Targeted Drug Delivery Strategies in Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance: Advances and Future Directions

Advances in Drug Delivery and Theranostics

Harnessing the potential of de-sulfated heparin for targeted drug delivery: A three-component approach exemplified by conjugation with galactose and paclitaxel

Molecularly Engineered Aptamers Targeting Tumor Tissue and Cancer Cells for Efficient in Vivo Recognition and Enrichment

Concepts and System Design for the Rate-Controlled Drug Delivery Fundamentals of Rate-Controlled Drug Delivery Oral Drug Delivery and Delivery Systems Mucosal Drug Delivery: Potential Routes for Noninvasive Systemic Administration Nasal Drug Delivery and Delivery Systems Ocular Drug Delivery and Delivery Systems Transdermal Drug Delivery and Delivery Systems Parenteral Drug Delivery and Delivery Systems Vaginal Drug Delivery and Delivery Systems Intrauterine Drug Delivery and Delivery Systems Systemic Delivery of Peptide-Based Pharmaceuticals Regulatory Considerations in Controlled Drug Delivery

Recent studies have been reported emerging polymeric nanoparticles as a promising particulate carrier system for controlled and targeted drug delivery. Stimuli-responsive nanocarriers have shown characteristics, such as high drug uptake at specific sites or targeted cells with an advantage of no drug leakage. These stimuli-responsive polymeric systems are used to functionalize nanocarriers, such as dendrimers, metallic nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, liposomal nanoparticles, and quantum dots. The study reviews the potential of smart stimuli-responsive carriers for therapeutic application and their behavior in external or internal stimuli, like pH, temperature, redox, light, and magnetic field. These stimuli- responsive drug delivery systems exhibit different drug release patterns in in vitro and in vivo studies. Stimuli- responsive nanocarriers are useful for both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs and release them on applied stimulus. This review highlights the recent development in the physical properties of polymeric materials and their application in stimuli-responsive specific drug delivery. The stimuli (smart, intelligent, programmable) drug delivery systems provide site-specific drug delivery with potential therapy for cancer, neurodegenerative, and lifestyle disorders. The stimuli-responsive- based nanocarriers are developing at a fast pace, and there is a huge demand for biocompatible and biodegradable responsive polymers for effective and safe delivery.

Targeted drug delivery and the use of nanocarriers in drug delivery systems have shown significant impacts in mitigating various diseases. The limitation lies in designing nanocarriers for an effective therapeutic outcome. The concept of targeted drug delivery is drawn from the 'magic bullet' concept, which reduces toxicity, enhances effectiveness, and helps control the drug release rate. Targeted drug delivery strategies can be performed in various ways but mainly depend on ligand‒receptor binding and the enhanced permeability and retention method (EPR). Different nanocarriers have been developed over the years, including liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles, niosomes, ethosomes, dendrimers, polymeric micelles, carbon nanotubes, and metallic nanoparticles. Drug loading in nanocarriers occurs by covalent bonding, electrostatic interactions, or encapsulation. Nanocarriers have been developed over the years, and novel nanocarriers have been designed to enhance their effectiveness, reduce side effects, increase circulation time, and accumulate at the target site. This article discusses the different strategies of drug delivery systems, different types of nanocarriers, and their advantages as targeted drug delivery systems. This article also discusses the recent advances of novel designed nanocarriers as targeted drug delivery systems.

Oxygen Sensitive Drug Release Using Hemoglobin Microbubbles: A New Approach to Targeting Hypoxia in Ultrasound-Mediated Drug Delivery.

Targeted drug delivery is a precise and effective strategy in oncotherapy that can accurately deliver drugs to tumor cells or tissues to enhance their therapeutic effect and, meanwhile, weaken their undesirable side effects on normal cells or tissues. In this research field, a large number of researchers have achieved significant breakthroughs and advances in oncotherapy. Typically, nanocarriers as a promising drug delivery strategy can effectively deliver drugs to the tumor site through enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect-mediated passive targeting and various types of receptor-mediated active targeting, respectively. Herein, we review recent targeted drug delivery strategies and technologies for enhancing oncotherapy. In addition, we also review two mainstream drug delivery strategies, passive and active targeting, based on various nanocarriers for enhancing tumor therapy. Meanwhile, a comparison and combination of passive and active targeting are also carried out. Furthermore, we discuss the associated challenges of passive and active targeted drug delivery strategies and the prospects for further study.

Nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology to medicine, has revolutionized the field by providing novel approaches to diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases. Among its various applications, targeted drug delivery has emerged as a key area of focus, offering the potential to enhance therapeutic efficacy and minimize side effects by directing drugs specifically to diseased cells or tissues. This review discusses the latest advancements in nanomedicine, particularly in the design and development of nanoscale drug delivery systems such as liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, dendrimers, and inorganic nanoparticles. We explore the mechanisms of passive and active targeting, as well as stimuli-responsive delivery systems. Clinical applications in cancer therapy, cardiovascular diseases, neurological disorders, and infectious diseases are examined to illustrate the practical impact of these technologies. Furthermore, we address the challenges facing the field, including toxicity and biocompatibility concerns, manufacturing and scalability issues, regulatory and ethical considerations, and the integration of personalized medicine approaches. By providing a comprehensive overview of the current state and future directions of nanomedicine and targeted drug delivery, this review aims to highlight the transformative potential of these technologies in improving patient outcomes and advancing healthcare. Keywords: Nanomedicine, Targeted drug delivery, Liposomes, Passive targeting, Personalized medicine

In the area of drug delivery, novel tools and technological approaches have captured the attention of researchers in order to improve the performance of conventional therapeutics and patient compliance to pharmacological therapy. Stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems (DDS) appear as a promising approach to control and target drug delivery. When these DDS are administered, the drug release is activated and then modulated through some action or external input and facilitated by the energy supplied externally. The stimuli responsible to activate the drug release can be classified into three types according to their nature or the type of energy applied: physical (e.g. magnetic field, electric field, ultrasound, temperature and osmotic pressure); chemical (e.g. pH, ionic strength and glucose); and biological (enzymes and endogenous receptors). The present review gives an overview of the most significant physical and chemical stimuliresponsive DDS and elucidates about their current and relevant applications in controlled and targeted drug delivery attending different routes of administration.

Chemotherapy is the most common treatment strategy for cancer patients. Nevertheless, limited drug delivery to cancer cells, intolerable toxicity, and multiple drug resistance are constant challenges of chemotherapy. Novel targeted drug delivery strategies by using nanoparticles have attracted much attention due to reducing side effects and increasing drug efficacy. Therefore, the most important outcome of this study is to answer the question of whether active targeted HA-based drug nanocarriers have a significant effect on improving drug delivery to cancer cells.This study aimed to systematically review studies on the use of hyaluronic acid (HA)-based nanocarriers for chemotherapy drugs. The two databases MagIran and SID from Persian databases as well as international databases PubMed, WoS, Scopus, Science Direct, Embase, as well as Google Scholar were searched for human studies and cell lines and/or xenograft mice published without time limit until 2020. Keywords used to search included Nanoparticle, chemotherapy, HA, Hyaluronic acid, traditional medicine, natural medicine, chemotherapeutic drugs, natural compound, cancer treatment, and cancer. The quality of the studies was assessed by the STROBE checklist. Finally, studies consistent with inclusion criteria and with medium- to high-quality were included in the systematic review.According to the findings of studies, active targeted HA-based drug nanocarriers showed a significant effect on improving drug delivery to cancer cells. Also, the use of lipid nanoparticles with a suitable coating of HA have been introduced as biocompatible drug carriers with high potential for targeted drug delivery to the target tissue without affecting other tissues and reducing side effects. Enhanced drug delivery, increased therapeutic efficacy, increased cytotoxicity and significant inhibition of tumor growth, as well as high potential for targeted chemotherapy are also reported to be benefits of using HA-based nanocarriers for tumors with increased expression of CD44 receptor.

Enhancing targeted tumor treatment: A novel fuzzy logic framework for precision drug delivery strategy selection

The treatment of tumors requires specific and selective drug delivery approaches capable of efficiently eliminating the root cause of oncogenesis. In this context, targeted drug delivery strategies are the preferred choice due to their exceptional recognition of tumor cell biology and their high transfection efficacy within the tumor microenvironment. The emergence of nanoscale techniques has marked significant milestones in the successful management of various types of tumors. The development of targeted delivery approaches for tumor therapeutics has gained momentum over the past few decades. However, in contrast to the plethora of successful pre-clinical studies, only a limited number of passively targeted nanocarriers have been approved for clinical use, and none of the actively targeted nanocarriers have advanced beyond clinical trials. This review delves into the major molecular principles associated with tumorigenesis, including active targeting, passive targeting, and cell-mediated targeting. It also explores the biological barriers (systemic, biological, and cellular) encountered in tumor drug delivery. Moreover, the review examines various tumor-targeted drug delivery systems that have been developed over the past decade. These systems encompass polymeric nanoparticles (micelles, nanoparticles, dendrimers, and polyplexes), lipid-based carriers (solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, nanoemulsion), vesicular systems (liposomes, niosomes, aquasomes, and phytosomes), and inorganic nanocarriers (iron oxide nanoparticles, quantum dots, carbon-based nanoparticles, and mesoporous silica nanoparticles), all designed for the alleviation of tumors.

In recent years, the field of drug delivery has witnessed remarkable progress, driven by the quest for more effective and precise therapeutic interventions. Among the myriad strategies employed, the integration of aptamers as targeting moieties and stimuli-responsive systems has emerged as a promising avenue, particularly in the context of anticancer therapy. This review explores cutting-edge advancements in targeted drug-delivery systems, focusing on the integration of aptamers and stimuli-responsive platforms for enhanced spatial anticancer therapy. In the aptamer-based drug-delivery systems, we delve into the versatile applications of aptamers, examining their conjugation with gold, silica, and carbon materials. The synergistic interplay between aptamers and these materials is discussed, emphasizing their potential in achieving precise and targeted drug delivery. Additionally, we explore stimuli-responsive drug-delivery systems with an emphasis on spatial anticancer therapy. Tumor microenvironment-responsive nanoparticles are elucidated, and their capacity to exploit the dynamic conditions within cancerous tissues for controlled drug release is detailed. External stimuli-responsive strategies, including ultrasound-mediated, photo-responsive, and magnetic-guided drug-delivery systems, are examined for their role in achieving synergistic anticancer effects. This review integrates diverse approaches in the quest for precision medicine, showcasing the potential of aptamers and stimuli-responsive systems to revolutionize drug-delivery strategies for enhanced anticancer therapy.

Controlled release of drugs to the eye tissues is still an important, though challenging topic of research in the area of pharmaceutical technology. The eye is an organ highly protected from extraneous compounds by anatomical, functional and biochemical mechanisms. Such defences often limit the time of contact of the formulation with the eye surface and lead to an insufficient bioavailability of the applied drugs, especially at the level of eye posterior segment. Many nanotechnology strategies have been exploited for the diagnosis and cure of ocular diseases. They range from medical application of nanomaterials, including controlled drug and gene delivery systems, to nanoelectronic biosensors, to nanodevices for in vivo imaging and diagnosis, to implantable biomaterials for tissue regeneration and prolonged targeted therapy. Nanosized ocular drug delivery systems have shown important results in ocular drug delivery in the last years, both as topical applications on the eye surface or after intraocular administration. These colloidal carriers can be suitably engineered to overcome corneal and retinal barriers to drug penetration, protect the encapsulated drug, and prolong its activity by a controlled and/or prolonged site-specific release profile. Although the basic research on ophthalmic delivery systems supplies many technological approaches, very few of them have been able to reach a clinical relevance or to be translated into pre-industrial or industrial applications. The main reason lies in the complexity and specificity of the formulation parameters that ophthalmic products always require to tackle the high sensitivity of ocular tissues. This review surveys some of the more recent patents regarding nanotechnology applications to ophthalmic controlled and targeted drug delivery. Keywords: Nanotechnology, Ophthalmic Drug Delivery, Controlled drug delivery, dendrimers, intraocular release, intravitreal delivery, iontophoresis, liposomes, microparticles, nanocarriers, nanoemulsions, nano-eye drops, nanoparticles, ocular therapy, SLN