Shiow-Fern Ng

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia | ukm · Center for Drug Delivery Research

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a complex, relapsing inflammatory skin disease with a considerable social and economic burden globally. AD is primarily characterized by its chronic pattern and it can have important modifications in the quality of life of the patients and caretakers. One of the fastest-growing topics in translational medicine today is the...

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an autologous concentration of human platelets in a small volume of plasma. PRP has displayed remarkable therapeutic potential in promoting wound healing and tissue regeneration. The significance behind its use lies in the abundance of growth factors (GF) in the PRP concentrate. These factors are shown to regulate cell...

The clinical use of platelet lysate (PL) in the treatment of wounds is limited by its rapid degradation by proteases at the tissue site. This research aims to develop a chitosan (CS) and kenaf nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) hydrogel composite, which intend to stabilize PL and control its release onto the wound site for prolonged action. NCC was sy...

Nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) has been widely used as an orthopedic biomaterial and vehicle for drug delivery owing to its chemical and structural similarity to bone minerals. Several studies have demonstrated that nHA based biomaterials have a potential effect for bone regeneration with very minimal to no toxicity or inflammatory response. This system...

Andrographolide (AG) is an active compound isolated from Andrographis paniculata (Family Acanthaceae). Although it possesses beneficial bioactivities to the skin, there is insufficient information of its applications for treatment of skin disorders due to low water solubility leading to complications in product development. To overcome the problem,...

Hyperpigmentation affects people globally with negative psychological impacts. Piper betle L. leaf (PBL) extract has many benefits including skin lightening which may reduce hyperpigmentation. The objective of this study was to develop an effective skin-lightening cream containing PBL with ideal characteristics. A formulation of base cream and PBL...

Sea cucumbers are attractive marine natural sources as they are enriched with functional biomaterials that can contribute in accelerating wound healing. The present study was carried out to prepare cream formulations comprising extract of sea cucumber with different type of oil phase, namely F1 (olive oil), F2 (tea tree oil) and F3 (lemongrass oil)...

Introduction The incorporation of serious games in higher education has shown improvement in student engagement and motivation to learn. Research that explores local pharmacy student preferences of gamification aspects of serious games is scarce. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate local pharmacy student experience, preference, and p...

Previously we developed and characterized a novel hydrogel film wound dressing containing Sodium Alginate and Pectin loaded with Simvastatin with multi-functional properties. This study investigated the in-vivo efficacy of the developed wound dressing on type I diabetic wound model. Experiments were performed on male Wistar rats for the period of 2...

Vitamin E belongs to the family of lipid-soluble vitamins and can be divided into two groups, tocopherols and tocotrienols, with four isomers (alpha, beta, gamma and delta). Although vitamin E is widely known as a potent antioxidant, studies have also revealed that vitamin E possesses anti-inflammatory properties. These crucial properties of vitami...

Fatty acids derived from renewable sources have been shown to have promising antibacterial activity. Palm glyceryl monocaprylate (GMCY), a medium chain fatty acids derived from palm kernel oil, was reported to have bactericidal effects. In this study, the potential application GMCY as antibacterial nanoformulation for the treatment of infected woun...

This research focuses on the development of a hybrid dressing, i.e. Moringa oleifera (MOL) leave extract nanofibers impregnated onto an alginate-pectin hydrocolloid film for chronic wound healing. The MOL nanofibers impregnated hydrocolloid films were characterised and optimised by physicomechanical properties, moisture transmission, swelling ratio...

Improved physicochemical properties of chitosan-curcumin nanoparticulate carriers using microwave technology for skin burn wound application are reported. The microwave modified low molecular weight chitosan variant was used for nanoparticle formulation by ionic gelation method nanoparticles analyzed for their physicochemical properties. The antimi...

We report a new small peptide containing four amino acid residues (glycine-aspartic acid-proline-histidine) conjugated with palmitic acid (Palmitoyl-GDPH) that was synthesized, characterized and evaluated for its biological activities. The Palmitoyl-GDPH was prepared by solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) with high percentage purity of 98.6 %. The...

In skin tissue engineering, a biodegradable scaffold is usually used where cells grow, produce its own cytokines, growth factors, and extracellular matrix, until the regenerated tissue gradually replaces the scaffold upon its degradation. However, the role of non-biodegradable scaffold remains unexplored. This study investigates the potential of a...

Chronic wounds represent serious globally health care and economic issues especially for patients with hyperglycemic condition. Wound dressings have a predominant function in wound treatment; however, the dressings for the long-lasting and non-healing wounds are still a significant challenge in the wound care management market. Astonishingly, advan...

Wound dressings have undergone an evolutionary process from natural materials that simply covered the wound to materials that focused on moisture management and, more recently, to materials such as wafer dressings that deliver active ingredients to improve the wound healing rate. Wafers are produced through a freeze‐drying process, and this process...

Research has indicated that Moringa oleifera (MO) leaves aqueous extract possesses wound healing activity. However, the wound delivery of a plant aqueous extracts is often poor due to the large molecular sizes and poor lipid solubility of the polyphenols. In this study, a phyto-phospholipid complex (phytosome) containing MO aqueous extract was deve...

Biofilms are gelatinous masses of microorganisms attached to wound surfaces. Previous studies suggest that biofilms generate resistance towards antibiotic treatments. It was reported that hydrogels containing xylitol and antibiotic combinations produced additive antibiofilm inhibition. However, hydrogel formulations lack specificity, due to which x...

Biofilms comprise bacteria attached to wound surfaces and are major contributors to non-healing wounds. It was found that the increased resistance of biofilms to antibiotics allows wound infections to persist chronically in spite of antibiotic therapy. In this study, the reduced form of graphene oxide (rGO) was explored as plausible antibiofilm age...

Background Impaired wound healing is a debilitating complication of diabetes that leads to significant morbidity, particularly foot ulcers. The risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers for diabetic patients is 15% over their lifetime and approximately 85% of limb amputations is caused by non–healing ulcers. Unhealed, gangrenous wounds destroy the st...

The evaluation of the interaction of cells with biomaterial is fundamental to establish the suitability of the biomaterial for a specific application. In this study, the properties of bacterial nanocellulose/acrylic acid (BNC/AA) hydrogels fabricated with varying BNC to AA ratios and electron beam irradiation doses were determined. The manner these...

Previously, Moringa oleifera leaf (MOL) standardised aqueous extract-loaded films were successfully developed and they showed potential wound healing activity in vitro. The objective of this study was to evaluate in vivo dermal safety as well as wound healing efficacy of these MOL film dressings (containing 0.1, 0.5 and 1% MOL) on diabetic rat mode...

Bacterial cellulose (BC)/acrylic acid (AA) hydrogel has successfully been investigated as a wound dressing for partial-thickness burn wound. It is also a promising biomaterial cell carrier because it bears some resemblance to the natural soft tissue. This study assessed its ability to deliver human epidermal keratinocytes (EK) and dermal fibroblast...

Bacterial biofilm which adheres onto wound surface is shown to be impervious to antibiotics and this in turn delays wound healing. Previous studies showed that antibiofilm agents such as xylitol and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) prevent bacterial adherence onto surfaces. Formulation of a wound dressing containing antibiofilm agents may be...

Composite film dressings composed of pluronic F127 (PL)–pectin (PC) and pluronic (PL) F127–gelatin (GL) were investigated as potential drug delivery system for wound healing. Composite films were solvent cast by blending PL with PC or GL in different ratios using glycerol (2.5%) as plasticizer. Erythromycin (ER) (0.1%) was incorporated in films as...

Hydrocortisone (HC), topical glucocorticoid along with hydroxytyrosol (HT), and anti-microbial- and anti-oxidant-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) were prepared in large scale and analyzed for their adverse effects on healthy human skin followed by repeated applications. Ten subjects were randomized to receive test (HC-HT CSNPs) and vehicle sam...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: M.oleifera is a medicinal plant traditionally used for for skin sores, sore throat and eye infections. Recently, the wound healing property of the leaves of M. oleifera was has been well demonstrated experimentally in both in vivo and in vitro models. However, there is a lack of research which focuses on formulating...

Natural polymer-based hydrogel films have great potential for biomedical applications and are good candidates for wound dressings. In this study, we aimed to develop simvastatin-loaded crosslinked alginate-pectin hydrogel films by ionic crosslinking to improve the mechanical characteristics, wound fluid uptake and drug release behavior. Alginate-pe...

Wound healing is a multifarious and vibrant process of replacing devitalized and damaged cellular structures, leading to restoration of the skin's barrier function, re-establishment of tissue integrity, and maintenance of the internal homeostasis. Curcumin (CUR) and its analogs have gained widespread recognition due to their remarkable anti-inflamm...

Previous studies have shown that hydroxytyrosol (HT) can be a potential alternative therapeutic agent for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, HT is extensively metabolized following oral administration, which leads to formulating HT in a topical vehicle to prolong drug action as well as to provide a localised effect. Hidrox-6 is a...

Wafers are an established drug delivery system for application to suppurating wounds. They can absorb wound exudates and are converted into a gel, offering a moist environment that is vital for wound healing. Simvastatin-loaded lyophilized wafers were developed using sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and methyl cellulose (MC) and evaluated for t...

The objective of this study was to investigate the in-vivo behavior of topically applied cationic polymeric chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) loaded with anti-inflammatory (hydrocortisone, HC) and antimicrobial (hydroxytyrosol, HT) drugs, to elucidate their skin targeting potential for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD). Compared to the commercia...

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Blechnum orientale Linn. (B. orientale) is a fern traditionally used by the natives as a poultice to treat wounds, boils, ulcers, blisters, abscesses, and sores on the skin. Aim of the study: To investigate the wound healing ability of a concentrated extract of B. orientale in a hydrogel formulation in healing dia...

Hydrocortisone (HC) is a topical glucocorticoid for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD); the local as well as systemic side effects limit its use. Hydroxytyrosol (HT) is a polyphenol present in olive oil that has strong antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. HC-HT coloaded chitosan nanoparticles (HC-HT CSNPs) were therefore developed to impr...

Topical chemotherapy is the application of cancer drugs directly onto the skin, which has become a standard treatment for basal cell carcinoma. Due to the promising results in the treatment of skin cancer, topical chemotherapy has recently been applied to breast cancer patients because some breast cancer tissues are only superficial. Hydroxytyrosol...

It has been established that microbial biofilms are largely responsible for the recalcitrance of many wound infections to conventional antibiotics. It was proposed that the efficacy of antibiotics could be optimized via the inhibition of bacterial biofilm growth in wounds. The combination of antibiofilm agent and antibiotics into a wound dressing m...

Hydrocortisone cream intended for atopic eczema often produces unwanted side effects after long-term use. These side effects are essentially due to repeated percutaneous administration of the medication for skin dermatitis, as atopic eczema is a relapsing disorder. Hence, there is a need to develop a new hydrocortisone formulation that will deliver...

Lyophilised wafers have been shown to have potential as a modern dressing for mucosal wound healing. The wafer absorbs wound exudates and transforms into a gel, thus providing a moist environment which is essential for wound healing. The objective of this study was to develop a carboxymethyl cellulose wafer containing antimicrobials to promote woun...

Abstract Topical emollients are known to provide symptomatic relief for atopic dermatitis. In hospitals, wet-wrap therapy has been shown to benefit children with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD), but the application of wet-wraps is tedious and time-consuming. Topical emollients have low residence time and often dry out easily. The aim of t...

In our previous study, a novel alginate-based bilayer film for slow-release wound dressings was successfully developed. We found that alginate alone yielded poor films; however, the addition of gelatine had significantly enhanced the drug dispersion as well as the physical properties. Here, an investigation of the drug-polymer interactions in the b...

Objective: The aim of this work was to develop and characterise a novel oleogel formulation using fish oil as the lipid phase for the topical delivery of BD. Methods: Fish oil oleogels containing 0.05 % w/w BD were prepared using two types of oleogelators, namely Beeswax and Span 60. The organoleptic properties, microscopic structures,textural anal...

The aims of this research were to develop a novel bilayer hydrocolloid film based on alginate and to investigate its potential as slow-release wound healing vehicle. The bilayer is composed of an upper layer impregnated with model drug (ibuprofen) and a drug-free lower layer, which acted as a rate-controlling membrane. The thickness uniformity, sol...

Synthetic membranes are composed of thin sheets of polymeric macromolecules that can control the passage of components through them. Generally, synthetic membranes used in drug diffusion studies have one of two functions: skin simulation or quality control. Synthetic membranes for skin simulation, such as the silicone-based membranes polydimethylsi...

Over the years, in vitro Franz diffusion experiments have evolved into one of the most important methods for researching transdermal drug administration. Unfortunately, this type of testing often yields permeation data that suffer from poor reproducibility. Moreover, this feature frequently occurs when synthetic membranes are used as barriers, in w...

Synthetic membranes used in Franz diffusion cells for topical formulation quality assessment should provide least resistance to drug diffusion. In this study, the diffusion rates of ibuprofen across thirteen membranes were determined using Franz diffusion cells. Correlation of the membrane thickness, pore size and MWCO with drug fluxes was also mad...