Post by dividavi on Jan 23, 2021 9:29:07 GMT
Nasal spray, you ask? Do you think nasal spray is an important scientific development? Yes, yes I do. In fact, the research into the administration of nasal spray will have immense effects on human civilization and quality of life. Researchers at McMaster University (Montreal) have created a nasal spray system that can inject medication directly to the brain. At the other end of Canada (Vancouver) a nitric acid nose/throat spray seems to be 99.9% effective in eliminating Covid viruses.
Nasal spray delivers antipsychotic drugs straight to the brain, cutting required dose by up to 75 per cent and reducing adverse side effects
link
A team of neuroscientists and engineers at McMaster University has created a nasal spray to deliver antipsychotic medication directly to the brain instead of having it pass through the body.
The leap in efficiency means patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other conditions could see their doses of powerful antipsychotic medications cut by as much as three quarters, which is expected to spare them from sometimes-debilitating side effects while also significantly reducing the frequency of required treatment.
Image credit: Pixabay (Free Pixabay license)
The new method delivers medication in a spray that reaches the brain directly through the nose, offering patients greater ease of use and the promise of improved quality of life, including more reliable, effective treatment.
Ram Mishra, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and co-director of McMaster’s School of Biomedical Engineering, and Todd Hoare, a Canada Research Chair and professor of chemical engineering, describe their research in a newly published article in the Journal of Controlled Release.
They and their co-authors Michael Majcher, Ali Babar, Andrew Lofts, and Fahed Abuhijleh have proven the concept of their new delivery mechanism in rats with PAOPA, an experimental drug used to treat schizophrenia. In related work, the researchers have also produced similar results with other, commonly prescribed antipsychotic drugs.
A problem for patients using antipsychotic medications, Mishra explains, is that taking them orally or by injection means the drugs must pass through the body before they reach the brain through the blood. To be sure enough oral or injected medication reaches the brain, a patient must take much more than the brain will ultimately receive, leading to sometimes serious adverse side effects, including weight gain, diabetes, drug-induced movement disorders and organ damage over the long term.
When delivered through the nose, the spray medication can enter the brain directly via the olfactory nerve.
“The trick here is to administer the drug through the back door to the brain, since the front door is sealed so tightly,” Mishra says. “This way we can bypass the blood-brain barrier. By delivering the drug directly to the target, we can avoid side effects below the brain.”
Mishra and collaborator Rodney Johnson of the University of Minnesota had previously created a water-soluble form of the medication, which was used in the current research. The new form they created was easier to manipulate, but they still lacked an effective vehicle for getting it to the brain. A particular issue was that drugs delivered via the nose are typically cleared from the body quickly, requiring frequent re-administration.
Hoare, in the meantime, had been working with an industrial partner to develop the use microscopic nanoparticles of corn starch for agricultural applications.
The two scientists, who work across campus from one another, came together after researchers in their labs met at an internal McMaster conference. Two of the researchers, Babar and Lofts, worked on the project in both labs.
The engineering team was able to bind the drug to the corn starch nanoparticles that, when sprayed together with a natural polymer derived from crabs, could penetrate deep into the nasal cavity and form a thin gel in the mucus lining, slowly releasing a controlled dose of the drug, which remains effective for treating schizophrenia symptoms over three days.
“The cornstarch nanoparticles we were using for an industrial application were the perfect vehicle,” Hoare says. “They are naturally derived, they break down over time into simple sugars, and we need to do very little chemistry on them to make this technology work, so they are great candidates for biological uses like this.”
The gradual release means patients would only need to take their medication every few days instead of every day or, in some cases, every few hours.
The research work was funded by a Collaborative Health Research Partnership Grant (from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and McMaster University’s Interdisciplinary Research Fund.
The researchers are seeking a corporate partner to move the technology into the marketplace.
Source: McMaster University
Israeli’s Covid-killing nasal spray could be available in six months
Dr Gilly Regev, CEO of Canada-based SaNOtize, says her company’s spray can be used in the same way as hand sanitiser
www.thejc.com/news/world/israeli-s-covid-killing-nasal-spray-could-be-available-in-six-months-1.510579
Dr Gilly Regev's is CEO of SaNOtize Picture: SaNOtize
The Israeli scientist behind a Covid-killing nasal spray believes the potentially life-saving product could be available in six months – and says it can be used in the same way as hand sanitiser.
Dr Gilly Regev is the CEO of Canada-based SaNOtize, whose Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray proved 99.9 per cent effective in independent lab tests at Utah State University in the US.
The spray, which attacks Covid-19 in the upper airways before it can multiply and spread, is currently undergoing Phase II trials in Canada and the UK, with more tests approved for countries including the United States.
Dr Regev said: “The idea is that when you use the spray…it’s exactly like a hand sanitiser. You use it when you think you may have something on your hands, so you use the hand sanitiser to kill it.
“It’s the exact same thing. You go outside and you may have been breathing the virus, then you use the nasal spray to kill.”
Dr Regev demonstrates the nasal spray Image: SaNOtize
Dr Regev and her team have prioritised testing the spray as an early treatment while they lobby for government support to fund larger and more expensive prevention trials. Prevention trials - like those for vaccines - require several thousand people, whereas double-blind treatment trials can involve as few as 50.
Nitric oxide, Dr Regev explained, is a molecule that already exists in the human body, which produces it in greater amounts when a person has an infection.
She said: “So if I have the virus on there, on the surface of my nose, and I use the spray, it has a barrier that prevents the virus from going in.
“And it has nitric oxide also within this barrier that will kill the virus. So the nitric oxide basically attaches to the virus and changes it so it can’t infect you anymore.”
While Covid-19 can enter the body in various ways, Dr Regev is optimistic that stopping the virus in the nose could drastically improve symptoms and prognosis.
She said: “I think there is a good correlation… between how badly you are infected and [your symptoms].
“The infection dose is really important, so if we can bring it down and have less virus in your body, then you will have less symptoms – or none.”
Anti-viral spray: Dr Gilly Regev Photo: Sanotize
SaNOtize is developing various formulations of the product, and it will be up to individual governments to determine how it is regulated or made available.
The company developed a new bottle, which is already being manufactured in Israel, and they are working with Israeli pharmaceutical partners Nextar to produce the drug.
Dr Regev is confident the trials will be successful.
She said: “I think that we could within six months get the approval, and that’s why we’re ramping up manufacturing, so that when we get [it] we’re already ready to go.”
The Herzliya native, who completed her PhD in biochemistry at the Hebrew University, once had a very different career path in mind—wine.
Dr Regev funded her studies by working as a certified sommelier at Tel Aviv’s now-shuttered Mul Yam, once one of Israel’s most lauded restaurants. Her doctorate focused on antioxidants in wine and she continued to work in the industry throughout her master’s and PhD.
She added a Canadian diploma in wine and spirits after moving to Vancouver in 2004.
Dr Regev and business partner Dr Chris Miller Photo: SaNOtize
The mother-of-two pivoted to medical science after meeting Dr Chris Miller, with whom she set up SaNOtize in 2017.
She explained: “I wanted to go back to do some science and when I met Chris I just got fascinated by the nitric oxide world.”
The nasal spray is just one of the products the company, which employs 10 scientists, has in development. They are also trialling treatments for sinusitis and diabetic foot ulcers.
Dr Regev said: “I think both my partner and I are in this to make a difference, to help people with all kinds of diseases [who] have no other options.”
Nasal spray delivers antipsychotic drugs straight to the brain, cutting required dose by up to 75 per cent and reducing adverse side effects
link
A team of neuroscientists and engineers at McMaster University has created a nasal spray to deliver antipsychotic medication directly to the brain instead of having it pass through the body.
The leap in efficiency means patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other conditions could see their doses of powerful antipsychotic medications cut by as much as three quarters, which is expected to spare them from sometimes-debilitating side effects while also significantly reducing the frequency of required treatment.
Image credit: Pixabay (Free Pixabay license)
The new method delivers medication in a spray that reaches the brain directly through the nose, offering patients greater ease of use and the promise of improved quality of life, including more reliable, effective treatment.
Ram Mishra, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences and co-director of McMaster’s School of Biomedical Engineering, and Todd Hoare, a Canada Research Chair and professor of chemical engineering, describe their research in a newly published article in the Journal of Controlled Release.
They and their co-authors Michael Majcher, Ali Babar, Andrew Lofts, and Fahed Abuhijleh have proven the concept of their new delivery mechanism in rats with PAOPA, an experimental drug used to treat schizophrenia. In related work, the researchers have also produced similar results with other, commonly prescribed antipsychotic drugs.
A problem for patients using antipsychotic medications, Mishra explains, is that taking them orally or by injection means the drugs must pass through the body before they reach the brain through the blood. To be sure enough oral or injected medication reaches the brain, a patient must take much more than the brain will ultimately receive, leading to sometimes serious adverse side effects, including weight gain, diabetes, drug-induced movement disorders and organ damage over the long term.
When delivered through the nose, the spray medication can enter the brain directly via the olfactory nerve.
“The trick here is to administer the drug through the back door to the brain, since the front door is sealed so tightly,” Mishra says. “This way we can bypass the blood-brain barrier. By delivering the drug directly to the target, we can avoid side effects below the brain.”
Mishra and collaborator Rodney Johnson of the University of Minnesota had previously created a water-soluble form of the medication, which was used in the current research. The new form they created was easier to manipulate, but they still lacked an effective vehicle for getting it to the brain. A particular issue was that drugs delivered via the nose are typically cleared from the body quickly, requiring frequent re-administration.
Hoare, in the meantime, had been working with an industrial partner to develop the use microscopic nanoparticles of corn starch for agricultural applications.
The two scientists, who work across campus from one another, came together after researchers in their labs met at an internal McMaster conference. Two of the researchers, Babar and Lofts, worked on the project in both labs.
The engineering team was able to bind the drug to the corn starch nanoparticles that, when sprayed together with a natural polymer derived from crabs, could penetrate deep into the nasal cavity and form a thin gel in the mucus lining, slowly releasing a controlled dose of the drug, which remains effective for treating schizophrenia symptoms over three days.
“The cornstarch nanoparticles we were using for an industrial application were the perfect vehicle,” Hoare says. “They are naturally derived, they break down over time into simple sugars, and we need to do very little chemistry on them to make this technology work, so they are great candidates for biological uses like this.”
The gradual release means patients would only need to take their medication every few days instead of every day or, in some cases, every few hours.
The research work was funded by a Collaborative Health Research Partnership Grant (from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and McMaster University’s Interdisciplinary Research Fund.
The researchers are seeking a corporate partner to move the technology into the marketplace.
Source: McMaster University
Israeli’s Covid-killing nasal spray could be available in six months
Dr Gilly Regev, CEO of Canada-based SaNOtize, says her company’s spray can be used in the same way as hand sanitiser
www.thejc.com/news/world/israeli-s-covid-killing-nasal-spray-could-be-available-in-six-months-1.510579
Dr Gilly Regev's is CEO of SaNOtize Picture: SaNOtize
The Israeli scientist behind a Covid-killing nasal spray believes the potentially life-saving product could be available in six months – and says it can be used in the same way as hand sanitiser.
Dr Gilly Regev is the CEO of Canada-based SaNOtize, whose Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray proved 99.9 per cent effective in independent lab tests at Utah State University in the US.
The spray, which attacks Covid-19 in the upper airways before it can multiply and spread, is currently undergoing Phase II trials in Canada and the UK, with more tests approved for countries including the United States.
Dr Regev said: “The idea is that when you use the spray…it’s exactly like a hand sanitiser. You use it when you think you may have something on your hands, so you use the hand sanitiser to kill it.
“It’s the exact same thing. You go outside and you may have been breathing the virus, then you use the nasal spray to kill.”
Dr Regev demonstrates the nasal spray Image: SaNOtize
Dr Regev and her team have prioritised testing the spray as an early treatment while they lobby for government support to fund larger and more expensive prevention trials. Prevention trials - like those for vaccines - require several thousand people, whereas double-blind treatment trials can involve as few as 50.
Nitric oxide, Dr Regev explained, is a molecule that already exists in the human body, which produces it in greater amounts when a person has an infection.
She said: “So if I have the virus on there, on the surface of my nose, and I use the spray, it has a barrier that prevents the virus from going in.
“And it has nitric oxide also within this barrier that will kill the virus. So the nitric oxide basically attaches to the virus and changes it so it can’t infect you anymore.”
While Covid-19 can enter the body in various ways, Dr Regev is optimistic that stopping the virus in the nose could drastically improve symptoms and prognosis.
She said: “I think there is a good correlation… between how badly you are infected and [your symptoms].
“The infection dose is really important, so if we can bring it down and have less virus in your body, then you will have less symptoms – or none.”
Anti-viral spray: Dr Gilly Regev Photo: Sanotize
SaNOtize is developing various formulations of the product, and it will be up to individual governments to determine how it is regulated or made available.
The company developed a new bottle, which is already being manufactured in Israel, and they are working with Israeli pharmaceutical partners Nextar to produce the drug.
Dr Regev is confident the trials will be successful.
She said: “I think that we could within six months get the approval, and that’s why we’re ramping up manufacturing, so that when we get [it] we’re already ready to go.”
The Herzliya native, who completed her PhD in biochemistry at the Hebrew University, once had a very different career path in mind—wine.
Dr Regev funded her studies by working as a certified sommelier at Tel Aviv’s now-shuttered Mul Yam, once one of Israel’s most lauded restaurants. Her doctorate focused on antioxidants in wine and she continued to work in the industry throughout her master’s and PhD.
She added a Canadian diploma in wine and spirits after moving to Vancouver in 2004.
Dr Regev and business partner Dr Chris Miller Photo: SaNOtize
The mother-of-two pivoted to medical science after meeting Dr Chris Miller, with whom she set up SaNOtize in 2017.
She explained: “I wanted to go back to do some science and when I met Chris I just got fascinated by the nitric oxide world.”
The nasal spray is just one of the products the company, which employs 10 scientists, has in development. They are also trialling treatments for sinusitis and diabetic foot ulcers.
Dr Regev said: “I think both my partner and I are in this to make a difference, to help people with all kinds of diseases [who] have no other options.”
