Chapter 17 - Nanofibers for drug delivery

Abstract

Drug delivery vehicles and devices are the paramount factor in the field of pharmaceutical research in regard to maximized therapeutic effects of the agents such as proteins, DNA, ribonucleic acid, or chemical drugs and minimized undesired side effects. The integration of these active molecules in the nanofibrous meshes has shown to be an effective in situ delivery mechanism. Nanofibrous meshes are structures woven of ultra-fine polymeric fibers with an excessive strength/weight ratio. Drug molecules entrapped in these nanofibers are released into the surrounding medium via a different mechanism of burst release, sustainable release, and tunable release. The rate of preferred drug release and diffusion can be effortlessly controlled by manipulating the nanofiber morphology, type, and method of drug incorporation. Electrospinning is a renowned process for the synthesis of nanofibers. Over the past few decades, electrospun polymeric nanofibers have attracted enormous interest as a drug delivery system. Their intrinsically high surface-to-volume ratio makes them ideal candidate for drug loading vehicle with enhanced properties, for example, cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, and mass transfer processes. The method is highly preferential for the delivery of low solubility drugs by loading them into the fibers and making them bioavailable. This chapter intends to enlist and summarize the most useable approaches to incorporate therapeutic active molecules specially drugs into nanofibers and the mechanism of their release. An attempt is made to cover a variety of drugs incorporated with nanofibers and their applications. It also highlights the clinical translation of nanofibers in the current scenario and their limitations. In addition, it paves a new perspective for future generation to consider the usage of nanofiber as in personalized drug delivery systems.