Polymer Particulates in Drug Delivery

Abstract

Development of effective drug delivery systems is important for medicine and healthcare. Polymer particulates (micro- and nanoparticles) have opened new opportunities in the field of drug delivery by overcoming various limitations of conventional delivery methods. The properties of polymeric particles can be readily tuned by precisely engineering the constituent blocks of polymers for improving drug loading, release rate, pharmacokinetics, targeting, etc. The end-groups of various polymers can be readily modified with ligands making them suitable for recognizing by cell-specific receptors, providing cellular specificity, and superior intracellular delivery. This review will mainly cover delivery of many potential drugs and biomolecules by means of polymeric microparticles, nanoparticles and copolymer micelles or assemblies. An overview about formulation methods of polymer particulates has also been addressed. Attempt has been made to cover all the potential polymers that are well known in pharmaceutical history.

Mechanistic Studies of Redox-Switchable Copolymerization of Lactide and Cyclohexene Oxide by a Zirconium Complex

“…In order to expand the physical properties of biodegradable polymers, one can incorporate blocks of other polymers to make block copolymers. Altering the length, number of blocks, or microstructure of the block copolymer provides a number of ways to tune the material’s properties. − …”

New paradigm in combination therapy of siRNA with chemotherapeutic drugs for effective cancer therapy

“…Poly(lactic-coglycolic) acid (PLGA) is an attractive polymer that has been regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the delivery of bioactive molecules because of its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and excellent controlled release properties. The PLGA matrix designed to protect siRNA from nuclease degradation and allowed for a burst release of surface-localized siRNA accompanied by a triphasic controlled delivery over two months ( Cun et al., 2011 ), ( Kaur et al., 2016 ). PLGA copolymers have good characteristics such as decomposed into nontoxic by-product, mechanical resistance and controlled biodegradation ( Mokhtarzadeh et al., 2016 ).…”

Conveyance of sofosbuvir through vesicular lipid nanocarriers as an effective strategy for management of viral meningitis

“…4 Among various novel carriers, vesicular lipid nanocarriers, commonly referred to as nanoliposomes (LNs), have become a popular strategy for effective delivery of hydrophilic drugs across the BBB to treat brain diseases. 5…”