Dendrimeric Systems and Their Applications in Ocular Drug Delivery

Abstract

Ophthalmic drug delivery is one of the most attractive and challenging research area for pharmaceutical scientists and ophthalmologists. Absorption of an ophthalmic drug in conventional dosage forms is seriously limited by physiological conditions. The use of nonionic or ionic biodegradable polymers in aqueous solutions and colloidal dosage forms such as liposomes, nanoparticles, nanocapsules, microspheres, microcapsules, microemulsions, and dendrimers has been studied to overcome the problems mentioned above. Dendrimers are a new class of polymeric materials. The unique nanostructured architecture of dendrimers has been studied to examine their role in delivery of therapeutics and imaging agents. Dendrimers can enhance drug's water solubility, bioavailability, and biocompatibility and can be applied for different routes of drug administration successfully. Permeability enhancer properties of dendrimers were also reported. The use of dendrimers can also reduce toxicity versus activity and following an appropriate application route they allow the delivery of the drug to the targeted site and provide desired pharmacokinetic parameters. Therefore, dendrimeric drug delivery systems are of interest in ocular drug delivery. In this review, the limitations related to eye's unique structure, the advantages of dendrimers, and the potential applications of dendrimeric systems to ophthalmology including imaging, drug, peptide, and gene delivery will be discussed.

Nanoparticles for drug delivery to the anterior segment of the eye

“…first synthesized polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers in the mid 1980’s [198], dendrimers have been extensively studied for drug and gene delivery and diagnosis because drugs, genes, diagnostic agents, and targeting moieties can be encapsulated in the central core or physicochemically conjugated to the terminal surface of the dendrimers [199–202]. However, dendrimers have been explored for ocular drug delivery in only recent ten years [41, 43] since the first report by Vandamme et al . in 2005 [203].…”

Topical Drug Delivery for Effective Treatment of Bacterial Infections of the Anterior Segment of the Eye

“…This is attributed to the structural complexity of corneal layers. Inclusion of penetration enhancers (e.g., benzalkonium chloride, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, Tween 20, Brij ® 35, and dodecylmaltoside [29,30]), Cyclodextrins [31], and dendrimers [32,33] in ocular formulations has been reported to increase corneal penetration of the tested antibacterial agents [34].…”

Biomateriais para formulações de base nanotecnológica visando terapia gênica ocular

“…117,118 A farmacocinética desses dendrímeros de geração 2 a geração 4 com terminações amino, carboxilato ou hidroxila foram estudadas por Vandamme e colaboradores, sendo observada uma dependência do peso molecular (i.e. geração) no tempo de residência.…”