retinal-pathophysiological-evaluation-in-a-rat-model

Retinal Pathophysiological Evaluation in a Rat Model

A posterior segment eye disease like diabetic retinopathy alters the physiology of the retina. Diabetic retinopathy is characterized by a retinal ...

Birla Institute of Technology & Science — Pilani, Hyderabad Campus

The study aimed to evaluate the intraocular pharmacokinetics and efficacy of aflibercept after subconjunctival injection in animal models for treating choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). New Zealand albino rabbits received aflibercept (2000 μg/50 μl) in one eye, and the other eye was used as control. At 7, 14, 21 and 28 days, the animals were sacrificed to dissect the ocular tissues, and serum was collected at 1hr, 3 h, 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days. The concentration of aflibercept in various ocular tissues and serum were measured using the immunoassay technique. The concentration maximum (C) at the Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE)-choroid complex and retina in treated eyes was 261.55 and 33.83 ng/gm, respectively. The area under the curve (AUC) for RPE-Choroid and retina were 2094.02 and 290.33 days. ng/gm respectively. The time maximum (T) for the ocular tissues was reached on day 7. In the vitreous humour, a lower level of aflibercept was retrieved. The C (1766.84 ng/mL) in the serum was reached on day 1, followed by a decline in the concentration till the end of the study period. In treated eyes, the levels of aflibercept in most of the ocular tissues were maintained for at least 21 days above the invitro IC concentration. The results of the efficacy study show that subconjunctival aflibercept could reach the therapeutic target to inhibit CNV. The subconjunctival aflibercept could be a less invasive route for treating CNV with AMD.

Potential of subconjunctival aflibercept in treating choroidal neovascularization.

The important causes of loss of vision are ocular infections, including keratitis and conjunctivitis. Attaining an adequate concentration of topically applied antibiotics to prevent or treat infections within the cornea is challenging. The study aimed to design and develop a drug-eluting polymeric contact lens for the effective delivery of moxifloxacin (MF) and dexamethasone (DM). The polymeric contact lens was prepared using chitosan, glycerol, and polyethylene glycol. MF and DM were loaded into the contact lens, both separately and in combination. The MF and DM loaded contact lenses were characterized for thickness, swelling index, surface topography, and mucoadhesion strength. Furthermore, studies were performed to understand the in vitro drug release behavior, ex vivo corneal permeation, and in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity. The drug-loaded contact lens was compared with the standard drug solutions. The physical characteristics of the polymeric contact lens were similar to the commercially available contact lens. Compared to the topically applied standard drug solutions, the drug-loaded contact lens showed significantly (p < 0.05) greater corneal drug distribution after 24 h incubation. In vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity of the MF loaded contact lens was superior to the standard drug solution. In vivo drug distribution studies showed greater tissue concentration of MF in cornea, sclera, and aqueous humor with contact lens application compared with drug solutions. Overall, the polymeric contact lens was efficient in delivering MF and DM at required therapeutic concentrations. The findings from the present study show that drug-eluting contact lenses could be used in post-operative conditions to prevent ocular infections.

Corneal delivery of moxifloxacin and dexamethasone combination using drug-eluting mucoadhesive contact lens to treat ocular infections.

Undoubtedly, various kinds of nanomaterials are of great significance due to their enormous applications in diverse areas. The structure and productivity of nanomaterials are heavily dependent on the process used for their synthesis. The synthesizing process plays a vital role in shaping nanomaterials effectively for better productivity. The conventional method requires expensive and massive thermal instruments, a huge volume of reagents. This paper aims to develop an Automatic Miniaturized Temperature Controller (AMTC) device for the synthesis of nickel oxide (NiO), copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles, and nanomicelles. The device features a low-cost, miniaturized, easy-to-operate with plug-and-play power source, precise temperature control, and geotagged real-time data logging facility for the producing nanoparticles. With a temperature accuracy of ± 2 °C, NiO and CuO nanoparticles, and nanomicelles are synthesized on AMTC device, and are subjected to different characterizations to analyze their morphological structure. The obtained mean size of NiO and CuO is 27.14 nm and 85.13 nm respectively. As a proof-of-principle, the synthesized NiO and CuO nanomaterials are validated for electrochemical sensing of dopamine, hydrazine, and uric acid. Furthermore, the study is conducted, wherein, Dexamethasone (Dex) loaded nanomicelles are developed using AMTC device and compared to the conventional thin-film hydration method. Subsequently, as a proof-of-application, the developed nanomicelles are evaluated for transcorneal penetration using exvivo goat cornea model. Ultimately, the proposed device can be utilized for performing a variety of controlled thermal reactions on a minuscule platform with an integrated and miniaturized approach for various applications.

Smartphone enabled miniaturized temperature controller platform to synthesize nio/cuo nanoparticles for electrochemical sensing and nanomicelles for ocular drug delivery applications.

Article	Year
Potential of subconjunctival aflibercept in treating choroidal neovascularization. Experimental eye research\| PubMed ID: 32795527	2020
Corneal delivery of moxifloxacin and dexamethasone combination using drug-eluting mucoadhesive contact lens to treat ocular infections. International journal of pharmaceutics\| PubMed ID: 33127488	2020
Smartphone enabled miniaturized temperature controller platform to synthesize nio/cuo nanoparticles for electrochemical sensing and nanomicelles for ocular drug delivery applications. Biomedical microdevices\| PubMed ID: 34091727	2021

Jayabalan Nirmal

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