Hiba Natsheh

Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Title: Improved Efficiency of Pomegranate Seed Oil Administrated Nasally

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Biography

Hiba Natsheh is currently a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Elka Touitou's laboratory at the Institute for Drug Research, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prof. Touitou is an internationally recognized authority in the field of drug delivery and design of novel and advanced technologies for cannabinoids and for nasal and transdermal products.

Abstract

Pomegranate seed oil (PSO) has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The main components of PSO are punicic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid, phenolic compounds, tocopherols, chlorophylls and carotenoids. PSO is currently administrated orally as a food supplement for improving memory. However, the efficiency of the oral dosage forms for management of memory is low, mainly due the blood brain barrier. We propose here a nasal formulation (PI) we have designed and investigated for improved efficacy of PSO. Results of in vivo studies on animal models of impaired locomotor activity and memory have shown more than 1.5 folds improvement in the behavior of animals treated nasally with this new formulation, in comparison with the orally administrated oil. Furthermore, a superior nasal delivery to brain of fluorescein isothiocyanate probe was observed by multiphoton imaging, following administration of our PSO system as compared with a control nasal composition. In conclusion, our nasal PSO system possesses many advantages vs. oral treatment, including direct delivery of the active ingredients to brain leading to enhanced activity.