Intraocular nano-microscale drug delivery systems for glaucoma treatment: design strategies and recent progress

Abstract

Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible visual impairment and blindness, affecting over 76.0 million people worldwide in 2020, with a predicted increase to 111.8 million by 2040. Hypotensive eye drops remain the gold standard for glaucoma treatment, while inadequate patient adherence to medication regimens and poor bioavailability of drugs to target tissues are major obstacles to effective treatment outcomes. Nano/micro-pharmaceuticals, with diverse spectra and abilities, may represent a hope of removing these obstacles. This review describes a set of intraocular nano/micro drug delivery systems involved in glaucoma treatment. Particularly, it investigates the structures, properties, and preclinical evidence supporting the use of these systems in glaucoma, followed by discussing the route of administration, the design of systems, and factors affecting in vivo performance. Finally, it concludes by highlighting the emerging notion as an attractive approach to address the unmet needs for managing glaucoma.

How glaucoma patients balance between the advantages and disadvantages of acceptance to the recommended treatment regimen in real‐life: Perspectives from a middle‐income country

“…11 Other nanomaterial-based drug delivery strategies that are in the pipeline hold great promise because they are powerful in achieving sustained release, target delivery, improved bioavailability, reduced side effects, and enhanced treatment efficacy. 12 Although these developments are highly expected, eyedrops seems to be a convenient form to treat glaucoma in this population and will probably remain the main route to deliver hypotensive agents to the eye for some time. Besides, the potential patient acceptance of these new treatment modalities is yet be studied.…”

“…Another implant is the iDose®TR (Glaukos Corp., Aliso Viejo, CA, USA), a 1.8 × 0.5 mm biocompatible titanium implant that releases a travoprost in the anterior chamber for up to 36 months following a single administration 11 . Other nanomaterial‐based drug delivery strategies that are in the pipeline hold great promise because they are powerful in achieving sustained release, target delivery, improved bioavailability, reduced side effects, and enhanced treatment efficacy 12 . Although these developments are highly expected, eyedrops seems to be a convenient form to treat glaucoma in this population and will probably remain the main route to deliver hypotensive agents to the eye for some time.…”

Comparative Study of Latanoprost Drug Delivery Systems for Glaucoma Treatment and Their Interaction with the Tear Film Lipid Layer Models

“…Several commercial formulations of latanoprost (Figure ) have been developed for the treatment of glaucoma and diseases of ocular surface, differing mostly in type of carrier used for ophthalmic drug delivery. − Latanoprost is a hydrophobic molecule, and for its topical ophthalmic delivery, it is commonly formulated with surfactants to form micelles or encapsulated within complex nanocarriers. Xalatan (Pfizer Japan, Tokyo, Japan) is the first and still most frequently used formulation, and it also has the simplest composition.…”

Sustained release of brimonidine from polydimethylsiloxane-coating silicone rubber implant to reduce intraocular pressure in glaucoma

“…These factors finally lead to inadequate patient compliance, and only 31–67% patients can comply to their treatment regimens for a year [ 9 ]. Therefore, it is quite vital to seek for alternative formulations with improved drug bioavailability and therapeutic effectiveness for anti-glaucoma therapy [ 10 ].…”