A Brief Review on Advantages of Nano-based Drug Delivery Systems

Abstract

Context: During the past two decades, the development of drug delivery systems based on nanomaterials has yielded nanocarriers for smart application in nanomedicine to treat diseases. Evidence Acquisition: The current review presents a summary of some advances in the development and application of nano-delivery systems for improving the efficacy of conventional drugs and reducing their adverse effects through the production of smart delivery carriers with targeting moieties and controlled release strategies used in therapy. The searches were conducted in ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar, and PubMed databases for relevant studies. Results: As reviewed in the present paper, the investigated targeted drug delivery systems have proven to be more effective than free drugs by enhancing efficacy and reducing the systemic toxicity of therapy. In addition, many studies have shown remarkable advantages of nanoscale drug delivery carriers regarding the possibility to improve properties such as solubility, stability, absorption, diffusivity, bioavailability, targeting, and controlled release of drugs. Conclusions: Despite many advantages of nanoscale drug delivery systems reported in the medical literature, deeper research about the composition, synthesis, characteristics, and clinical applications in this area is needed.