• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1993 no.05
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• pp.7-14
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• 1993

Nowadays, microspheres are expected to be applied to biomedical areas and many studies are being performed. For biomedical applications, many kinds of microspheres were synthesized by emulsion polymerization, emulsifier-free emu]sion polymerization, and emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization with ionic surface-active comonomers. Further synthesis techniques about microencapsulation and magnetic microspheres are introduced. Among the practical applications of microspheres, some interesting subjects are introduced. These include solid-phase immunoassays, labeling and identification of lymphocyte populations, extracorporeal and hemoperfusion systems, drug delivery systems, and immunomagnetic cell separation. In addition, basic theories, problems and research trends are also introduced.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.111-116
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• 2018

Thermal fusion bonding is a method to enclose open microchannels fabricated on polymer chips for use in lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is utilized in various biomedical-microelectromechanical systems (bio-MEMS) applications, such as medical diagnostic kits, biosensors, and drug delivery systems. These applications utilize PMMAs biochemical compatibility, optical transparency, and mold characteristics. In this paper, we elucidate both the conformational entanglement of PMMA molecules at the contact interfacial regime, and the qualitative nature of the thermal fusion bonding phenomena through systematic molecular dynamics simulations.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.329-334
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• 2007

Osmotic pellet system, which is one of the oral drug delivery systems, has been developed to improve manufacturing process, reduce product cost and other problems of osmotic tablet systems. Osmotic pellet is consisted of water swellable seed layer, drug layer, and membrane layer. Among them, the membrane layer plays an important role in a control of the drug release. In this work, we examined the effect of ratio for Eudragit RL and RS on the drug release behavior. Osmotic pellet with nifedipine as a model drug was easily obtained in a good yield by fluidized bed coater. Osmotic pellet showed round morphology with a range of size $1300{\sim}1500\;{\mu}m$. In the experiment of nifedipine release, the release amount increased with the increase of the ratio of Eudragit. This is due to the fact that Eudragit RL contains more hydrophilic quaternary ammonium group than Eudragit RS. Additionally, the release amount was retarded with increasing the membrane thickness. There are no differences in the release amount measured at the different pH 1.2, 6.5, 6.8, and 7.2. In conclusion, it was found that the drug release from osmotic pellets depended on the composition ratio and coating thickness of membrane layer.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.429-433
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• 2008

Alginate/carboxymethyl scleroglucan (CMSG) hydrogels were suggested as a novel carrier for the controlled release of protein drugs. The drug release characteristics of alginate hydrogels were improved by CMSG addition. Scleroglucan (Sclg) was carboxymethylated using monochloroacetic acid in aqueous alkaline medium. Alginate/CMSG hydrogels were prepared by dropping the mixture solution of alginate/CMSG into calcium chloride solution. The swelling behaviors and drug release characteristics of the hydrogels were investigated in the buffers of pH 1.2 or 7.4. As the CMSG content increased in the hydrogels, the swelling ratio of the alginate/CMSG hydrogel increased rapidly in the buffer of pH 7.4. At pH 1.2, however, the swelling ratio significantly decreased compared to that at pH 7.4. According to in vitro release tests, only 15% of ovalbumin, investigated as a model protein drug, was released from the alginate/CMSG hydrogels at pH 1.2 within 6 h. At pH 7.4, however, the drug release significantly increased due to the rapid swelling of the hydrogels. The release and swelling behaviors of the hydrogels could be controlled by changing the CMSG content in the hydrogels. These results supported the use of alginate/CMSG hydrogels as a suitable carrier for the controlled release of protein drugs in a pH responsive manner.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.205-212
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• 2001

One of the important characteristics of biological systems os their ability to change im-portant properties in response to small environmental signals. The molecular mechanisms that biological molecules utilize to sense and respond provide interesting models for the development of "smart" polymeric biomaterials with biomimetic properties. An important example of this is the protein coat of viruses, which contains peptide units that facilitate the trafficking of the virus into the cell via endocytosis, then out of the endosome into the cytoplasm, and from there into the nucleus, We have designed a family of synthetic polymers whose compositions have been de-signed to mimic specific peptides on viral coats that facilitate endosomal escape. Our biomimetic polymers are responsive to the lowered pH whinin endosomes, leading to distruption of the en-dosomal membrane and release of important biomolecular druges such as DNA, RNA, peptides and proteins to the cytoplasm before they are trafficked to lysosomes and degraded by lysosomal en-zymes. In this article, we review our work on the design, synthesis and action of such smart, pH-sensitive polymers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7113-7118
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• 2014

Background: HSP90 may be overexpressed in cancer cells which are greatly dependent on Hsp90 function. Geldanamycin derivative 17 allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) inhibits the function and expression of HSP90. 17-AAG has poor water-solubility which is a potential problem for clinical practice. In this study for improving the stability and solubility of molecules in drug delivery systems we used a ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin-17AAG complex. Materials and Methods: To assess cytotoxic effects of ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin-17AAG complexes and free 17AAG, colorimetric cell viability (MTT) assays were performed. Cells were treated with equal concentrations of ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin- 17AAG complex and free 17AAG and Hsp90 gene expression levels in the two groups was compared by real-time PCR. Results: MTT assay confirmed that ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin- 17AAG complex enhanced 17AAG cytotoxicity and drug delivery in T47D breast cancer cells. The level of Hsp90 gene expression in cells treated with ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin- 17AAG complex was lower than that of cells treated with free 17AAG (P=0.001). Conclusions: The results demonstrated that ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin- 17AAG complexes are more effective than free 17AAG in down-regulating HSP90 expression due to enhanced ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin-17AAG uptake by cells. Therefore, ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin could be superior carrier for this kind of hydrophobic agent.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.68-73
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• 2009

Opioids profoundly inhibit evoked discharges of spinal nociceptive neurons, thereby inhibiting the transmission of pain. Intrathecal administration of opioids using implantable continuous infusion systems is an effective method of pain relief when other treatments have failed, as well as for patients with adequate analgesia on high dose therapy that produces unacceptable side effects. We report two cases of intrathecal pump implantation performed in patients suffering from intractable chronic pain. A test dose of 3 mg morphine was injected into the epidural space. No side effects were noted and patients experienced considerable pain relief. Implantation was performed one day after the test. The initial intrathecal morphine delivery dose was half of the equivalent dose of daily oral intake opioids and the infusion rate was increased gradually under close observation for opioid side effects. Two days post-implantation, both patients were discharged without any complications.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.183-192
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• 2018

Although hyaluronic acid (HA) has been developed as a nanoparticle (NP; 320-400 nm) for a drug delivery system, the tissue targeting efficacy and the pharmacokinetics of HA-NPs are not yet fully understood. After a dose of 5 mg/kg of cyanine 5.5-labeled HA-NPs or HA-polymers was intravenously administrated into mice, the fluorescence was measured from 0.5 h to 28 days. The HA-NPs fluorescence was generally stronger than that of HA-polymers, which was maintained at a high level over 7 days in vivo, after which it gradually decreased. Upon ex vivo imaging, liver, spleen, kidney, lung, testis and sublingual gland fluorescences were much higher than that of other organs. The fluorescence of HA-NPs in the liver, spleen and kidney was highest at 30 min, where it was generally maintained until 4 h, while it drastically decreased at 1 day. However, the fluorescence in the liver and spleen increased sharply at 7 days relative to 3 days, then decreased drastically at 14 days. Conversely, the fluorescence of HA-polymers in the lymph node was higher than that of HA-NPs. The results presented herein may have important clinical implications regarding the safety of as self-assembled HA-NPs, which can be widely used in biomedical applications.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.379-384
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• 2021

A microneedle is a tool that used for drug delivery and diagnosis. Unlike general injections, the microneedle is short in length, enabling effective drug delivery while minimizing pain and risk of infection. Conventionally, microneedles have been manufactured precisely at a nanometer level based on microelectro mechanical systems (MEMS) technology, requiring expensive equipments & maintenance and complicated processes. To address the issues, 3D printing research has been conducted to fabricate microneedles simply, economically, and rapidly. Since 3D printing facilitates to manufacture prototypes and apply feedbacks, it is advantageous for the development and commercialization of microneedle for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Therefore, this review will introduce stereolithography (SLA), two-photon polymerization (2PP), dynamic light processing (DLP), continuous liquid interface production (CLIP), and fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing technologies and also highlight research trends for microneedle production using them. Furthermore, the limitation of the current microneedle technology and the direction to be solved in the future will be discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.275-284
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• 2024

Worldwide, cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death, which accordingly increased by hyperlipidemia. Hyperlipidemia therapy can include lifestyle changes and medications to control cholesterol levels. Statins are the medications of the first choice for dealing with lipid abnormalities. Rosuvastatin founds to control high lipid levels by hindering liver production of cholesterol and to achieve the targeted levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, another lipid lowering agents named ezetimibe may be used as an added therapy. Both rosuvastatin and ezetimibe have low bioavailability which will stand as barrier to decrease cholesterol levels, because of such depictions, formulations of this combined therapy in nanotechnology will be of a great assistance. Our study demonstrated preparations of nanoparticles of this combined therapy, showing their physical characterizations, and examined their behavior in laboratory conditions and vivo habitation. The mean particle size was uniform, polydispersity index and zeta potential of formulations were found to be in the ranges of (0.181-0.72) and (-13.4 to -6.24), respectively. Acceptable limits of entrapment efficiency were affirmed with appearance of spherical and uniform nanoparticles. In vitro testing showed a sustained release of drug exceeded 90% over 24 h. In vivo study revealed an enhanced dissolution and bioavailability from loaded nanoparticles, which was evidenced by calculated pharmacokinetic parameters using triton for hyperlipidemia induction. Stability studies were performed and assured that the formulations are kept the same up to one month. Therefore, nano formulations is a suitable transporter for combined therapy of rosuvastatin and ezetimibe with improvement in their dissolution and bioavailability.