Nanotechnology

The synthesis, characterization and application of biologically synthesized nanomaterials are an important aspect in nanotechnology. Biological synthesis of silver nanoparticles has received a tremendous attention and has been a focus of research due to their high chemical, thermal stability and promising applications in medicinal field due to its environmental friendly approach and also low cost techniques. In the present study silver nanoparticles were synthesized using the aqueous extract of red seaweed Gracilaria dura (Ag.) J.Ag. as the reducing agent. The formation of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by colour change, UV-Visible Spectroscopy, FT-IR and X-Ray Diffraction Method (XRD). The nanoparticles showed an absorbance at 446nm on UV-Vis spectroscopy. The presence of proteins was identified by Fourier Transform-Infra Red spectroscopy (FT-IR).The presence of elemental silver was characterized by X-Ray Diffraction Method (XRD).These results not only provide a green approach for the synthesis of nanoparticles but also open a door for new pharmaceutical leads.

Ayurveda pharmacopeia is based upon herbal, mineral and herbo-mineral natural products but herbs takes first rank in pharmaceutics.  Herbal medicines have been widely used all over the world since ancient times and have been recognized by physicians and patients for their better therapeutic value as they have fewer adverse effects as compared with modern medicines. Unlike the existing allopathic system, the herbal remedies have hundreds and thousands of constituents that all work together against the diseases. Mostly, the conventional pharmaceuticals or pharmacognostical products in the market are rooted from natural products and their derivatives with herbal products playing pivotal role. All over the world, the research on these herbal remedies has been carried out in the different fields’ for instance pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacognosy, pharmacology and clinical therapeutics.  ‘Nanotechnology’ is the new emerging technology in the drug discovery and it has the property of self targeting in the sense that without the attachment of a specific legend, these can be used for targeting, due to their distinctively small size, at the infected pathological areas. Some of such formulations are already present in the market and many more are expected to come by 2020 after their success in ongoing clinical trials. Drug delivery research is clearly moving from the micro- to the nanosize scale. Nanotechnology is therefore emerging as a field in medicine that is expected to elicit significant therapeutic benefit. Nanoparticles are able to adsorb and/or encapsulate a drug, thus protecting it against chemical and enzymatic degradation. A nanocarrier is nanomaterial being used as a transport module for another substance, such as a drug. Nanocarriers are currently used in drug delivery and their unique characteristics demonstrate potential use in chemotherapy. Herbal remedies may be selected as feasible drug candidate for delivery through a nano delivery system. It is being assumed that the “herbal remedy” with the nanocarriers will increase its potential for the treatment of various chronic diseases and health benefits. In this review, author has made an effort to explore this new approach is escalating the interest of number of scientists to improve and to accelerate the joint drug discovery and development of novel nano delivery systems for ayurveda herbal remedies.

Nanotechnology received a lot of attention with the never-seen-before enthusiasm because of its future potential that can literally revolutionize each field in which it is being exploited. In drug delivery, nanotechnology is just beginning to make an impact. The multidisciplinary approach of nanotechnology has opened new vistas for the development of nanoscale drug delivery systems to meet the requirements for new drug moieties. These drug moieties can either be integrated into the matrix or attached to the surface of drug delivery particles. The importance of nanotechnology in drug delivery is in the concept and ability to manipulate molecules and supramolecular structures for producing devices with programmed functions. Nanostructures like micelles, liposomes, dendrimers etc. and nanoparticles like solid lipid nanoparticles, polymeric/pegylated nanostructures, metallic nanoparticles etc. have been used to deliver drug at specific sites and reduce side effects on non target organs.

The worldwide CNS pathology incidence displayed that about 1.5 billion people suffer from CNS disorders. The worrying  fact that , delivering drugs to the CNS is impaired by the presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) that represents the main obstacle for CNS drug development, many hydrophilic drugs and neuropeptides etc are may have difficulty in crossing the blood-brain barrier. It is important to consider not only the net delivery of the agent to the CNS, but also the ability of the agent to access the relevant target site within the CNS. Many strategies have been developed to deliver the drug into brain by crossing the BBB are chemical delivery systems, magnetic drug targeting, or drug carrier systems such as antibodies, liposomes or Nanoparticles. Among those, Nanoparticles have got a great concentration as the potential targeted drug delivery systems in the brain recently. Nanoparticles (NP) are solid colloidal particles ranging in size from one to 1000nm that may be utilized as brain drug delivery carriers. Coating of Nanoparticles with drug molecules are as carriers to cross the BBB and transport the drugs to the specific sites in brain where they are needed.  NPs may provide slow drug release in blood and thereby reduces the peripheral toxicity. Key words: BBB, Drug delivery to brain, Nanotechnology, Colloidal drug carriers.