Advances in drug delivery systems, challenges and future directions

Development of Nanostructured Lipid Carrier-Loaded Flavonoid-Enriched Zingiber officinale

“…The loaded NLCs exhibited no evidence of agglomeration, as the individual particles were consistently dispersed throughout the TEM images. It is important to ensure that there is no agglomeration in the system as a well-distributed system ensures consistent and controlled drug release, maintains formulation stability and contributes to product safety and effectiveness …”

Bacteriophages as nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery and enhanced therapeutic effects

“…Zhao et al 91 genetically modified Leviviridae PP7 capsid protein to display functional polypeptides, including one 1 kDa-sized cell-penetrating peptide, fourteen 14 kDa-sized Fc-binding Z-domain, and dimeric construct. Wild-type PP7 was reconstructed using extensions and insertions by respective C′-terminal extensions via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by flanking with a 3′-sequence base of the primer attached to C′-terminal sequence and 5′-sequence region coding for the extensions and dimer loop insertions (also using similar PCR procedure), after which the construction was expressed and characterised.…”

“…Therapeutic agents for medical interventions are delivered to the body to achieve desired pharmacological effects using different systems that enhance therapeutic output and are referred to as drug delivery systems (DDSs). 1 They are primarily aimed at improving therapeutic efficacy by providing the optimal or sustained release of bioactive agents; reducing administration frequency; ensuring continuous drug supply at therapeutic levels; achieving the targeted/specific delivery of drugs to the site of action; enhancing drug localisation; reducing off-target effects, minimising side effects; enhancing safety via the minimisation of systemic exposure; protecting drugs against enzymatic degradation, pH and other environmental conditions; improving drug stability and bioavailability; and increasing patient and treatment compliance and adherence. 2–6…”

Combination of Chemical and Physical Cancer Therapeutics Developed with Microcapsules Made of κ-Casein and Gold Nanoparticles in the Presence of Drug-Loaded Phase Change Materials

“…Specifically, material compatibility between chemotherapeutic agents and the components involved in thermotherapy must be considered in addition to designing optimal system exerting the synergistic effect without compromising their individual therapeutic efficacy. 16 In this study, a light-inducible heat-activated DDS has been developed with microcapsules comprising a single shell of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) assembled with κ-casein (κC) and drug-loaded phase change material (PCM) enclosed (Scheme 1). Upon light irradiation, the heat generated by AuNPs is expected to cause liquidation of PCM, which leads to disintegration of the microcapsules and thus unleashing chemotherapeutic drugs along with physicotherapeutic agents such as the fragments of microcapsules showing a photothermal effect by the constituting AuNPs and the toxic molten PCM and its resolidified product exhibiting a physical fixative effect on the cells.…”

“…In fact, several studies indicated that combining thermotherapy with chemotherapy synergistically increased their anticancer activity. − However, many challenges still remain in designing the anticancer system capable of exhibiting both heat-based physicotherapeutic and drug-based chemotherapeutic effects. Specifically, material compatibility between chemotherapeutic agents and the components involved in thermotherapy must be considered in addition to designing optimal system exerting the synergistic effect without compromising their individual therapeutic efficacy …”