Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 21, Issue 29, 2015

Nanoparticles have been extensively employed to deliver many drugs, including siRNA, for the treatment of a variety of diseases, particularly cancer. Lately, there has been a great deal of effort to design nanoparticles with materials that are able to respond to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli for “on demand” delivery of siRNA. These nanoparticles are able to trigger siRNA release upon different stimuli, such as a pH decrease, Read More

Organic and inorganic nanoparticles show great potential for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Because gastric cancer (GC) represents the second most deadly type of neoplasia worldwide, continued research efforts by scientists and clinicians are essential to improve diagnosis and treatment. This paper reviews significant findings in the area of nanoparticles (organic and inorganic origin) that may aid in prevention and diagnosi Read More

The advent of recombinant DNA technology and computational designing has fueled the emergence of proteins and peptides as a new class of modern therapeutics such as vaccines, antigens, antibodies and hormones. Demand for such therapeutics has increased recently due to their distinct pharmacodynamic characteristics of specificity of action and high potency. However, their potential clinical applications are ofte Read More

Nanotechnology and nanomedicine provide a platform for advanced therapeutic strategies for dermal and transdermal drug delivery. The focus of this review is on the current state-of-art in lipid-based nanotechnology and nanomedicine for (trans)dermal drug therapy. Drug delivery nanosystems based on the (phospho)lipid constituents are characterized and compared, with the emphasis on their ability to assure the Read More

Gene therapy, currently, represents one of the new therapies that have emerged for the treatment of different diseases. Between the different approaches that can be chosen concerning this therapy, gene delivery with non-viral systems has focused the attention during the past decades, because of the reduced toxicity compared to the viral systems. Non-viral vectors are formed by a group of different molecules with a wi Read More

Immunotherapy of cancer is a promising therapeutic approach which aims to eliminate malignancies by inducing or enhancing an immune response against the tumor. Immunotherapy, however, faces several challenges such as local immunosuppression in the tumor area leading to immunological tolerance. To overcome these challenges, particulate formulations such as nano- and microparticles containing immunot Read More

Many new developed drug actives are poorly soluble, therefore the need to increase the solubility of these actives arises. Nanosuspensions are fast and easy to produce, enhance the bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs and feature many beneficial characteristics. However, nanocrystals in suspension form are physically metastable. Furthermore, the application of nanocrystal suspensions has no retarding effects. To overco Read More

Allergen specific immunotherapy has been introduced in the clinic more than 100 years ago showing effectiveness and, so far, it represents the only curative approach to treat allergic disorders ameliorating the symptoms, reducing the medication costs and blocking the onset of new sensitizations. However, some questions are still open regarding to the safety of the treatment and the need to reduce the dose and tim Read More

Gold –based nanoparticles are utilized for cancer therapeutics as a system for drug delivery, or as a mediator for thermal therapy, whether ablation or hyperthermia. This review discusses how the design of the physicochemical properties of the different types of gold-based nanoparticles affects their treatment efficacy. The basic principles and mechanism at which it mediates heating and delivers drugs efficiently in vivo is Read More

Nanotoxicology deals with the new perception regarding nanotechnology i.e. risk and hazards associated with nanoscale materials. Although, nanotechnology is playing significant role in modern advancements from cell phones to medicines, yet it is necessary to consider their negative part as well that could be dangerous if not given proper attention. It is not certain that nanotechnology will essentially exert toxic effects Read More

In the past few decades, the applications of nanomaterials in biologic systems have become one of the most studied areas. Many novel syntheses and processing methods have been developed to generate nanomaterials to enhance biomedical applications. Among those methods, polydopamine (PDA) integrated nanomaterials have attracted considerable interest for various types of biomedical applications. This co Read More

Applications of polymeric nanotechnologies for enabling therapies for cardiovascular diseases have shown recent success. Both intravenous and oral administration have been investigated and achieved different degrees of development. While circulating polymeric nanostructured carriers are subjected to a number of interactions, smart nanoparticle design has enabled the formulation of active molecules to be delivered to spe Read More

Chitosan on its own is a well-established natural polymer and is widely regarded as a biodegradable, biocompatible and nontoxic material for drug delivery applications. Although unmodified chitosan has some mucoadhesive properties on its own, its bioavailability is limited due to its short retention time in the body. Moreover, the high solubility of chitosan at acidic pH levels limits its use for mucosal drug delivery (especially Read More

Small interfering RNAs (siRNA) are emerging as a new opportunity for treatment of various diseases, including viral and cancer diseases via knocking down a specific gene that involves in disease development. But their clinical application is hampered because of susceptibility to degradation and difficult delivery of siRNA into cells. So it is needed to develop an efficient carrier that stabilizes and delivers siRNA effici Read More

The treatment of skin wounds represents an important research area due to the important physiological and aesthetic role of this tissue. During the last years, nanoparticles have emerged as important platforms to treat skin wounds. Silver, gold, and copper nanoparticles, as well as titanium and zinc oxide nanoparticles, have shown potential therapeutic effects on wound healing. Due to their specific characteristics, nanoparticles Read More

Molecular hydrogels have been widely explored in various biomedical applications, such as cell culture, tissue engineering and drug delivery. Peptide-based hydrogel nanoparticles represent a promising alternative to current drug delivery approaches and cell carriers for tissue engineering, due to their encapsulation stability, water solubility and biocompatibility. This review focuses on recent advances in the use Read More

A large amount of new drug candidates are practically insoluble in aqueous solvents and are even simultaneously poorly soluble in organic solvents. Nanosuspension drug delivery system (DDS) was firstly developed in 1994 and has attracted more and more attention as a formation solution for the poorly soluble drugs. By nansizing the poorly soluble drugs, nanosuspensions have several outstanding advantages for drug delivery. Read More