Novel Drug Delivery Systems For Chinese Medicines

This book describes the essential and cutting-edge concepts based on the frontier of pharmaceutical research in TCM, underlying scientific principles, and current advancements of drug delivery systems for Chinese medicines, including sustained-release drug delivery systems, trans-nasal drug delivery systems, dermal and transdermal drug delivery systems, etc. Novel carriers and emerging technologies (such as 3D printing) are also covered. The book provides readers with an overall picture of drug delivery systems for Chinese medicines and also yields benefits for the pharmaceutical industry with regard to TCM-based drug development.

Novel Drug Delivery Systems for Phytoconstituents discusses general principles of drug targeting, construction material and technological concerns of different phytoconstituent in delivery systems. It focuses on the development of novel herbal formulations and summarizes their method of preparation, type of active ingredients, route of administration, biological activity and their applications. It dicusses therapeutic activities of plant derived chemicals, their limitations in clinical applications and novel drug delivery solutions to overcome them to provide better therapeutic effects with controlled and targeted drug delivery. Focus on drug delivery of phytomolecules Act as bridge between natural product scientist and clinical doctors Discusses mechanism of poor bioavailability of herbal molecules Increases awareness towards phytochemical efficacy Summarizes efficient novel delivery systems-based formulations. It extensively covers the applications of novel drug delivery systems including polymeric nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid capsules, liposomes, phytosomes, microsphere, transferosomes, and ethosomes. Some chapters are especially focused on anticancer phytodrugs, silymarin, andrographolide, berberine, and curcumin delivery with special emphasis on their application.

A comprehensive treatment of the science, technology, and regulation of rate-controlled administration of therapeutic agents, with coverage of the basic concepts, fundamental principles, biomedical rationales, and potential applications. This revised and updated edition (first in 1982) incorporates

The application of drug delivery is a valuable, cost-effective lifecycle management resource. By endowing drugs with new and innovative therapeutic benefits, drug delivery systems extend products’ profitable lifecycle, giving pharmaceutical companies competitive and financial advantages, and providing patients with improved medications. Formulation development is now being used to create new dosage forms for existing products, which not only reduces the time and expense involved in new drug development, but also helps with regard to patent protection and bypassing existing patents. Today’s culture demands convenience, a major factor determining adherence to drug therapy. Over the past few years, patient convenience-oriented research in the field of drug delivery has yielded a range of innovative drug-delivery options. As a result, various drug-delivery systems, including medicated chewing gums, oral dispersible tablets, medicated lozenges and lollipops, have now hit the market and are very popular. These dosage forms offer a highly convenient way to dose medications, not only for special population groups with swallowing difficulties, such as children and the elderly, but for the general populace as well. This book provides valuable insights into a number of formulation design approaches that are currently being used, or could be used, to provide new benefits from existing drug molecules.

The "First International Conference on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Science, Regulation and Globalization" was held from August 30 to September 2, 2000 at the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland. There were approximately 250 participants from the Peoples Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United States. This objective of this conference was to promote international collaboration for the modernization of Traditional Chinese herbal medicines (TCM) and their introduction into the global health care system. It was mainly sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and the NllI National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). It was organized by Dr. William Tai, then director of the Institute of Global Chinese Affairs at the University of Maryland and Dr. Yuan Lin, president of Marco Polo Technologies, Bethesda, MD. This conference was conceived by Dr. Tai two years earlier recognizing that this was an appropriate time and also the unique location of the University of Maryland. Today, there is a growing recognition of the of alternative medicine in modem societies and the rapid loss of importance knowledge about traditional methods for the treatment of the multitude of human illnesses found throughout the world. TCM has been in common use in China for thousands of years; and many of its formulations are well defined.

After the successful introduction of acupuncture to the West, recent advances in analytical methods in chemistry, molecular biology and systems biology – especially the development of the “omic” technologies – have again brought Chinese drugs into the focus of research on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). With more than 1000 publications on the chemistry, molecular biology and pharmacology of TCM drugs in international journals over the last 10 years, Chinese drugs are gaining increasingly reputation and impact. These data offer great opportunities for the development of new pharmaceuticals for various clinical applications. International scientists have compiled relevant and trend setting research results in this book. Topics range from the latest methods of quality and safety assurance by chemical and genetic fingerprints to the development of new pharmaceuticals for a future evidence-based therapy e.g. for cancer, cardiovascular, inflammatory or infectious diseases as well as to recent experimental results on multitarget and synergy research for the preparation of multi-extract-pharmaceuticals from TCM.