Drug formulation and delivery is an integral part of drug discovery process. It is a crucial step in ensuring absorption and bioavailability of drug compounds in the body. Various formulation approaches such as emulsion, lipid-based formulations, microparticles and nano-formulations are widely used to improve drug delivery.
Recent advances in nanotechnology have spurred the interest in the development of nano-formulations in drug delivery. Some of the superior features that nano-formulations could offer include higher drug loading capacity, flexibility of the formulation to be modified according to need, improved bioavailability, prolonged circulation time of the formulation in the body, to name a few. The application of nano-formulation has been widely explored in an attempt to improve delivery of conventional drugs. An increased use of such formulations to encapsulate plant-derived from plant origin to achieve higher treatment efficiency is also being seen in recent years.
As an attempt to discover more potential drug for various disease treatments, scientists are looking into isolating pharmacologically active compounds from microbes. Ever since the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928, bioprospecting in microbial natural products have achieved many remarkable milestone in medicinal uses such as the development of anticancer, antidiabetic drugs and immunosuppressants. Undeniably, microbes have been, and continue to be, the mainstay for prolific source of structurally diverse bioactive metabolites and have yielded numerous important pharmaceutical products known today. Nevertheless, most of these compounds tend to share similar properties with conventional drugs as well as plant derived compounds in terms of low solubility and low bioavailability. Potent compounds would not make it to clinical use if they are limited by such drawbacks. Hence formulation approach appears to be a decent resolution to these problems in order to improve the delivery of such compounds.
In this research topic, we welcome contributions that provide updates on theoretical aspects pertaining to drug discovery from microbe sources, the insights on their pharmacological mechanism of action, and the application of formulation strategy for microbe-derived pharmacological compounds. In addition, this topic will also explore the chemical constituents and structural characterization of microbe-derived compounds. Importantly contributions with multi-disciplinary nature are particularly welcome. We also welcome contributions in the related work area other than the mentioned formulation examples.
We encourage submissions of the following article types: original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, methods article, hypothesis and theory articles, perspective, technology report, opinions and commentaries. Finally, we would like to arrive at a general consensus on the possible use of nano-formulation to improve delivery of microbe-derived compounds for treatment of various diseases.
Drug formulation and delivery is an integral part of drug discovery process. It is a crucial step in ensuring absorption and bioavailability of drug compounds in the body. Various formulation approaches such as emulsion, lipid-based formulations, microparticles and nano-formulations are widely used to improve drug delivery.
Recent advances in nanotechnology have spurred the interest in the development of nano-formulations in drug delivery. Some of the superior features that nano-formulations could offer include higher drug loading capacity, flexibility of the formulation to be modified according to need, improved bioavailability, prolonged circulation time of the formulation in the body, to name a few. The application of nano-formulation has been widely explored in an attempt to improve delivery of conventional drugs. An increased use of such formulations to encapsulate plant-derived from plant origin to achieve higher treatment efficiency is also being seen in recent years.
As an attempt to discover more potential drug for various disease treatments, scientists are looking into isolating pharmacologically active compounds from microbes. Ever since the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928, bioprospecting in microbial natural products have achieved many remarkable milestone in medicinal uses such as the development of anticancer, antidiabetic drugs and immunosuppressants. Undeniably, microbes have been, and continue to be, the mainstay for prolific source of structurally diverse bioactive metabolites and have yielded numerous important pharmaceutical products known today. Nevertheless, most of these compounds tend to share similar properties with conventional drugs as well as plant derived compounds in terms of low solubility and low bioavailability. Potent compounds would not make it to clinical use if they are limited by such drawbacks. Hence formulation approach appears to be a decent resolution to these problems in order to improve the delivery of such compounds.
In this research topic, we welcome contributions that provide updates on theoretical aspects pertaining to drug discovery from microbe sources, the insights on their pharmacological mechanism of action, and the application of formulation strategy for microbe-derived pharmacological compounds. In addition, this topic will also explore the chemical constituents and structural characterization of microbe-derived compounds. Importantly contributions with multi-disciplinary nature are particularly welcome. We also welcome contributions in the related work area other than the mentioned formulation examples.
We encourage submissions of the following article types: original research articles, reviews, mini-reviews, methods article, hypothesis and theory articles, perspective, technology report, opinions and commentaries. Finally, we would like to arrive at a general consensus on the possible use of nano-formulation to improve delivery of microbe-derived compounds for treatment of various diseases.
