Abstract
The emerging science of nanotechnology sparked a research attention in its potential benefits in comparison to the conventional materials used. Oral products prepared via nanoparticles (NPs) have garnered great interest worldwide. They are used commonly to incorporate nutrients and provide antimicrobial activity. Formulation into NPs can offer opportunities for targeted drug delivery, improve drug stability in the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, increase drug solubility and bioavailability, and provide sustained release in the GI tract. However, some issues like the management of toxicity and safe handling of NPs are still debated and should be well concerned before their application in oral preparations. This article will help the reader to understand safety issues of NPs in oral drug delivery and provides some recommendations to the use of NPs in the drug industry.
Highlights
The oral route is the most accepted and preferred route of administration as it provides patients many benefits such as no assistance, painless administration, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility in the design of dosage forms as compared to other routes like intravenous, intramuscular, and pulmonary [1, 2]
Many hydrophobic and hydrophilic therapeutic agents exhibit poor oral bioavailability owing to their low physicochemical and/or biopharmaceutical features [4, 5]
Phagocytosis is a receptor-mediated mechanism involving ATP-dependent steps by which NPs are engulfed by the cellular membrane. This mechanism is seen in the microfold cells (M cells) due to a lack of a normal intestinal mucosal barrier and the presence of a scant glycocalyx which allows the transport of NPs
Summary
The oral route is the most accepted and preferred route of administration as it provides patients many benefits such as no assistance, painless administration, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility in the design of dosage forms as compared to other routes like intravenous, intramuscular, and pulmonary [1, 2] Regardless of the these benefits, the oral administration can have serious problems in delivering of therapeutic agents which are as follows: (a) low stability and solubility of drugs during the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, (b) inappropriate partition coefficient through the lipid membrane, (c) mucosal barrier and poor intestinal permeability, (d) first-pass metabolism, (e) undesired drug degradation in pH of the stomach or enzymatic degradation, and (f) P-glycoprotein- (P-gp-) mediated efflux.
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