capacity than rutin. The hydrogel containing flavonoids showed remarkable transdermal permeation than the control group. These results suggest that porous cellulose hydrogel is potential drug delivery system to enhance transdermal permeation of water-insoluble flavonoid antioxidants.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.676-681
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• 2014

Licorice, widely used as a herbal medicine, has flavonoids such as liquiritin and its aglycone, liquiritigenin that show anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Licorice flavonoid-loaded cellulose hydrogels were prepared as carriers for skin drug delivery, and their properties were investigated. The porous cellulose hydrogel was made by reacting cellulose with epichlorohydrin as a cross-linking agent in NaOH/urea(1~10%) solutions. Through studies on the rheological properties and water uptake of the hydrogel, a NaOH/urea(6%) solution was established as being optimum for the synthesis of the cellulose hydrogel containing liquiritin and liquiritigenin. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations of a cross-section of the prepared hydrogel indicated its porosity. In particular, in skin permeation experiments using a Franz diffusion cell, hydrogel containing the licorice flavonoids showed remarkable transdermal permeation compared to the control group. These results indicate that porous cellulose hydrogel is a potential drug delivery system to enhance the skin permeation of licorice flavonoids.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.694-701
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• 2014

In this study, Polygomun aviculare L. (P. aviculare L.) extract loaded elastic liposomes (ELPs) were investigated to enhance the transdermal delivery of P. aviculare L. extract composed of various flavonoids. ELPs were composed of egg phospholipids (PC) and edge activator ($Tego^{(R)}$ care 450) and the physical properties and in vitro permeation studies of ELPs were performed. Particle size ranged from 148.1 to 262.2 nm and deformability index was recorded as 11.5~25.4. Loading efficiency was from 53.1 to 66.3%. In vitro skin permeation studies using Franz diffusion cell demonstrated that ELP-4 having ratio of 85:15 for PC to $Tego^{(R)}$ care 450 exhibited the higher skin permeability than ELP-1, the general liposome without $Tego^{(R)}$ care 450. It was visually seen by fluorescence image restoration microscopy. The findings suggest that ELP-4 selected as the optimal formulation could be used as useful formulation for transdermal delivery of the extract.

• Reproductive and Developmental Biology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2008

Efficient gene transfer into hematopoietic stem cells is a great tool for gene therapy of hematopoietic disease. Retrovirus have been extensively used for gene delivery and gene therapy. However, current in vitro gene transfer has some obstacles suck as induction of differentiation loss of self-renewal capacity, and down-regulation of homing efficiency for in vitro hematopoietic stem cells transplantation. To overcome these problems, we developed efficient in vitro retroviral transfer technique by direct intra-bone marrow injection (IBM). We identified effective retrovirus gene transfer in bone marrow hematopoietic cells in vitro. Two weeks after retrovirus transfer via IBM injection, we observed stable EGFP gene expression in bone marrow, lymph node, spleen, and liver cells. In addition, $6.4{\pm}2.7%$ of hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells were expressed EGFP transgene from flow cytometry analysis. Our results demonstrate that in vitro retrovirus gene transfer via IBM injection can provide a viable alternative to current or moo gene transfer approach.

• Gut and Liver
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.722-727
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• 2018

Background/Aims: Although endoscopic bilateral stent-instent placement is challenging, many recent studies have reported promising outcomes regarding technical success and endoscopic re-intervention. This study aimed to evaluate the technical accessibility of stent-in-stent placement using large cell-type stents in patients with inoperable malignant hilar biliary obstruction. Methods: Forty-three patients with inoperable malignant hilar biliary obstruction from four academic centers were prospectively enrolled from March 2013 to June 2015. Results: Bilateral stent-in-stent placement using two large cell-type stents was successfully performed in 88.4% of the patients (38/43). In four of the five cases with technical failure, the delivery sheath of the second stent became caught in the hook-cross-type vertex of the large cell of the first stent, and subsequent attempts to pass a guidewire and stent assembly through the mesh failed. Functional success was achieved in all cases of technical success. Stent occlusion occurred in 63.2% of the patients (24/38), with a median patient survival of 300 days. The median stent patency was 198 days. The stent patency rate was 82.9%, 63.1%, and 32.1% at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively, respectively. Endoscopic re-intervention was performed in 14 patients, whereas 10 underwent percutaneous drainage. Conclusions: Large cell-type stents for endoscopic bilateral stent-in-stent placement had acceptable functional success and stent patency when technically successful. However, the technical difficulty associated with the entanglement of the second stent delivery sheath in the hook-cross-type vertex of the first stent may preclude large cell-type stents from being considered as a dedicated standard tool for stent-in-stent placement.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.303-310
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• 2002

Cell therapy applied to wound healing or tissue regeneration presents a revolutionary realm to which principles of gene engineering and delivery may be applied. One promising application is the transplantation of cells into the wounded tissue to help the tissue repair. However, when cells are transplanted from in vitro to in vivo, immune rejection occurs due to the immune response triggered by the activation of T-cell, and the transplanted cells are destroyed by the attack of activated T-cell and lose their function. Immune suppressant such as FK506 is commonly used to suppress immune rejection during transplantation. However, such kind of immune suppressants not only suppresses immune rejection in the periphery of transplanted cells but also suppresses whole immune response system against pathogenic infection. In order to solve this problem, we developed a method to protect the desired cells from immune rejection without impairing whole immune system during cell transplantation. Previously, we reported the success of constructing glomerular epithelial cells for removal of immune complex, in which complement receptor of type 1 (CR1) was over-expressed on the membrane of renal glomerular epithelial cells and could bind immune complex of DNA/anti-DNA-antibody to remove immune complex through phagocy-tosis [1]. Attempting to apply the CR1-expressing cells to cell therapy and evade immune rejection during cell transplantation, we constructed three plasmids containing genes encoding a soluble fusion protein of cytolytic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA4Ig) and an enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). The plasmids were transfected to the above-mentioned glomerular epithelial cells to express both genes simultaneously. Using the clone cells for cell transplantation showed that mice with autoimmune disease prolonged their life significantly as compared with the control mice, and two injections of the cells at the beginning of two weeks resulted in remarkable survivability, whereas it requires half a year and 50 administrations of proteins purified from the same amount of cells to achieve the same effect.