Posted in | News | Nanomedicine | Nanomaterials

Indian Researchers Demonstrate That Nanocrystals Can Make Drugs Soluble in Water

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.

Source: http://www.inderscience.com/

Tell Us What You Think

Do you have a review, update or anything you would like to add to this news story?

Leave your feedback
Your comment type
Submit

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.