Abstract: Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is an infection of brain caused by the cystic larval stage of Taenia solium or the tape worm. It is a tropical disease and zoonotic in nature. It is among the most important parasitic disease of the human central nervous system and represents a major cause of acquired epilepsy. It is prevalent in tropical countries and countries where a infected pig meat associated with spread of NCC, is a common food product. Nevertheless, NCC remains a neglected disease with limited therapeutic options, coupled with long term therapy, which is very inconvenient for patients. The standard therapy for NCC is Praziquantel or albendazole often in combination with corticosteroids to tackle the associated inflammation. Toxicity due to long term corticosteroids is an additional challenge. A serious constraint in treatment is blood brain barrier (BBB) which severely restricts the drug transported into the brain. Insufficient drug concentration is stated to be one of the major causes of treatment failure. Targetted brain delivery provides exciting opportunity for improved therapy of NCC. Crossing the BBB by the intravenous route or bypassing the BBB through intranasal administration are two approaches that can be considered. The present talk would focus on an interesting new drug combination for enhanced therapeutic efficacy in NCC embedded in a targeted nanoformulation designed to effectively cross the BBB. Brain targetting and high cysticidal efficacy would be demonstrated to highlight the promise of this new approach for tackling NCC.

Keywords: Neurocysticercosis, Brain targetting, Albendazole, intranasal, cysticidal efficay

Biography: Dr (Ms) Padma V. Devarajan is Dean, Research and Innovation, Professor in Pharmacy and former Head Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology at the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India. Her research is in the area of drug delivery with a focus on Innovative and affordable healthcare for human and Veterinary application. She has edited two books by Springer on Targetted Drug delivery. She is a Member on the Editorial board of the Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the European Journal of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics.
She has many granted patents (international/ national), and technologies licensed and commercialized. Her research is funded by Government and industry including companies from Japan, Germany and USA. She is a consultant to the Pharma Industry.
She has been actively associated with the Controlled Release Society Inc.,USA, as Board Member, Member on the Board of Scientific Advisors and Chair of the Young Scientist Mentor Protégé Committee. She is currently the President of the Society for Pharmaceutical Dissolution Science(SPDS).
She has received the American Association of Indian Pharmaceutical Scientists Distinguished Educator and Researcher Award, Award for Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Bengaluru Nano Innovation Award, OPPI Scientist Award 2018 and the Outstanding Woman Scientist Award 2019.