tment of chronic diseases, and increase patient’s and doctor’s convenience to reduce the dosing frequency and invasive treatment. In this article, progress of ocular drug delivery systems under clinical trials and in late experimental stage is reviewed.
de Boer, Albertus G; Gaillard, Pieter J
The blood-brain barrier (BBB), together with the blood-cerebrospinal-fluid barrier, protects and regulates the homeostasis of the brain. However, these barriers also limit the transport of small-molecule and, particularly, biopharmaceutical drugs such as proteins, genes and interference RNA to the brain, thereby limiting the treatment of many brain diseases. As a result, various drug delivery and targeting strategies are currently being developed to enhance the transport and distribution of drugs into the brain. In this review, we discuss briefly the biology and physiology of the BBB as the most important barrier for drug transport to the brain and, in more detail, the possibilities for delivering large-molecule drugs, particularly genes, by receptor-mediated nonviral drug delivery to the (human) brain. In addition, the systemic and intracellular pharmacokinetics of nonviral gene delivery, together with targeted brain imaging, are reviewed briefly.
Yellen, Benjamin B.; Forbes, Zachary G.; Halverson, Derek S.; Fridman, Gregory; Barbee, Kenneth A.; Chorny, Michael; Levy, Robert; Friedman, Gary
A new method for locally targeted drug delivery is proposed that employs magnetic implants placed directly in the cardiovascular system to attract injected magnetic carriers. Theoretical simulations and experimental results support the assumption that using magnetic implants in combination with externally applied magnetic field will optimize the delivery of magnetic drug to selected sites within a subject
Benson, Heather A. E; Watkinson, Adam C
.... Providing an overview of the current science in drug and cosmetic application to and through the skin, Topical and Transdermal Drug Delivery includes treatment of skin conditions, skin permeation...
Alvarez-Lorenzo, Carmen; Blanco-Fernandez, Barbara; Puga, Ana M; Concheiro, Angel
Polysaccharides are gaining increasing attention as components of stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems, particularly since they can be obtained in a well characterized and reproducible way from the natural sources. Ionic polysaccharides can be readily crosslinked to render hydrogel networks sensitive to a variety of internal and external variables, and thus suitable for switching drug release on-off through diverse mechanisms. Hybrids, composites and grafted polymers can reinforce the responsiveness and widen the range of stimuli to which polysaccharide-based systems can respond. This review analyzes the state of the art of crosslinked ionic polysaccharides as components of delivery systems that can regulate drug release as a function of changes in pH, ion nature and concentration, electric and magnetic field intensity, light wavelength, temperature, redox potential, and certain molecules (enzymes, illness markers, and so on). Examples of specific applications are provided. The information compiled demonstrates that crosslinked networks of ionic polysaccharides are suitable building blocks for developing advanced externally activated and feed-back modulated drug delivery systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Garland, Martin J; Caffarel-Salvador, Ester; Migalska, Katarzyna; Woolfson, A David; Donnelly, Ryan F
It has recently been proposed that the combination of skin barrier impairment using microneedles (MNs) coupled with iontophoresis (ITP) may broaden the range of drugs suitable for transdermal delivery, as well as enabling the rate of delivery to be achieved with precise electronic control. However, no reports exist on the combination of ITP with in situ drug loaded polymeric MN delivery systems. Furthermore, although a number of studies have highlighted the importance of MN design for transdermal drug delivery enhancement, to date, there has been no systematic investigation of the influence of 