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Metformin enhances insulin's effect and increases cells’ sensitivity to insulin. In this paper, nanocomposite was designed and used in the metformin release system, which was able to release the required drug in a controlled manner. In this research, nanoparticles of zinc oxide (ZnO) were prepared via the sol-gel method. The experimental design central composite response surface method was applied for the optimization of the nanoparticles based on varied variables such as the weight of zinc acetate (gr) (X ₁) and the volume of triethanolamine (ml) (X₂). The particle size of the optimized nanoparticle was reported to be 28 ± 21.27 nm; zeta potential and PdI were 25.54 ± 1.64 mV, 0.168 ± 0.05 respectively. The chitosan polymer was used to improve environmental compatibility and increase drug release control; finally, metformin was loaded on the optimized nanocomposite. Structural properties were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). The SEM images showed that the average nanocomposite size was 40 nm. The results of XRD patterns and SEM images were also consistent with each other and the average particle size was the same. Infrared spectrophotometry showed the presence of chitosan used to coat nanoparticles on their surfaces and confirmed the loading of metformin. An in-vitro metformin release from the nanocomposite was conducted in PBS (pH=7.4) and analyzed by a spectrophotometer at 233 nm. Metformin has a high solubility in water, and since it is difficult to prepare a slow release form of high-solubility drugs, the aim of this study was to design a slow-release formulation of metformin with a suitable profile that could control release without explosive release for up to 120 hours.

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Abstract
Research Subject: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer in the world with the highest mortality rate in women. Chemotherapy is the typical therapy for the cancer. However, it has side effects due to damage to healthy cells. Targeted drug delivery by nano carriers to the cancerous cells reduces the toxic side effects on normal cells. Serum albumin is a widely used drug carrier because of its availability, ease of preparation, and binding ability to various ligands. Attachment of iron oxide nanoparticles to albumin can control their distribution by applying an external magnetic field.
Research Approach: In this study, albumin nanoparticles attached to superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) were synthesized and loaded with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) anticancer drug by using the desolvation technique. The produced nanoparticles were characterized in terms of size, surface charge, and drug entrapment, by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and UV-Vis spectrophotometry. The cytotoxic effects of 5FU-loaded magnetic albumin nanoparticles and free 5FU on MCF7 cells were evaluated with the MTT assay. The internalization of nanoparticles in MCF-7 cells was confirmed by Prussian blue staining. In the end, the effects of nanoparticles on cell cycle and apoptosis were evaluated by flow cytometry using propidium iodide.
Main Results: The mean particle size and zeta potential of 5FU loaded albumin nanoparticles and albumin magnetic nanoparticles were 220 nm, -25.8 mV, and 221 nm, -28 mV respectively. Drug entrapment efficiency and drug loading efficiency were also, 20%, 1%, and 15.8%, and 0.06% for albumin nanoparticles and magnetic albumin nanoparticles in turn. The drug-loaded magnetic albumin nanoparticles showed higher cytotoxicity than the free drug on MCF-7 cells. The flow cytometry cell cycle analysis showed more cytotoxicity of albumin nanoparticles in comparison with other groups. According to these results, it can be said that 5-FU loaded magnetic albumin nanoparticles were more effective and deserve further studies in the cancer treatment.
Keywords: Albumin magnetic nanoparticles, 5-fluorouracil, targeted drug delivery, MCF-7 cell line

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In this study, nano drug delivery system based on graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide- polyglycerol hybrids were constructed. Functionalization of nano graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide was accomplished through noncovalent interaction between the π conjugated system of graphene materials and the aromatic segment in the focal point of polyglycerol polymer. Polyglycerol is a hydrophilic and biocompatible polymer that its conjugation with graphene materials was increased the colloidal stability and decreased the nonspecific interaction of graphene materials. Curcumin as an anticancer hydrophobic natural drug with low systemic bioavailability was simply loaded on these nanohybrids via π-π stacking force between the π conjugated systems of graphene materials and curcumin. Result showed that loading capacity of curcumin for reduced graphene oxide hybrid (49%) is higher than graphene oxide hybrid due to restored of π conjugated system in reduced graphene oxide. Anticancer efficiency of these drug hybrids was investigated by MTT assay. Results showed that these drug carriers have sufficient biocompatibility. Also these nano drug delivery systems showed a cytotoxic effect that was comparable to that of free curcumin. The reduced graphene oxide hybrid is preferred for delivery of curcumin due to its higher loading capacity that can provide efficient dose of drug in low level of carrier

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Background: In recent years, the use of medicinal plants has increased significantly. Essential oils are one of the most important secondary metabolites in plants with promising potentials to promote health. Paying attention to the quality and effectiveness of medicinal plant products is important. Use of free essential oils due to volatility, low stability, poor solubility in water and low bioavailability, limit both their use and effectiveness. The most important tool to increase the quality of essential oil is the use of nanoparticles as carriers. This study aimed to investigate the nanoencapsulation of essential oils of medicinal plants and its effect on increasing the stability of essential oils and improving the quality of drug delivery systems. Method: In the present study, the data of scientific research articles have been used to investigate the use of nanoparticles in increasing the effectiveness of the essential oils. Findings: Drug-carrier nanoparticles include various materials such as nano polymers, dendrimers, etc. that can have different morphology and sizes depending on their synthesis method. Technology of nanoencapsulation of essential oils is used to increase stability, purposefulness and control the release time of essential oil in the human. One of the advantages of targeted drug delivery is the accurate and intelligent accumulation of essential oil as a drug at the target site, thus increasing the stability and pharmacological effects of the essential oil on the organs in the human. Conclusion: Nanocapsules containing essential oils of medicinal plants have significantly increased the effectiveness of essential oils in medical applications.

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Designing new drug delivery systems is important; therefore, in the present study the interaction between an anti-cancer drug, bicalutamide, and an amide/acid hydrogel was studied. Analyzing was done by using docking and molecular dynamics simulation methods. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed at 37 and 42 °C. The results showed that the binding free energies of the drug to the hydrogel system at two temperatures were similar, and altering the temperature did not affect the stability of the system. The van der Waals interaction is the most crucial interaction between the drug and the hydrogel, which depends on the distance between the drug and hydrogel. Intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions, are the major factors in the stability of the hydrogel system. Due to the stability of the studied system, it can be used as a drug carrier.
 

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With the increasing development of the pharmaceutical industry and producing drugs with specific performance, its transfer into cells is also very important. Cell membranes are effectively impermeable to hydrophilic compounds unless the permeation is facilitated by dedicated transport systems. As a consequence, there is much interest in finding ways to facilitate the transport of molecules across cell membranes. Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) in particular have shown much promise as potential delivery agents. That have been claimed to penetrate cell membranes in an energy- and receptor-independent manner. In the present investigation, the translocation of PENETRATIN into the cell membrane is carried out applying constant velocity steered molecular dynamics via MARTINI coarse grain approach. In order to study the orientation of peptide as it get closer to the membrane, equilibrium simulation is carried out and it is shown that to investigate the penetration process, we need to apply steered molecular dynamics simulation. Energy barrier upon the insertion is calculated and its diffusion in the membrane is considered. It is shown that pore formation phenomenon breaks down the energy barrier and facilitates the translocation process which is in agreement with previous researches. Furthermore, 110 kJ/mol energy barrier is obtained from simulations for this peptide.

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In recent years, targeted drug delivery systems have emerged as a promising approach to increase the efficacy and minimize side effects of therapeutic agents. Cerasomes are a special type of liposomes with covalent siloxane networks on the surface that provide exceptional morphological stability while retaining all the beneficial properties of liposomes. Cerosomes provide a unique platform for drug encapsulation and delivery due to their biocompatibility, stability, controllable release, and long-term storage. In this research, an attempt has been made to engineer the surface of cerosomes to increase the selectivity and efficiency of drug delivery. In such a way that the Herceptin antibody is placed on the surface of the serosa and allows the precise targeting of HER²⁺ cells. Then, the physicochemical characteristics of antibody-functionalized cerosomes, including size and surface charge 229±15.6 nm and 13.5±1.2 mV were respectively obtained. The results of IR and fluorescence spectrum showed that the antibody was successfully attached to the surface of cerasome with a binding efficiency of 64%. These results prove the basic mechanisms governing the synthesis of immunocerasomes and provide a valuable approach for future developments in targeted drug delivery systems.
 

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Protein-based carriers have several advantages over lipid, carbohydrate, synthetic polymers and inorganic colloidal carriers in terms of biodegradability, availability, high capacity of drug transplantation. Electrospinning is a process that uses electric fields to spin fibers with diameters ranging from hundreds to tens of nanometers. Zein is the major storage protein of maize. Vancomycin is a broad spectrum antibiotic that acts against gram-positive bacteria. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the properties of nano-fibrous membrane containing vancomycin antibiotics and to study release and antibacterial properties. Electrospinning method was used to prepare a polymer matrix of a zein nanofiber containing vancomycin antibiotic. The physical properties of the fibers, the method of drug release and the antimicrobial activity of vancomycin loaded fiber were investigated. The morphology of the nanofiber was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy and the formation of uniform filamentary fibers was confirmed. The results of Fourier transform infrared indicated no interaction between zein and vancomycin. The DSC results indicated that vancomycin was physically in amorphous state. The results showed that after 168 h, about 55% of the loaded vancomycin on the fibers was released. A significant difference was observed between the rate of drug release at different times (p <0.05). There was also a decrease in the number of bacteria encountered with vancomycin loaded zein fibers compared to non-loaded zein fiber and control samples. Keywords: Nanofiber, Zein, Vancomycin, Electrospinning, Drug delivery

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Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. this multifactorial disease characterized by complex molecular landscape and altered cell pathways that results in an abnormal cell growth. One of the recent strategies to combat cancer is application of phytochemicals. phytochemicals including phenolics, alkaloids, terpenoids, carotenoids, phytosterol, saponin and organosulfur compounds which play important roles in the prevention and treatment of cancer. The pharmacological use of phytochemicals compounds is frequently limited by their low bioavailability and solubility as they are mainly lipophilic compounds. The nanotechnological approach improves bioavailability, and inhences solubility. In the present review we aim to summarize challenges of phytochemical compounds in cancer treatment and the status of phytochemical based nanoformulations in improving the therapeutic response.
 

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Nowadays the use of Drug Eluting Stents (DESs) is considered as a successful method for the treatment of coronary artery blockage. In order to study the impact of the presence of topcoat on heparin-eluting stents efficacy, two designs (with and without drug free topcoat) have been compared to each other. Moreover, here the importance of the plasma flow as a controversial topic among researchers has been studied. In order to closer to reality heart working, plasma flow is considered as a pulsatile fashion. Also, the injury of the coronary artery penetrated to a depth of media layer during angioplasty. Volume-averaged porous media equations which describe the drug release dynamics are employed and solved numerically by Finite Volume Method (FVM). Results put the amount of strut penetration in the forefront of importance. Local drug pharmacokinetics experiences significant changes by strut passing through endothelium, intima and Internal Elastic Lamina (IEL) and being contiguous with media layer. Although the plasma flow decreases/increases the amount of concentration level and subsequently decreases/increases the amount of drug mass in media/adventitia layer, but the results show that these effects are not significant. Among other findings, it is notable that the presence of topcoat has a negligible effect on the release characteristics.

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In this paper, drug coated magnetic nanoparticle delivery is numerically studied. Specific part of right foot vessel connected to the abdominal aorta is considered as target tissue. Single wire is applied as magnetic source. Buongiorno’s two-phase model is modified by adding the magnetophoresis term to the volume fraction transport equation. Governing unsteady equations with ferrohydrodynamics Kelvin force as a source term is discretized with PISO based finite volume method. Effects of the location of magnetic source and magnitude of current carrying from wire (1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 amperes) are investigated on residence time and deposition level of drug on target tissue. Diameter and volume fraction of nanoparticles are 10 nm and 0.002, respectively. From the results, location of wire should be near and upstream the target tissue. Furthermore, by using this method deposition level of drug on target tissue can be increased by 7.5 times. Best drug delivery performance is seen for current magnitude of 2000 amperes.

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Objective: Drug delivery systems related to different cancer therapies is now expanding. Chitosan (CS) is currently receiving enormous interest for medical and pharmaceutical applications due to its biocompatibility in animal tissues. In this study, two nanogels were prepared from CS. Some of the critical factors such as controlling the release, adsorption and specially targeting drug delivery are considered while preparing the nanogels. Methods: Phosphorylated CS (PCS) and Myristilated CS (MCS) nanogels were prepared by reacting CS with tripolyphosphate (TPP) and Myristate as cross-linking agents respectively and then were loaded with Doxorubicin (DOX). The nanogels were characterized by different techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering and Fourier-transform infrared. The cytotoxicity of free DOX, MCS nanogels and DOX loaded MCS was evaluated by the MTT assay. Results: The result of DOX loading and releasing of the nanogels showed high loading capacity and drug loading efficiency of about 97%. Results indicated slow release of about 16-28% of DOX from PCS within 5 days and 18-40% from MCS within 15 days. DOX and MCS-DOX showed the same toxic effect on the prostate cancer cells (LNCaP). Conclusion: Both PCS and MCS nanogels were qualified on the basis of size, loading and releasing capacity. 

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Aims Using nanomaterials in cancer therapy has shown that this kind of treatment is more efficient with fewer side effects. A considerable number of nanomaterials that can be used in cancer therapy are introduced; among them, graphene attracts most of the scientist's attention due to its unique features. In this study, the graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized and reduced by gelatin for cellular delivery of an anticancer drug, curcumin, .
Materials and Methods GO was synthesized by hummer method and reduced by gelatin. Curcumin anticancer drug was loaded on the synthesized nanocarriers via hydrophobe-hydrophobe interaction.
Findings Chemical, physical and biological assays have been done to evaluate the synthesis and surface modification. In the next step, the drug loading efficiency was obtained by the UV-Vis  spectroscopy method.
Conclusion: GO is successfully synthesized, with the average size of 300nm. AFM pictures of GO before and after reduction show an increase in thickness that proves the presence of gelatin on the surface. From the cytotoxicity assay on L292 cell line, it can be concluded that surface modification was effective because GO showed remarkable toxicity while gelatin-rGO does not show any toxicity even at a concentration of 200 μgml^-1. Also, the drug loading efficiency is obtained at 78%. Therefore, the gelatin-rGO with excellent stability and biocompatibility can be suggested as a drug carrier applicable in biomedical studies.