Sónia N. Pedro

University of Nottingham | Notts · School of Pharmacy

Introduction: Deep eutectic solvents comprising or acting as solvents of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API-DES) emerged as promising alternatives to improve therapeutic efficiency, with the additional possibility to integrate them in (bio)polymer-based systems to enhance their delivery. Areas covered: A critical review of the API-DES field evo...

The critical scenario of antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics highlights the need for improved therapeutics and/or formulations. Herein, we demonstrate that deep eutectic solvents (DES) formulations are very promising to remarkably improve the solubility, stability and therapeutic efficacy of antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin. DES aqueous solut...

The transdermal administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is a valuable and safer alternative to their oral intake. However, most of these drugs display low water solubility, which makes their incorporation into hydrophilic biopolymeric drug-delivery systems difficult. To overcome this drawback, aqueous solutions of bio-based...

The rise of antibiotic resistant strains, as methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), challenges the current treatment of infections. In the case of ocular infections, antibiotic eye drops are commonly prescribed. However, their efficacy is usually compromised by the low viscosity of these formulations and the eye drainage. To overcome t...

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) is a potent tool to surpass the global rise of antimicrobial resistance; still, the effective topical administration of photosensitizers remains a challenge. Biopolymer-based adhesive films can safely extend the residence time of photosensitizers. However, their wide application is narrowed by their limited...

Theaflavins, powerful antioxidants found in black tea ( Camellia sinensis ), have garnered increasing interest for their promising therapeutic potential. Experimental studies have contributed to enlightening about the advantages of theaflavins, including their antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, anticancer, antiosteoporosis, and antimicrobial propertie...

Biopolymeric injectable hydrogels are promising biomaterials for myocardial regeneration applications. Besides being biocompatible, they adjust themselves, perfectly fitting the surrounding tissue. However, due to their nature, biopolymeric hydrogels usually lack desirable functionalities, such as antioxidant activity and electrical conductivity, a...

The purification of value-added compounds by three-phase partitioning (TPP) is a promising alternative to conventional processes since the target compound can be easily recovered from the liquid-liquid interphase. Although this technique has been successfully applied to the recovery of proteins, the minimization of the use of salts and solvents mus...

The effect of water on the physicochemical properties of deep eutectic solvents (DES) is a trending research topic. In this work, inelastic neutron scattering (INS) spectroscopy, was used to probe intermolecular interactions in the water-deep eutectic solvent mixtures for the cases of choline chloride (the hydrogen bond acceptor) and three differen...

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are eutectic mixtures that present a deviation from the ideal thermodynamic solid–liquid phase behavior, where a significant depression in the melting temperature occurs. If properly designed and chosen, DES may be liquid at room and the human body’s temperatures and display a biocompatible character, thus representing...

The low solubility, permeation, and bioavailability of active pharmaceutical ingredients are the main factors affecting their delivery and therapeutic efficiency. Intensive research has pursuit new possibilities to overcome these drawbacks, in which polymers have played a major role in advances brought by drug delivery systems. Furthermore, the res...

Ionic liquids (ILs) are molten salts composed of a large organic cation and an organic/inorganic anion. Due to their ionic character, most ILs present advantageous properties over conventional solvents, such as negligible volatility at atmospheric conditions and high thermal and chemical stabilities. The wide variety of IL anion–cation combinations...

Solubility, bioavailability, permeation, polymorphism, and stability concerns associated to solid-state pharmaceuticals demand for effective solutions. To overcome some of these drawbacks, ionic liquids (ILs) have been investigated as solvents, reagents, and anti-solvents in the synthesis and crystallization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (AP...

A series of novel analogues of glycine-betaine ionic liquids (AGB-ILs), viz. 1-(4-ethoxy-4-oxobutyl)-1-methylpyrrolidin-1-ium, N,N,N-tri(n-butyl)(4-ethoxy-4-oxobutyl)-1-phosphonium and N,N,N-trialkyl(4-ethoxy-4-oxobutyl)-1-aminium cations with ethyl, n-propyl and n-butyl alkyl chains, combined with the bromide anion, have been synthesized and chara...

Aiming at designing effective and sustainable separation processes, herein we propose the use of carbohydrates combined with tetralkylphosphonium- and tetralkylammonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) to form aqueous biphasic systems (ABS). The formation of ABS composed of non-aromatic and non-fluorinated ILs with carbohydrates is here shown for the firs...