Engineered Drug Delivery Systems: Insights of Biointerface

Abstract

Drug delivery systems are now well developed and in use for various therapies. These systems surpass conventional mode of drug administration by efficiently delivering the desired concentrations of bioactive drug. Typically, drug delivery in the body is an interfacial phenomenon. Interaction of the administered carrier molecules with the body fluid depends on the physiochemical properties of the carrier molecules and hence controls its pharmacokinetics. However, nonspecific interactions and physiological stability of these molecules within biological systems may result in complications during the therapy and stimulate the immune responses. Also, the insolubility of hydrophobic drugs is a major problem in their therapeutic applications. Target-specific drug delivery with controlled interfacial interactions is a possible alternative to overcome these challenges. The regulation of interactions at biointerface allows modulating the in vivo administration of a carrier system. Various engineered nanomaterials, emulsion and polymer-based drug delivery systems, have been explored in the literature. Further, surface modifications and functionalization of these delivery systems are found to regulate interfacial interactions. The modification not only controls the reaction potency of drug with the biological systems but also enhances the stability and compatibility. This chapter describes the designing of engineered drug delivery systems using polymers, self-assembled monolayers, and emulsions. Application of these strategies to alter the surface chemistry of drug molecules and delivery systems is elaborated through recent studies. Bio-interfacial aspects of the above-designed systems are highlighted to confirm their fidelity to be used as effective drug delivery systems.