Title:Nanotechnological Systems and Lung: A Perfect Combination for
Lung Pharmaceutical Applications
Volume: 30
Issue: 6
Author(s): Debora Santonocito*Carmelo Puglia
Affiliation:
- Department of Drug and Health Science, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy
Keywords:
Pulmonary drug delivery, lung, liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles, lung diseases.
Abstract: Nowadays, lungs are the most common organs affected by diseases due to climate
change, tobacco smoking, pollution and genetic factors. Conventional pharmacotherapy
(oral medication or injection) is poorly selective; this causes toxicity problems
and numerous systemic side effects. Furthermore, although pulmonary administration is
an interesting drug administration route for treating lung diseases, inhalation therapy is
complex mainly due to the lung defense mechanisms leading to rapid drug elimination.
Pulmonary drug delivery using nanocarriers appears to be the best therapeutic strategy to
overcome these issues. In fact, these nanosystems can reduce both drug therapeutic dose
and side effects, improving patient compliance, avoiding alveolar macrophage clearance,
protecting the drug from degradation processes, and providing a controlled and targeted
drug release. Therefore, this review aims to analyze the scientific literature regarding the
use of nanocarriers to treat the main lung diseases (cancer, asthma, infections). In particular,
attention was devoted to liposomes and polymer- and lipid-based nanoparticles, being
the topic of most published articles in the last decade.