Review on Nanotechnology and its utilization in Pharmaceuticals

Nanotechnology is the study of tiny structures ranging in size from 0.1 to 100 nanometers. It includes biophysics, molecular biology, and bioengineering, as well as medical subspecialties such as cardiology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, oncology, and immunology. Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology combines the methods and ideas of nanoscience and nanomedicine with pharmacy to create novel medication delivery systems that transcend the limitations of traditional drug delivery systems. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of nanotechnology and its uses in the pharmaceutical industry.

Advanced Nanotechnology for Enhancing Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy

Immune checkpoint receptor signaling pathways constitute a prominent class of “immune synapse,” a cell-to-cell connection that represses T-lymphocyte effector functions. As a possible evolutionary countermeasure against autoimmunity, this strategy is aimed at lowering potential injury to uninfected cells in infected tissues and at minimizing systemic inflammation. Nevertheless, tumors can make use of these strategies to escape immune recognition, and consequently, such mechanisms represent chances for immunotherapy intervention. Recent years have witnessed the advance of pharmaceutical nanotechnology, or nanomedicine, as a possible strategy to ameliorate immunotherapy technical weaknesses thanks to its intrinsic biophysical properties and multifunctional modifying capability. To improve the long-lasting response rate of checkpoint blockade therapy, nanotechnology has been employed at first for the delivery of single checkpoint inhibitors. Further, while therapy via single immune checkpoint blockade determines resistance and a restricted period of response, strong interest has been raised to efficiently deliver immunomodulators targeting different inhibitory pathways or both inhibitory and costimulatory pathways. In this review, the partially explored promise in implementation of nanotechnology to improve the success of immune checkpoint therapy and solve the limitations of single immune checkpoint inhibitors is debated. We first present the fundamental elements of the immune checkpoint pathways and then outline recent promising results of immune checkpoint blockade therapy in combination with nanotechnology delivery systems.

The role of pharmaceutical nanotechnology in the time of COVID-19 pandemic

There is no effective therapy against COVID-19 available so far. In the last months, different drugs have been tested as potential treatments for COVID-19, exhibiting high toxicity and low efficacy. Therefore, nanotechnology can be applied to improve the therapeutic action and minimize the toxicity of loaded drugs. In this review, we summarized the drugs tested as COVID-19 treatment and the advantages of antiviral nanostructured drug-delivery systems. Such systems have demonstrated low in vitro toxicity with better in vitro antiviral activity than free drugs. We believe that this approach should inspire novel nanostructured drug-delivery systems developments to find efficient COVID-19 treatments. Here, we discuss the remaining challenges for such promising nanosystems to be approved for clinical use.

An Overview of the Recent Developments and Patents in The Field of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology

Background: Compared to traditional dosage methods, the novel drug delivery systems (NDDS) provide various advantages. In the last few years, tremendous focus has been given to work focused on the novel drug delivery methods for small and large molecular drug carriers utilizing particulate drug delivery systems as well. It is evident from last decade as seen in number of patents cited in this field that the technology has evolved tremendously. Objective: Drug carriers utilized by this novel technology includes liposomes, dendrimers, polymeric nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, carbon nanomaterials. Various forms of polymers have been used in the production of nanocarriers. Methods: Nanocarriers are colloidal system varying in size from 10 to 1000 nm. This technology now used to identify, manage and monitor numerous diseases and physical methods to alter and enhance the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of specific types of drug molecules. Results: Nanoparticles can be formulated by a number of techniques including ionic gelation, cross-linking, coacervation/precipitation, nanoprecipitation, spray drying, emulsion- droplet coalescence, nano sonication techniques etc. Several methods are used with which these nanoparticles can be characterized. These methods include nuclear magnetic resonance, optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, photon correlation spectroscopy and electron microscopy, surface charge, in-vitro drug release, etc. Conclusion: In the present review, authors have tried to summarize the recent advances in the field of pharmaceutical nanotechnology and also focuses on the application and new patents in the area related to NDDS.

Trends in Nanomedicines for Cancer Treatment

Background: Cancer is characterized by abnormal cell growth and considered one of the leading causes of death around the world. Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology has been extensively studied for the optimization of cancer treatment. Objective: Comprehend the panorama of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology in cancer treatment, through a survey about nanomedicines applied in clinical studies, approved for use and patented. Methods: Acknowledged products under clinical study and nanomedicines commercialized found in scientific articles through research on the following databases: Pubmed, Science Direct, Scielo and Lilacs. Derwent tool was used for patent research. Results: Nanomedicines based on nanoparticles, polymer micelles, liposomes, dendrimers and nanoemulsions were studied, along with cancer therapies such as Photodynamic Therapy, Infrared Phototherapy Hyperthermia, Magnetic Hyperthermia, Radiotherapy, Gene Therapy and Nanoimmunotherapy. Great advancement has been observed over nanotechnology applied to cancer treatment, mainly for nanoparticles and liposomes. Conclusion: The combination of drugs in nanosystems helps to increase efficacy and decrease toxicity. Based on the results encountered, nanoparticles and liposomes were the most commonly used nanocarriers for drug encapsulation. In addition, although few nanomedicines are commercially available, this specific research field is continuously growing.

Nanocarriers in the delivery of hydroxychloroquine to the respiratory system: An alternative to COVID-19?

: In response to the global outbreak caused by SARS-CoV-2, this article aims to propose the development of nanosystems for the delivery of hydroxychloroquine in the respiratory system to the treatment of COVID-19. Performed a descriptive literature review, using the descriptors "COVID-19", "Nanotechnology", "Respiratory Syndrome" and "Hydroxychloroquine", in the PubMed, ScienceDirect and SciElo databases. After analyzing the articles according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, they were divided into 3 sessions: Coronavirus: definitions, classifications and epidemiology, pharmacological aspects of hydroxychloroquine and pharmaceutical nanotechnology in targeting of drugs. We used 131 articles published until July 18, 2020. Hydroxychloroquine seems to promote a reduction in viral load, in vivo studies, preventing the entry of SARS-CoV-2 into lung cells, and the safety of its administration is questioned due to the toxic effects that it can develop, such as retinopathy, hypoglycemia and even cardiotoxicity. Nanosystems for the delivery of drugs in the respiratory system may be a viable alternative for the administration of hydroxychloroquine, which may enhance the therapeutic effect of the drug with a consequent decrease in its toxicity, providing greater safety for implementation in the clinic in the treatment of COVID-19.