The case reported here highlights the importance of examination of functional occlusion along with static occlusion. Any undetected malocclusion during early mixed dentition has potency to alter the growth and function of stomatognathic system. Premature contacts in primary canine region is the most prevalent cause of functional mandibular shift and can lead to TMJ problems for the prevalence of self correction of such malocclusion is very low if not intervened. A case of functional mandibular shift due to faulty canine guidance because of premature contacts is discussed here. Selective grinding of premature contacts and myofunctional exercise resulted in well balanced centric occlusion coinciding with centric relation.
Synbiotics, are a combination of probiotics and prebiotics. They play an important role in metabolizing different nutritional substrates and thus helps in the maintenance of human health. Any disbalance in the gut microflora, known as dysbiosis, is known to lead to a number of diseased conditions. It can be reverted by the administration of synbiotics. Present review highlights various mechanistic pathways through which synbiotics act as therapeutics. The dual role of synbiotics as nutraceutical and excipient in developing oral formulations are entailed with case studies. The findings entailed that there exist numerous studies on prebiotics as well as probiotics have been carried out to show their effects in several diseases. However, the concept of combining together them for prevention and treatment of various pathological conditions accruing from dysbiosis is relatively new. Synbiotics, however, face challenge of low stability during their sojourn in the GIT, which is generally overcome by various encapsulation techniques. Various studies also showed potential role of synbiotics in drug delivery. However, it is an emerging area and lacks clinical correlation. It is important to focus on clinical trials of formulations wherein synbiotics have been used as therapeutic moiety as well as pharmaceutical carrier for treating various diseases.
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the chronic complications of diabetes. It includes retinal blood vessels' damage. If untreated, it leads to loss of vision. The existing treatment strategies for DR are expensive, invasive, and need expertise during administration. Hence, there is a need to develop a non-invasive topical formulation that can penetrate deep to the posterior segment of retina and treat the damaged retinal vessels. In addition, it should also provide sustained release. In recent years, novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) have been explored for treating DR and found successful. In this study, chitosan (CS) modified 5-Fluorouracil Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (CS-5-FU-NLCs) were prepared by modified melt emulsification-ultrasonication method and optimized by Box-Behnken Design. The size, polydispersity index, zeta potential and entrapment efficiency of CS-5-FU-NLCs were 163.2 ± 2.3 nm, 0.28 ± 1.52, 21.4 ± 0.5 mV and 85.0 ± 0.2 %, respectively. The in vitro drug release and ex vivo permeation study confirmed higher and sustained drug release in CS-5-FU-NLCs as compared to 5-FU solution. HET-CAM Model ensured the non-irritant nature of CS-5-FU-NLCs. In vivo ocular studies of CS-5-FU-NLCs confirmed antiangiogenic effect of 5-FU by CAM model and diabetic retinopathy induced rat model, indicating successful delivery of 5-FU to the retina.