Formulation and evaluation of drug loaded nanoparticles for rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common inflammatory disease characterized by progressive bone and cartilage destruction resulting in severe functional limitations, shortened lifespan, and increased mortality rates. RA affects approximately 1% of the general population worldwide. Recent advances and new treatment approaches have significantly delayed disease progression and improved quality of life for many patients. Unlike conventional drugs, the nanocarrier system may increase the solubility of certain drugs and protect them against degradation in the circulation, further increasing their local bioavailability and reducing unwanted off-target side effects. Therefore this study was undertaken to develop nanotechnology based strategies for the treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis. The cornerstone of conventional DMARD therapy is Methotrexate, an antimetabolite that inhibits dihydrofolate reductase but modulate release of various cytokines via adenosine-cyclic adenosine monophosphate pathway. The adverse effects associated with MTX use are stomatitis, nausea, vomiting, anorexia and diahrroea. Less common but more serious organ-system toxicities include hepatic toxicity and bone marrow suppression. For several decades, naturally occurring flavonoids have received wide spread attention due to remarkable scope of healthy benefits. Quercetin is one of the most common flavonoids present in nature, possesses antioxidant, antibacterial, antiinflammatory, antiviral and anticancer activities. In spite of this wide spectrum of pharmacological properties, the use of Quercetin in pharmaceutical field is limited due to its low aqueous solubility and instability in physiological medium. One way to circumvent these problems are to entrap the drug molecule into natural biodegradable polymeric nanoparticle. Nanosizing of the drugs in the proposed drug loaded nanoparticulate therapy is expected to increase the aqueous solubility and thereby increase the bioavailability of Quercetin. newline