Title:Novel Applications of Nanotechnology in Controlling HIV and HSV Infections
Volume: 13
Issue: 2
Author(s): Sai Akilesh M and Ashish Wadhwani*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research – JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty – 643001, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu,India
Keywords:
Nanotechnology, HIV, HSV, infectious diseases, viruses, therapy.
Abstract: Infectious diseases have been prevalent for many decades and viral pathogens have
caused global health crises and economic meltdown on a devastating scale. The high occurrence of
novel viral infections in recent years, in spite of the progress achieved in the field of pharmaceutical
sciences, defines the critical need for newer and more effective antiviral therapies and diagnostics.
The incidence of multi-drug resistance and adverse effects due to the prolonged use of anti-viral
therapy is also a major concern. Nanotechnology offers a cutting edge platform for the development
of novel compounds and formulations for biomedical applications. The unique properties of
nano-based materials can be attributed to the multi-fold increase in the surface to volume ratio at
the nano-scale, tunable surface properties of charge and chemical moieties. Idealistic pharmaceutical
properties such as increased bioavailability and retention times, lower toxicity profiles, sustained-
release formulations, lower dosage forms and most importantly, targeted drug delivery can
be achieved through the approach of nanotechnology. The extensively researched nano-based materials
are metal and polymeric nanoparticles, dendrimers and micelles, nano-drug delivery vesicles,
liposomes and lipid-based nanoparticles. In this review article, the impact of nanotechnology on
the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) viral infections
during the last decade is outlined.
