Progress of Controlled Drug Delivery Systems in Topical Ophthalmology: Focus on Nano and Micro Drug Carriers

Nanoparticles as drug delivery systems and diagnostic agents have gained much attention in recent years, especially for cancer treatment. Nanocarriers improve the therapeutic efficiency and bioavailability of antitumor drugs, besides providing preferential accumulation at the target site. Among different types of nanocarriers for drug delivery assays, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted increasing interest in the academic community. MOFs are an emerging class of coordination polymers constructed of metal nodes or clusters and organic linkers that show the capacity to combine a porous structure with high drug loading through distinct kinds of interactions, overcoming the limitations of traditional drug carriers explored up to date. Despite the rational design and synthesis of MOFs, structural aspects and some applications of these materials like gas adsorption have already been comprehensively described in recent years; it is time to demonstrate their potential applications in biomedicine. In this context, MOFs can be used as drug delivery systems and theranostic platforms due to their ability to release drugs and accommodate imaging agents. This review describes the intrinsic characteristics of nanocarriers used in cancer therapy and highlights the latest advances in MOFs as anticancer drug delivery systems and diagnostic agents.

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Biocompatible Nanovesicular Drug Delivery Systems with Targeting Potential for Autoimmune Diseases

Current Pharmaceutical Design ◽

10.2174/1381612826666200523174108 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (42) ◽

pp. 5488-5502 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yub Raj Neupane ◽

Asiya Mahtab ◽

Lubna Siddiqui ◽

Archu Singh ◽

Namrata Gautam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drug Delivery ◽

Autoimmune Diseases ◽

Lupus Erythematosus ◽

Drug Delivery Systems ◽

Drug Carriers ◽

Immunological Tolerance ◽

Delivery Systems ◽

The Body ◽

Autoimmune Response ◽

Treatment Modalities

Autoimmune diseases are collectively addressed as chronic conditions initiated by the loss of one’s immunological tolerance, where the body treats its own cells as foreigners or self-antigens. These hay-wired antibodies or immunologically capable cells lead to a variety of disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis and recently included neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinsonism and testicular cancer triggered T-cells induced autoimmune response in testes and brain. Conventional treatments for autoimmune diseases possess several downsides due to unfavourable pharmacokinetic behaviour of drug, reflected by low bioavailability, rapid clearance, offsite toxicity, restricted targeting ability and poor therapeutic outcomes. Novel nanovesicular drug delivery systems including liposomes, niosomes, proniosomes, ethosomes, transferosomes, pharmacosomes, ufasomes and biologically originated exosomes have proved to possess alluring prospects in supporting the combat against autoimmune diseases. These nanovesicles have revitalized available treatment modalities as they are biocompatible, biodegradable, less immunogenic and capable of carrying high drug payloads to deliver both hydrophilic as well as lipophilic drugs to specific sites via passive or active targeting. Due to their unique surface chemistry, they can be decorated with physiological or synthetic ligands to target specific receptors overexpressed in different autoimmune diseases and can even cross the blood-brain barrier. This review presents exhaustive yet concise information on the potential of various nanovesicular systems as drug carriers in improving the overall therapeutic efficiency of the dosage regimen for various autoimmune diseases. The role of endogenous exosomes as biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of autoimmune diseases along with monitoring progress of treatment will also be highlighted.

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Erratum to ‘Controlled drug delivery systems in eradicating bacterial biofilm-associated infections’ [Journal of Controlled Release, Volume 329 (10 January 2021) 1102–1116]

Journal of Controlled Release ◽

10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.02.034 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 332 ◽

pp. 418

Author(s):

Yong Liu ◽

Yuanfeng Li ◽

Linqi Shi

Keyword(s):

Drug Delivery ◽

Controlled Release ◽

Drug Delivery Systems ◽

Controlled Drug Delivery ◽

Delivery Systems ◽

Bacterial Biofilm

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Polymeric Drug Delivery System Based on Pluronics for Cancer Treatment

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26123610 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (12) ◽

pp. 3610

Author(s):

Jialin Yu ◽

Huayu Qiu ◽

Shouchun Yin ◽

Hebin Wang ◽

Yang Li

Keyword(s):

Drug Delivery ◽

Self Assembly ◽

Drug Delivery Systems ◽

Tumor Therapy ◽

Chemical Properties ◽

Drug Carriers ◽

Disease Diagnosis ◽

Delivery Systems ◽

Polymeric Drug Delivery ◽

Physical And Chemical

Pluronic polymers (pluronics) are a unique class of synthetic triblock copolymers containing hydrophobic polypropylene oxide (PPO) and hydrophilic polyethylene oxide (PEO) arranged in the PEO-PPO-PEO manner. Due to their excellent biocompatibility and amphiphilic properties, pluronics are an ideal and promising biological material, which is widely used in drug delivery, disease diagnosis, and treatment, among other applications. Through self-assembly or in combination with other materials, pluronics can form nano carriers with different morphologies, representing a kind of multifunctional pharmaceutical excipients. In recent years, the utilization of pluronic-based multi-functional drug carriers in tumor treatment has become widespread, and various responsive drug carriers are designed according to the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, resulting in major progress in tumor therapy. This review introduces the specific role of pluronic-based polymer drug delivery systems in tumor therapy, focusing on their physical and chemical properties as well as the design aspects of pluronic polymers. Finally, using newer literature reports, this review provides insights into the future potential and challenges posed by different pluronic-based polymer drug delivery systems in tumor therapy.

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