{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,11]],"date-time":"2026-09-11T03:07:52Z","timestamp":1789096072847,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,18]],"date-time":"2022-01-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1642464000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009169","name":"Assiut University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Faculty of Pharmacy"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Faculty of Pharmacy"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009169","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pharmaceutics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Intravenous dexmedetomidine (DEX) is currently approved by the FDA for the sedation of intubated patients in intensive care units to reduce anxiety and to augment postoperative analgesia. Bradycardia and hypotension are limitations associated with the intravenous administration of DEX. In this study, DEX sublingual in situ gels were developed and assessed for their pH, gelling capacity, viscosity, mucoadhesion and in vitro drug release. The optimized gelling system demonstrated enhanced mucoadhesion, superior gelling capacity, reasonable pH and optimal rheological profile. In vivo, compared to the oral solution, the optimal sublingual gel resulted in a significant higher rate and extent of bioavailability. Although the in situ gel had comparable plasma levels to those observed following intravenous administration, significant amelioration of the systemic adverse reactions were attained. As demonstrated by the hot plate method, a sustained duration of analgesia in rats was observed after sublingual administration of DEX gel compared to the intravenously administered DEX solution. Furthermore, no changes in systolic blood pressure and heart rate were recorded in rats and rabbits, respectively, after sublingual administration of DEX. Sublingual administration of DEX in situ gel provides a promising approach for analgesia and sedation, while circumventing the reported adverse reactions associated with intravenous administration of DEX.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pharmaceutics14020220","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,18]],"date-time":"2022-01-18T22:46:32Z","timestamp":1642545992000},"page":"220","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Development of Sedative Dexmedetomidine Sublingual In Situ Gels: In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluations"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Ayat A.","family":"Allam","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmaceutics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt"},{"name":"Pharmaceutics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sphinx University, Assiut 71515, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5218-4575","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nermin E.","family":"Eleraky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmaceutics Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nadeen H.","family":"Diab","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biotechnology, Badr University in Cairo, Badr City 11829, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3341-1829","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mahmoud","family":"Elsabahy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Biotechnology, Badr University in Cairo, Badr City 11829, Egypt"},{"name":"Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77842, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sahar A.","family":"Mohamed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Management Department, South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Assiut 71111, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hala S.","family":"Abdel-Ghaffar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anesthesia and Intensive Care Department, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut 71111, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nivin A.","family":"Hassan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacology and Experimental Oncology Unit, Cancer Biology Department, South Egypt Cancer Institute, Assiut University, Assiut 71111, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2883-8775","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Samia A.","family":"Shouman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacology and Experimental Oncology Unit, Cancer Biology Department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo 11796, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1643-0104","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mervat M.","family":"Omran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pharmacology and Experimental Oncology Unit, Cancer Biology Department, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University, Cairo 11796, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sahar B.","family":"Hassan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Noura G.","family":"Eissa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"893","DOI":"10.1007\/s40262-017-0507-7","article-title":"Clinical Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Dexmedetomidine","volume":"56","author":"Weerink","year":"2017","journal-title":"Clin. 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