Pharmaceutical Science: Research Trends and Challenges Vol. 1

Moringa oleifera in Rinse-Off Cosmetic Formulations: A Critical Narrative Review of Phytochemistry, Formulation Challenges, Safety and Evidence for Skin and Hair Benefits

Anjali Wanegaonkar — 2026-08-14

Background: Moringa oleifera Lam. is increasingly promoted as a multifunctional botanical ingredient for rinse-off personal care products, including shampoos, cleansers, body washes and soaps, on the basis of a broad traditional-medicine reputation and an expanding laboratory literature. Whether this reputation is matched by evidence specific to short-contact-time, water-rinsed formulations, rather than to leave-on products, oral consumption or unrelated pharmacological contexts, has not been critically examined.

Purpose and Scope: This critical narrative review synthesises the phytochemical basis, formulation-related technical challenges, dermatological and immunological safety evidence, and the strength of evidence for skin- and hair-related benefit claims attributed to Moringa oleifera, with particular attention to relevance for rinse-off product formats.

Methods: Peer-reviewed literature was identified through a structured search of biomedical and chemical literature indexed on general academic search platforms, supplemented by backward citation checking, and appraised for methodological quality, source credibility and direct relevance to the stated claim.

Principal Findings: Seed oil composition converges on oleic acid as the dominant fatty acid alongside tocopherols and phytosterols, but absolute proportions vary considerably with geographic origin, cultivar and extraction method, indicating that the raw material is chemically heterogeneous rather than standardised. Formulation-relevant technical work addresses surfactant and foaming behaviour, oxidative and thermal stability of the seed oil, microbial preservation of water-rich bases, and nanocarrier delivery, but rarely evaluates finished rinse-off products directly. Dermal tolerability data from formulation studies are generally reassuring at tested concentrations, whereas hypersensitivity and occupational-asthma reports concern oral or inhalational, not topical rinse-off, exposure. Evidence for moisturising, antioxidant, photoprotective, depigmenting, antimicrobial and hair-growth-promoting claims is dominated by in vitro assays, short human biophysical studies of leave-on formulations, and rodent or rabbit models, with negligible direct testing of rinse-off product formats and no identified randomised controlled trials of finished shampoos or cleansers against active comparators.

Conclusions and Implications: The available evidence supports plausible, moderately consistent mechanistic and short-term dermatological findings but does not yet substantiate specific rinse-off efficacy claims at the level of rigour expected for such claims, and the field would benefit from raw-material standardisation, exposure-route-specific safety substantiation, and trials conducted on finished rinse-off products rather than extrapolated from leave-on or animal work.

Engineering Dendritic Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles for Gene Delivery in Glioblastoma: Emerging Strategies and Translational Perspectives

Alper DEMİREZEN — 2026-08-14

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive adult-type diffuse glioma and remains difficult to treat because of extensive infiltration, molecular and cellular heterogeneity, therapeutic resistance, and an immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. Dendritic cells (DCs) coordinate antigen presentation and T-cell priming, but their abundance and function are limited in GBM. Dendritic cell-derived extracellular vesicles (DC-EVs), including preparations commonly described as dendritic cell-derived exosomes, retain selected antigen-presenting and immunoregulatory molecules and can be engineered to carry nucleic acids, proteins, antigens, and targeting ligands. This narrative review evaluates the biological rationale, engineering approaches, delivery barriers, preclinical evidence, clinical precedents, and manufacturing requirements relevant to DC-EV-mediated gene delivery in GBM. Particular attention is given to blood-brain and blood-tumour barrier heterogeneity, endosomal escape, cargo quantification, biodistribution, potency, and safety. Current evidence supports the feasibility of DC vaccination in GBM and the clinical manufacture of DC-EVs in other cancers, but no engineered DC-EV gene-delivery product has established clinical efficacy in human GBM. Translation therefore requires reproducible product definition, mechanism-linked potency assays, relevant orthotopic and immunocompetent models, quantitative biodistribution, and controlled clinical evaluation.

Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine: Current Progress and Future Prospects

Shubham M. Shende — 2026-08-14

Pharmacogenomics is one of the most mature genomic applications within personalised medicine, yet its translation into routine care remains uneven. This critical narrative review examines the evidential, technical and organisational conditions under which inherited genomic variation can improve medication selection, dosing and safety. Literature published from 1997 to 31 May 2026 was identified through PubMed/MEDLINE, Crossref metadata verification, the Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium and ClinPGx/PharmGKB resources, regulatory information, and backward and forward citation searching. Evidence was appraised according to analytical validity, genotype-to-phenotype reliability, clinical validity, clinical utility, study design, population representation, implementation feasibility and economic transferability. The strongest evidence concerns prevention of severe, mechanism-linked toxicity, particularly HLA-associated hypersensitivity and selected metabolic defects, where the causal chain from variant to phenotype and therapeutic action is comparatively direct. Evidence is also persuasive for several context-specific dosing or drug-selection decisions, including thiopurines, fluoropyrimidines, clopidogrel and selected statins. By contrast, results for warfarin and combinatorial psychiatric testing show that biological plausibility and altered prescribing do not necessarily yield large or persistent patient-level benefits. Pre-emptive panel testing can reduce clinically relevant adverse reactions, but its effectiveness depends on laboratory completeness, harmonised phenotype translation, rapid result availability, electronic decision support, clinician uptake and longitudinal data portability. Current evidence is constrained by ancestry imbalance, incomplete interrogation of complex pharmacogenes, proprietary algorithms, inconsistent outcomes and economic models that often depend on local assumptions. Pharmacogenomics should therefore be treated neither as a universal replacement for clinical judgement nor as a collection of isolated genetic tests. Its most defensible role is as durable prescribing infrastructure integrated with phenotype, co-medication, organ function, treatment indication and patient preference. Progress will require ancestry-diverse prospective studies, standardised test content, transparent algorithms, learning health-system evaluation and governance that prevents genomic benefit from widening existing inequities.

Assessment of Insulin Injection Techniques and Associated Factors in Diabetic Patients: A Cross-sectional Study at the Military Hospital of Tunis, Tunisia

Zouaoui Chadia — 2026-08-14

Background: Correct insulin injection technique is vital for effective diabetes management and the prevention of cutaneous complications. Nevertheless, deviations from recommended injection guidelines remain widespread in real-world clinical practice.

Aims: This study aimed to assess insulin injection techniques in diabetic patients and to identify factors associated with glycaemic control and injection pain.

Study Design and Setting: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Endocrinology and Nutrition Department of the Military Hospital of Tunis, Tunisia, over a two-month period from January to February 2023.

Methodology: We included 50 patients (28 men and 22 women; age range, 24–85 years) with type 1 diabetes or insulin-requiring type 2 diabetes. The 30-item questionnaire was adapted from the “Updated 2017 French Diabetes Society Paramedical Best Practice Guidelines”. It covered insulin storage, injection sites, filling and priming techniques, injection practices, post-use waste management, and injection pain assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale.

Results: The mean age was 56.4 ± 19.4 years, and the mean duration of diabetes was 13.3 years, with a mean HbA1c of 10.2%. The mean duration of insulin therapy was 7.4 ± 5.5 years; the regimens were bedtime insulin (22%), basal insulin (36%), basal-plus (20%), and basal-bolus (22%). The mean number of daily injections was three (range, one to six). Thirty-three patients had received education, mainly regarding insulin storage (78.8%) and injection-site selection (63.6%). Only 20% of patients rotated injection sites regularly, 14% systematically screened for lipodystrophy, and 48% used the skin-fold technique; needle reuse and unsafe waste disposal were reported by 86% and 94%, respectively.

Glycaemic control was associated with injection-site rotation (P = .01), injection into lipodystrophic areas (P = .03), and use of the skin-fold technique (P = .01). The presence and intensity of injection pain were associated with the mean number of injections per needle (P = .04 and P = .001, respectively).

Conclusion: Substantial knowledge and practice gaps remain in insulin administration among patients with diabetes. Structured therapeutic education programmes in diabetes clinics and inpatient units are needed to address these deficiencies.

Recent Advances in Analytical Methods for Quantification of Gemcitabine in Pharmaceutical and Biological Samples (2013–2023)

Hari Prasath — 2026-08-14

Cancer is a leading cause of mortality worldwide and comprises a broad group of diseases that can affect virtually any organ system. Gemcitabine is a potent cytotoxic agent classified as a pyrimidine nucleoside antimetabolite and is widely used to treat various metastatic and prostatic cancers. Approved by the FDA in 1996, it is indicated for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and breast cancer. In advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma (stage II, stage III, or metastatic stage IV), for which regional resection is no longer viable, gemcitabine often serves as a first-line treatment. As a prodrug, gemcitabine requires phosphorylation by deoxycytidine kinase to form its active intracellular metabolites and exert its therapeutic effects. This review aims to systematically summarise and critically evaluate analytical and bioanalytical methods for gemcitabine in pharmaceutical products and biological matrices reported from 2003 to 2023. The literature describes numerous methods for estimating gemcitabine, either alone or in combination with other agents. These methods include UV spectrophotometry, spectrofluorimetry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), and advanced hyphenated techniques. In addition, this review evaluates the greenness profiles of reported analytical methods from 2003 to 2023 using the National Environmental Methods Index (NEMI), in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. The findings indicate that the reported UV spectroscopic methods are simple, accurate, precise, and cost-effective and employ different solvents while providing good recovery. The chromatographic methods reported across different studies represent a diverse range of analytical approaches that balance accuracy and precision, stability-indicating capability for detecting degradation products, short retention times for enhanced throughput, and adaptability to different matrices and pharmaceutical formulations. Recent advances in bioanalytical techniques, including UHPLC-MS/MS, HILIC, fluorescence-based sensors, and nanoparticle formulations, have improved the precision and efficiency of drug monitoring. Assessment of the greenness profiles using NEMI indicated that approximately 90% of the methods achieved 50% compliance with the NEMI criteria. The findings emphasise the need to develop more robust, efficient, and environmentally friendly methods, particularly sorbent-based microextraction techniques, which may support biomedical research. This review provides a useful overview for researchers and encourages the adoption of greener analytical approaches using environmentally preferable solvents for determining gemcitabine in biological matrices and pharmaceutical products.

Emerging Formulation and Delivery Technologies for Optimising Paclitaxel Therapy: A Critical Narrative Review of Evidence, Mechanistic Assumptions and Translational Barriers

Andreea Creteanu — 2026-08-14

Paclitaxel remains one of the most widely prescribed cytotoxic agents in solid tumour oncology, yet its clinical value has always been constrained by pharmaceutical rather than pharmacological limitations. Negligible aqueous solubility forced the original product into a polyoxyethylated castor oil and ethanol vehicle that introduced hypersensitivity reactions, non-linear disposition and a reduced unbound drug fraction. Three decades of reformulation have produced an albumin-bound nanoparticle product, several micellar and liposomal alternatives, polymer conjugates, an orally bioavailable combination with a P-glycoprotein inhibitor, intraperitoneal regimens, implantable depots and endovascular coated devices, alongside a very large preclinical literature on actively targeted and stimuli-responsive carriers. This review critically evaluates that body of work, asking which reformulation strategies have produced reproducible patient benefit, which have produced only redistribution of toxicity, and why the gap between preclinical promise and clinical outcome has proved so persistent. Randomised evidence indicates that solvent removal reliably changes infusion logistics, premedication requirements and the pattern of adverse effects, and that albumin-bound paclitaxel improves response rates and survival in defined settings, particularly metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma and squamous non-small-cell lung cancer. The same evidence shows that superiority is neither uniform nor dose-independent, and that head-to-head comparisons against optimised weekly schedules of the conventional product have not consistently favoured the nanoparticle formulation. Mechanistic explanations invoking secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine, caveolar transcytosis or enhanced permeability and retention are supported by preclinical data but have not been validated as predictive biomarkers in randomised trials. Recurrent methodological weaknesses include reliance on subcutaneous xenografts, comparator arms using non-equivalent doses or schedules, inconsistent reporting of nanomaterial characterisation, and endpoints that reward tolerability shifts more than survival. Priorities for the next decade concern pharmacodynamically anchored dose equivalence, validated delivery biomarkers, manufacturing and regulatory frameworks adequate to complex particulate products, and honest appraisal of cost relative to demonstrated benefit.

Formulation and Evaluation of Acyclovir-Loaded Chitosan Microspheres for Ocular Delivery

S. Selvaraj — 2026-08-14

Topical ocular administration of acyclovir is limited by poor corneal penetration, rapid precorneal loss, and low ocular bioavailability. This study developed acyclovir-loaded chitosan microspheres by ionic gelation with sodium tripolyphosphate and evaluated the influence of drug concentration on their physicochemical and release characteristics. Five formulations containing 25–125 mg of acyclovir and 250 mg of chitosan were prepared. The microspheres were characterised using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, particle-size analysis, zeta-potential measurement, scanning electron microscopy, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, and in vitro release testing in phosphate buffer at pH 7.4. The formulations produced smooth, spherical, micron-sized particles ranging from 2 to 12 µm, with positive zeta potentials of +36.1 to +43.6 mV. Encapsulation efficiency ranged from 52% to 78%, whereas loading capacity ranged from 12% to 26%. Increasing acyclovir concentration was associated with reductions in particle size, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency, together with an increase in loading capacity. Spectroscopic and thermal findings indicated interaction between acyclovir and chitosan while retaining the crystalline character of acyclovir. The selected microsphere formulation provided sustained in vitro drug release over 24 h. Release data were consistent with first-order kinetics and a non-Fickian mechanism involving combined diffusion and matrix-related processes. These findings indicate that acyclovir-loaded chitosan microspheres have potential as a controlled ocular delivery system, although further optimisation and in vivo evaluation are required.