13 documents found, page 1 of 2
Locust bean gum (LBG) – a potential excipient for inhalation purposes: excipien...
Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Guerreiro, Filipa; da Silva, Joana Pinto; Almeida, Maria; Rosso, Annalisa; Rosa da Costa, Ana M; Agusti, GéraldineDry powders proposed for lung drug delivery typically involve excipients not approved for inhalation. The physicochemical characterisation of excipients is informative regarding their interaction with different body structures. Locust Bean Gum (LBG) has been proposed for diverse applications, including inhalation, benefiting from targeting ability towards phagocytic cells owing to the presence of mannose moieti...
Development of a dry powder insufflation device with application in in vitro ce...
Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Diogo, Hermínio P.; Conceição, Eusébio; Almeida, Maria P.; Borges dos Santos, Rui M.; Grenha, AnaResearch on pharmaceutical dry powders has been increasing worldwide, along with increased therapeutic strategies for an application through the pulmonary or the nasal routes. In vitro methodologies and tests that mimic the respiratory environment and the process of inhalation itself are, thus, essential. The literature frequently reports cell-based in vitro assays that involve testing the dry powders in suspen...
Pontastacus leptodactylus (Eschscholtz, 1823) and Faxonius limosus (Rafinesque,...
Nuc, Zofia; Brusotti, Gloria; Catenacci, Laura; Grenha, Ana; Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Pinto-da-Silva, Joana; Rosa Da Costa, Ana; Moro, PaolaThe growing demand for chitin and chitosan makes it necessary to look for new sources of these polymers and to develop more environmentally friendly methods for their isolation. The subjects of the current study were chitin and chitosan extracted from shells of two crayfish species: <i>P. leptodactylus</i> and <i>F. limosus</i>. The obtained polymers were characterized by physicochemical properties (molecular w...
Respirable konjac glucomannan microparticles as antitubercular drug carriers: E...
Guerreiro, Filipa; Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Gaspar, Maria Manuela; Rosa Da Costa, Ana; Faleiro, Maria Leonor; Grenha, AnaPulmonary delivery of drugs is potentially beneficial in the context of lung disease, maximising drug concentrations in the site of action. A recent work proposed spray-dried konjac glucomannan (KGM) microparticles as antitubercular drug (isoniazid and rifabutin) carriers to treat pulmonary tuberculosis. The present work explores in vitro and in vivo effects of these microparticles, focusing on the ability for ...
Fucoidan from Fucus Vesiculosus: Evaluation of the impact of the Sulphate conte...
FLÓREZ-FERNÁNDEZ, NOELIA; Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Guerreiro, Filipa; Afonso, Inês T.; Lollo, Giovanna; Torres, Maria Dolores; Domínguez, HerminiaThe composition of seaweeds is complex, with vitamins, phenolic compounds, minerals, and polysaccharides being some of the factions comprising their structure. The main polysaccharide in brown seaweeds is fucoidan, and several biological activities have been associated with its structure. Chitosan is another marine biopolymer that is very popular in the biomedical field, owing to its suitable features for formu...
Development of a prototype of an aerosolization device for dry powders to impro...
Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Hermínio P., Diogo; Conceição, Eusébio; Musacchio, Flávia; Borges dos Santos, R. M.; Grenha, AnaThe lung has been, for the past years, subject of intense research for local and systemic drug delivery approaches. However, robust correlations between in vitro and in vivo results are often impaired, as in vitro experiments frequently have limitations mimicking lung conditions, especially when involving cell-based studies. This work proposes a 3D-printed device for aerosolization of dry powders over cells in ...
Nanoencapsulation of Gla-Rich Protein (GRP) as a novel approach to target infla...
Viegas, Carla; Araújo, Nuna; Carreira, Joana; Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Macedo, Anjos L.; Vinhas, Maurícia; Moreira, Ana S.; Faria, Tiago Q.; Grenha, AnaChronic inflammation is a major driver of chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs), with a tremendous impact worldwide. Besides its function as a pathological calcification inhibitor, vitamin K-dependent protein Gla-rich protein (GRP) was shown to act as an anti-inflammatory agent independently of its gamma-carboxylation status. Although GRP’s therapeutic potential has been highlighted, its low solubility at physio...
Supersaturable self-microemulsifying delivery systems: an approach to enhance o...
Rosso, Annalisa; Almouazen, Eyad; Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Andretto, Valentina; Leroux, Marine; Romasko, Etienne; Azzouz-Maache, Samira; Bordes, ClaireThis study explored the design of supersaturable self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems (S-SMEDDS) to address poor solubility and oral bioavailability of a novel benzimidazole derivative anticancer drug (BI). Firstly, self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems SMEDDS made of Miglyol (R) 812, Kolliphor (R) RH40, Transcutol (R) HP, and ethanol were prepared and loaded with the BI drug. Upon dispersion, the ...
Nanoencapsulation as a novel delivery approach for therapeutic applications of ...
Araújo, Nuna; Viegas, Carla; Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Marreiros, Catarina; Raimundo, Pedro; Macedo, Anjos L.; Alves de Matos, António; Grenha, AnaGla rich protein (GRP) is a vitamin K dependent protein, shown to function as an inhibitor of pathological calcification and as an anti-inflammatory agent, with potential therapeutic use for age-related diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA) [1,2]. OA is a leading cause of disability and morbidity in the older population and constitutes a major world wide challenge for our health system. Presently, there are no d...
Multifunctional nanocarriers for lung drug delivery
Pontes, Jorge Filipe; Grenha, AnaNanocarriers have been increasingly proposed for lung drug delivery applications. The strategy of combining the intrinsic and more general advantages of the nanostructures with specificities that improve the therapeutic outcomes of particular clinical situations is frequent. These include the surface engineering of the carriers by means of altering the material structure (i.e., chemical modifications), the addi...