Nanomaterials: Evolution and Advancement towards Therapeutic Drug Delivery (Part II)

Lipid nanoparticles, such as solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers, are drug delivery systems in which solid lipids are dispersed in an aqueous phase stabilized by a surfactant layer. The great interest in these nanocarriers in the latest years is due to the biocompatible lipid matrix, associated with the potential for sustained drug release, and easy transposition to the industrial scale. Moreover, these lipid systems present the ability to prevent drug degradation, and to enhance cell uptake, usually increasing drug efficacy. This chapter will provide an overview of the recent literature on solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers for drug delivery applications. Thus, some background information on the origins, composition, characterization parameters and biological applications of these nanocarrier systems will be presented.

The exceptional properties of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) promote facile functionalization for improved drug delivery in nanotechnology. Recent advancements in this field have experienced the potential applications of MSNs and porous silicon (PSi). Tunable pore size, large surface area, and better surface properties make the materials possible to hold large amounts of payloads and prevent premature degradation. In this chapter, we will focus on and discuss the main route of preparation and applications of MSNs and silica nanomaterials.

The term ‘Hydrogel’ is self-defined, as a material composed of water (hydro) and matrix (gel). The hydrogels do not dissolve in water; rather, absorb water and swell into a volumetric mass due to their smart 3-dimensional network. Over the past few years, hydrogels have served as a multifunctional platform and gained the interest of the scientific community. The unique properties of hydrogels, including flexibility, biocompatibility, and mechanical stability, have made them quite an important research area in different fields like disease treatment, targeted drug delivery, and many others. The current applications of hydrogels include the manufacturing of contact lenses, drug delivery systems, hemostats, wound dressings, biosensors, etc. Here, the role of polymer and peptide-based hydrogels, their multi-functionality, unique properties, and major uses have been elaborated, which can serve as a major tool for human welfare in the future.

In the field of nanotechnology, the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles (NPs) is a demanding task for both modern phytopharmaceutical research as well as academics. These metallic nanostructures, NPs, made of metals such as gold and silver NPs can be used as quantum dots for the applications in Biomedical Science and Technology. Nanomedicine is a newly developed branch that is a boon for modern medicine. Nanotechnology in medicines will increase the production of the intended results and safety of the medicine. Nanoparticles are known for their stability, solubility, absorption and reduced toxicity. Metallic nanoparticles have been used for treatment in some life-threatening diseases such as cancer. This chapter introduces gold and silver nanoparticles, nanoshells and nanocages and their physico-chemical properties, and illustrates some of the recent advances in the field of diagnostic imaging and cancer therapy. Nanotechnology had a great influence on medical science and made a remarkable progress in the field of diagnostics.

cyclodextrins are primarily used to enhance the aqueous solubility and stability of drug molecules and they can be chemically modified to display functional groups on their primary or secondary rim. It belongs to the cyclic polymers (α-1,4) - linked oligosaccharides of α-glucopyranose units with hydrophobic inner core and hydrophilic outer surface. This combination of functionality and guest binding ability makes Cyclodextrin is an important scaffold to design functional supramolecular systems. Due to its structural characteristics, it can interact with appropriately sized drug molecules to form an inclusion complex. Inclusion into the Cyclodextrin’s cavity alters the physicochemical properties of an included compound, especially on increasing its dissolution rate and sometimes in increasing the drug inhibition rate. Structural factors raise favor for this non-covalent inclusion complex and offer a variety of pharmaceutical applications that may be used in many industrial products. The negligible cytotoxic effects of cyclodextrin are an important attribute in applications such as drug carriers, food and flavors, cosmetics, packing, textiles, separation processes, environment protection, fermentation, and catalysis. Through this chapter, we aimed to summarize Cyclodextrin’s applications in drug delivery research through experimental and computational findings. In addition, we tried to present the highlights of various techniques of inclusion complex formations, mechanism of delivery systems and their analytical methods.

An aging population and poor clinical solutions for several diseases have propelled the rapid emergence of nanotherapeutics. Advanced drug delivery has turned out to be an important aspect of the medical field. A targeted delivery system transports the drug to the place of action hence, minimizing its adverse side effects on other vital tissues. Cell-specific targeting can be achieved by coupling drugs to specially framed carriers. Various nanoparticles, including solid lipid nanoparticles, nanosuspensions, nanoliposomes, micelles, polymeric nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles, dendrimers, carbon nanotubes, and fullerenes have been developed as carriers in drug delivery systems. In this chapter, the aforementioned nanocarriers and their clinical milestones achieved in various arenas including cancer, CNS disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid, cardiac diseases, ocular drug delivery, and vaccines so far, are scrutinized. This chapter outlines the current status of pharmacological and clinical studies of nanoparticles in the development process.

Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) or PLGA is a kind of a synthetic polymer that has been approved by USFDA for its use in humans. PLGA nano/microparticles have proved to offer controlled as well as the sustained release of several medicinal moieties. PLGA is chemically synthesized by direct polycondensation of glycolic acid (GA) with lactic acid (LA) and different factors like LA: GA ratio, storage temperature, the initial molecular weight of the monomers, and exposure time to water influences the physical properties of PLGA. Similarly, various factors like morphology, crystallinity, molecular weight, shape, size molecular, hydrophobicity, chemical structure, physicochemical properties, glass transition temperature are some of the crucial factors responsible for the biodegradation of PLGA. PLGA based micro/nanoparticles are generally prepared by the oil-in-water emulsification process. On the other hand, spray drying is one of the industrial methods for the production of PLGA particles. In this chapter, we have summarized the extensive applications, laboratory, and industrial-scale methods for the production of PLGA nano/microparticles, preclinical, and clinical status PLGA based drug delivery systems.