@article {17652,
	title = {Diatom silica microparticles for sustained release and permeation enhancement following oral delivery of prednisone and mesalamine},
	journal = {Biomaterials},
	volume = {34},
	year = {2013},
	month = {2013-09-03 00:00:00},
	pages = {9210 - 9219},
	publisher = {Elsevier},
	abstract = {<p>Diatoms are porous silica-based materials obtained from single cell photosynthetic algae. Despite low\&nbsp;cost, easy purification process, environmentally safe properties, and rapidly increasing potentials for\&nbsp;medical applications, the cytotoxicity of diatoms and the effect on drug permeation of oral formulations\&nbsp;have not been studied so far. Herein, we have evaluated the potential of diatom silica microparticles\&nbsp;(DSMs) for the delivery of mesalamine and prednisone, which are two commonly prescribed drugs for\&nbsp;gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Transmission electron microscopy analysis of the morphological surface\&nbsp;changes of Caco-2/HT-29 monolayers and the cell viability data in colon cancer cells (Caco-2, HT-29 and\&nbsp;HCT-116) showed very low toxicity of diatoms at concentrations up to 1000 mg/mL. The mesalamine and\&nbsp;prednisone release under simulated GI conditions indicated prolonged release of both drugs from the\&nbsp;diatoms. Furthermore, drug permeation across Caco-2/HT-29 co-culture monolayers demonstrated that\&nbsp;diatoms are capable to enhance the drug permeability. Overall, this study evaluated DSMs{\textquoteright} cytotoxicity in\&nbsp;colon cancer cells and the effect of DSMs on drug permeability across Caco-2/HT-29 monolayers. Our\&nbsp;results demonstrate that DSMs can be considered as a non-cytotoxic biomaterial with high potential to\&nbsp;improve the mesalamine and prednisone bioavailability by sustaining the drug release and enhancing\&nbsp;drug permeability.</p>},
	keywords = {cytotoxicity, Diatom, Drug delivery, Mesalamine, porous silica, Prednisone},
	doi = {10.1016/j.biomaterials.2013.08.035},
	url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961213009836},
	author = {Zhang, H. and Shahbazi, M. - A. and M{\"a}kil{\"a}, E. M. and Silva, T. H. and Reis, R. L. and Salonen, J. J. and Hirvonen, J. T. and Santos, H. A.}
}
