Albert Nguessan Ngo

Recent advances in drug delivery have shifted the focus toward improving specificity, reducing toxicity, and developing novel platforms that are suitable for diverse routes of administration, including injections and oral therapies. Conventional cancer therapies often suffer from poor pharmacokinetics and off-target side effects, limiting their clinical utility and effectiveness in cancer treatment. Cancer immunotherapy, a treatment strategy that utilizes the body’s immune system to recognize and eliminate tumors, has emerged as an alternative to traditional therapies, but is limited by inefficient and non-specific delivery of immunomodulatory agents. Therefore, strategies such as microneedles (MNs), exosomes, and orally dissolving films (ODFs) have gained attention for their ability to target treatment specificity and improve patient response. Microneedles offer a minimally invasive, localized delivery strategy that bypasses the skin barrier and directly targets areas with high immune cell activity, making them promising for cancer immunotherapy and vaccine delivery. As naturally derived nanocarriers, exosomes provide a biocompatible, low-immune-response platform for delivering proteins, nucleic acids, and immunomodulatory agents, with the added advantage of naturally targeting specific cells. The flexibility of engineered exosome-based delivery systems is underscored by the wide range of cellular sources from which exosomes can be derived and their capacity for customization potential to improve targeting. Meanwhile, ODFs offer a patient-friendly alternative that enables rapid mucosal absorption and partial metabolic avoidance, supporting both small-molecule and immunotherapy-based applications. These strategies pave the way for a more personalized and efficient therapeutic delivery system. Each approach offers clear benefits, but challenges such as drug-loading capacity and regulatory hurdles persist. Continued development and integration of these technologies may significantly improve treatment outcomes, particularly in cancer, by enabling more targeted, controlled, and patient-accessible drug delivery.

Introduction Hypertension (SBP/DBP > 130/80 mmHg) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease worldwide. Aim To determine the prevalence of hypertension in a homeless community during an interprofessional education (IPE)-based health fair. Methods Homeless participants were recruited between August 2019–September 2019. Faculty, nursing, and pharmacist students, educated 477 participants, aged 18–80 years, on the risk factors associated with untreated hypertension. Then, participants self-completed the consented demographic survey questionnaire. Finally, the sitting blood pressure (BP) was recorded three times based on a standardized procedure, using Omron BPN monitor with cuff. Results Seven pharmacy students, nine nursing students, two registered nurses, five registered pharmacists, and two medical doctors collaboratively provided health education to the homeless community and screened their sitting BP. 390/477 (81.8%) of participants satisfied the inclusion criteria. Participants (54.7%) of the reported education level was at the high School level or less. More than the half of the participants (average age of 51 ± 13 years) had hypertension (median SBP/DBP ≥ 130/82.7 mmHg), respectively. The prevalence of hypertension for the overall cohort was 61.52% (95% CI, 56.59–66.35). Age (p value = 0.000) was significantly associated with hypertension based on the binary logistic analysis. Conclusion This study demonstrated a high prevalence of hypertension in the homeless community in Long Beach, California with high risk of cardio-vascular events or strokes. This works sheds new light on an issue of major public health significance and points to the need for fostering IPE community-based health fairs intervention program for the US homeless population.

Homelessness is a modern social and economic problem of major public health significance. In the United States of America (USA), several studies have identified different leading causes of morbidity and mortality among homeless populations.

Purpose It is hypothesized that sodium acetate (SA) can be used for in situ coating of drug loaded chitosan NPs for improved physico-chemical properties. Methods Tenofovir (TFV) is used as a model drug. Uncoated chitosan NPs are prepared by ionic gelation. SA is generated in situ from half neutralization of acetic acid with sodium hydroxide, and coats chitosan NPs during freeze-drying. The NPs' physico-chemical properties [e.g., particle mean diameters (PMD) zeta potential (ζ), EE%, drug release profile, morphology] are characterized by dynamic light scattering, spectrophotometry, Korsmeyer-Peppas model, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. Melting point (MP), non-aqueous titration, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis, and powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD) pattern evaluate the SA coated chitosan NPs. The NPs' cytotoxicity on macrophages Raw 264.7 is assessed by neutral red, resazurin, nitrite oxide (NO) and cytokines assays. Results Collectively, FTIR, ζ, XRD, MP, and TEM data confirm that SA coats chitosan NPs. The PMD range is 136–348 nm (uncoated) and 171–379 nm (coated NPs). The ζ values range is +24.3–28.5 mV (uncoated) and 0.1–3.1 mV (coated NPs). The EE% ranges from 5.5 to 11.7% (uncoated NPs) and increased up to 86.3-92.7%(8-17-fold) after coating. The SA also prevents NPs aggregation during the freeze-drying and aqueous dispersion. The core-shell NPs exhibited a sustain release of TFV following anomalous transport mechanism (R² ~ 0.99). The coated NPs are non-cytotoxic (cell viability ~100%) and without any proinflammatory response. Conclusions This SA coating chitosan NPs mechanism may be useful for (i) efficient encapsulation, (ii) stabilizing colloidal dispersions, (iii) controlling the release and solubility of bioactive agents.