Nanomedicine Approaches to Negotiate Local Biobarriers for Topical Drug Delivery

Abstract

Topical treatments have been widely adopted to address a broad range of conditions across multiple sites thanks to their convenience, versatility, and effectiveness. While bypassing systemic biobarriers and avoiding systemic side effects by delivering directly to the target tissue, topical treatments still face significant local biobarriers that limit their efficacy. The toolset available for nanodelivery systems and their inherent multifunctionality can contribute to simultaneously address otherwise intractable challenges related to barrier function evasion, drug solubility, bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, smart and sustained release, quantitative co‐delivery, and local targeting which are key to successful topical treatments. This review summarizes the outstanding challenges associated with the topical treatments of key diseases of the skin, mucosae, eyes, and ears, and highlights how nanodelivery systems are being developed to address them effectively.

Electrospun fibers as carriers for topical drug delivery and release in skin bandages and patches for atopic dermatitis treatment

“…Interestingly, some drugs, for example, antifungal ketoconazole, can only be applied onto the skin, while oral treatment is forbidden by the Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency. In spite of many limitations, topical drug delivery makes it possible to use higher doses and longer treatments to obtain the required effect (Mustfa et al, 2021). Transdermal drug delivery transports medicines through the skin into the blood circulation (Figure 2).…”

“…Furthermore, fibers can be used as a drug delivery system (El‐Newehy et al, 2012; Kyzioł et al, 2017; Shoba et al, 2014), thanks to their high loading capacity (Vatankhah, 2018). Treatment substances and drugs can be incorporated into the fiber membrane (Mustfa et al, 2021) by blend electrospinning, covalent immobilization (Feng et al, 2019; Nada et al, 2016), physical adsorption, or coaxial or side‐by‐side electrospinning (Z. Sun et al, 2003; Zare et al, 2021; see Figure 4c–f).…”

Advances of Hydrogel Therapy in Periodontal Regeneration—A Materials Perspective Review

“…In light of these findings, combining inorganic nanoparticles with hydrogels could optimize the mechanical properties and biological function of hydrogel materials to achieve the objective of promoting tissue regeneration [ 86 ]. Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 is a porous crystalline material self-assembled by zinc ions and 2-methylimidazole ligands, with a large specific surface area, high porosity, easy synthesis, and controllable dimensions, and it has been applied in the treatment of periodontitis and bone regeneration [ 87 , 88 ]. Liu, Y et al [ 89 ] developed a nano-injectable photosensitive GelMA composite hydrogel loaded with ZIF-8 for the treatment of periodontitis.…”

Nanoneedles Induce Targeted siRNA Silencing of p16 in the Human Corneal Endothelium

“…Localized delivery is the preferred administration route of gene therapies to ocular tissues including the corneal endothelium, [17] since the systemic route is not efficient, leading to unfavorable bio-distribution with associated side effects. [18] Among local gene delivery approaches for the human cornea, [19] viral transduction still raises immunogenicity and safety concerns, [20] steering research toward safer nonviral approaches, using lipid based transfection [21] and electroporation. [22,23] Those nonviral delivery methods can be effective in vitro and ex vivo but still present cell toxicity, do not provide a localized delivery, and do not efficiently address accessibility challenges in vivo.…”

“…Among local gene delivery approaches for the human cornea, [ 19 ] viral transduction still raises immunogenicity and safety concerns, [ 20 ] steering research toward safer nonviral approaches, using lipid based transfection [ 21 ] and electroporation. [ 22,23 ] Those nonviral delivery methods can be effective in vitro and ex vivo but still present cell toxicity, do not provide a localized delivery, and do not efficiently address accessibility challenges in vivo.…”