Chapter 5 - Administration of phytochemical nanoformulations (main routes of drug delivery)

Abstract

Due to recent advancements in science and technology, developments in medical science and research have become more accessible to the general masses. The regular consumption of pharmaceutical and therapeutic drugs has significantly increased in the past decade. Hence, it has become a cardinal requirement not only for medical professionals and pharmacists to be well versed in the main routes of administration and delivery of pharmaceutical drugs but also for consumers of these drugs. This chapter explores engineered technologies such as drug delivery systems that enable the targeted delivery of a drug and control the release of therapeutic agents in the specific target location. The mode of administration of a drug is of immense importance as it controls both the rate and location of release in the body. The chapter discusses the conventional modes of drug administration like oral, inhalational, intravenous, and transdermal and their correlation with the onset of action, efficacy of treatment, and potency to function successfully. Even though these conventional routes have their respective advantages, there do exist certain limitations, compromising on the bioavailability of the drug and patient compliance. These limitations have encouraged multiple research ventures to explore alternative modes of drug administration, the results of which have been of high statistical significance. These alternative methods include recent technological applications which use nanodelivery methods and administration via other less conventional routes in the body which have proven to be significantly advantageous when compared to conventional modes. Irrespective of the broad-spectrum benefits provided by synthetic drugs, medical research is gradually gravitating toward naturally extracted phytochemicals, which have already demonstrated their potential in chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic efficacy. These conventional and unconventional routes of drug administration, along with their respective pharmacokinetics for both synthetic and phytochemical drugs, will be discussed in detail in the rest of the chapter.