Polymer-Based Protein Delivery Systems for Loco-Regional Administration
Richard L. K. Glover, Daniel Nyanganyura, Rofhiwa Bridget Mulaudzi, Maluta Steven Mufamadi in Green Synthesis in Nanomedicine and Human Health, 2021
Current research is focused especially on developing biodegradable polymer materials that have shown significant therapeutic potential. Biodegradable polymers are natural or synthetic polymers that are able to degrade in vivo into biocompatible and toxicologically safe by-products that are subsequently resorbed or excreted by the body. Naturally occurring biodegradable polymers are widely explored because of their abundance in nature, biocompatibility and lower toxicity. Chitosan (Deng et al., 2017), hyaluronic acid (Giarra et al., 2018), silk fibroin (Fernández-garcía et al., 2016), cellulose (Wozniak et al., 2003) or collagen (Teixeira et al. 2010; Manavitehrani et al., 2016) have been among the most investigated natural biodegradable polymers for protein delivery applications. However, their use is challenging because of wide molecular weight distributions and batch-to-batch variability and the necessity to collaborate with companies that are able to purchase materials following clinical Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). On the other hand, cGMP synthetic biodegradable or bioeliminable polymers are commercially available with different and well-defined compositions, molecular weights and degradation times. Aliphatic polyesters such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) have been among the most successfully used synthetic biodegradable polymers so far (Makadia and Seigel, 2011).
Phototherapy Using Nanomaterials
D. Sakthi Kumar, Aswathy Ravindran Girija in Bionanotechnology in Cancer, 2023
Usually, tumor vessels will be dilated with a number of pores, which enlarge the gap junctions between endothelial cells and compromized lymphatic drainage, and this leaky vascularization leads to EPR effect. Passive nanoparticles take advantage of this effect for enabling nanodrugs to accumulate in tumor tissues. Active targeting follows the strategy of attaching affinity ligands, such as antibodies, small molecules, peptides, and aptamers, which can bind only to specific receptors on the surface of the cancer cells. However, there are other functional formulations that describe an additional active intermediary role of carrier nanoparticles in the process of photodynamic activation, which will be detailed in the following sections. Through material composition, passive carriers may be sub-classified into (a) biodegradable polymer-based nanoparticles and (b) non-polymer-based nanoparticles. Active nanoparticles can be sub-classified by mechanism of activation into (a) photosensitizer nanoparticles, (b) self-lighting nanoparticles, and (c) upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). Details of these classifications are provided in Table 10.1.
Degradable, biodegradable, and bioresorbable polymers for time-limited therapy
Yoshinobu Onuma, Patrick W.J.C. Serruys in Bioresorbable Scaffolds, 2017
Basically any degradable or biodegradable polymer has a potential to be exploited in time-limited therapeutic systems like those listed in Table 2.1.2 where approximate functional durations are indicated. In translational research, degradation is not sufficient and many other requisites are to be taken into account since clinical and commercial developments are final targets. Table 2.1.3 lists these requisites from a general viewpoint; however, each criterion has to be confronted to the specificity of an application, a stage that results in drastic selection and excludes many candidates, especially those whose chemical nature does not provide exploitable means to adapt properties to requirements.
PLGA-based biodegradable microspheres in drug delivery: recent advances in research and application
Published in Drug Delivery, 2021
Yue Su, Bolun Zhang, Ruowei Sun, Wenfang Liu, Qubo Zhu, Xun Zhang, Rongrong Wang, Chuanpin Chen
The key to the composition of biodegradable microspheres lies in the application of biodegradable polymer materials. The most important property of such materials is their biodegradability. The substances produced by human metabolism will neither cause harm to the human body nor harm to the environment (Prajapati et al., 2019). There are many types of biodegradable polymer materials, including those from natural sources and synthetic ones. In recent years, more and more synthetic biodegradable polymers have been used as carriers for therapeutic drug delivery devices, especially Poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), due to its biodegradability and good biocompatibility, as well as suitable biodegradation kinetics and easy-to-process mechanical properties, have been used as biomaterials since the 1970s, with a long history (Lu et al., 2009). At present, more than 20 kinds of PLGA-based biodegradable microspheres have been approved for use on the market, and many of which are in the stage of research and development or clinical trials. In this development process, many new technologies and achievements have emerged. Therefore, it is necessary to summarize and update the research status and application of PLGA-based biodegradable microspheres, which is beneficial to those researchers and clinicians who are interested in biodegradable microspheres as DDS.
The treatment efficacy of three-layered functional polymer materials as drug carrier for orthotopic colon cancer
Published in Drug Delivery, 2022
Zhuo Liu, Dongxin Wang, Qian Cao, Jiannan Li
The integration of booming nanotechnology and multiple subjects provides a satisfying application prospect for the diagnosis and treatment of clinical diseases (Brede & Labhasetwar, 2013; Jin et al., 2020; Ge et al., 2021). Biodegradable polymer materials occupy an important position in nanotechnology. Polymer materials-based drug carriers, e.g., nanoparticles, hydrogel, and electrospun fibers, can load multiple drugs simultaneously, control drug release procedurally, and play different roles in many diseases (Ghafoor et al., 2018; Gagliardi et al., 2021). Electrospun nanofibers present the merits of a great drug loading rate, excellent stability, large contact area, degradability, and adjustable drug release (Feng et al., 2019). Owing to their unique structural characteristics, electrospun nanofibers provide a new strategy for various disease treatments and complication prevention. In addition, biodegradable hydrogels are also promising biomaterials owing to their hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity (Parhi, 2017). Hydrogel and electrospun fibers can load agents with different hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity for local drug delivery simultaneously, which are thus often combined to provide new channels for disease treatment.
Carboxymethyl starch as a solid dispersion carrier to enhance the dissolution and bioavailability of piperine and 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid
Published in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2023
Fanli Shi, Ruilong Li, Wenjing Wang, Xiangyu Yu, Fenxia Zhu, Yiping Huang, Jing Wang, Zhenhai Zhang
In recent decades, various technologies that can be used to improve the dissolution of drugs have been developed rapidly, such as co-crystallization [27], liposome [28], solid dispersion [29], and nanocrystals [30], etc. For example, PIP was prepared as micelles [31] and metal nanoparticles [32], and β-GA was prepared as liposome [33] and nanocrystal [34] to enhance their bioavailability. Polymer-based solid dispersions (SDs) have been one of the most valuable technologies for overcoming poor water solubility and low bioavailability [35–37]. However, how to prepare stable and effective SDs under the premise of minimizing the addition of excipients has become the focus [38,39]. Thus, it is crucial to select suitable carriers for the formulation and/or production of SDs. Owing to the urgent need to achieve carbon neutralization [40] and safety considerations, naturally biodegradable polymer-carriers are preferred. Traditional polymers consume more resources in the synthesis and recovery process and may even cause pollution, while natural polymer-carriers consume less [41,42], mainly derived from photosynthetic plants.