Title:Nanocarriers as Tools in Delivering Active Compounds for Immune System Related Pathologies
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Author(s): Codruta Soica, Dorina Coricovac, Cristina Dehelean, Iulia Pinzaru, Marius Mioc, Corina Danciu, Adriana Fulias, Maria Puiu and Cassian Sitaru
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Cyclodextrin, gold, immune system, liposomes, nanoparticles, polymer.
Abstract: Background: Immune system related pathologies affect an increasing number of patients every year, having
potentially lethal consequences and requiring expensive and difficult tolerated treatments. This area of pathologies offers
an excellent potential for the development of innovative solutions such as nanoformulations; this review aims to describe
the main categories of nanostructured drug delivery platforms that have been developed in order to achieve a more effective,
low toxic treatment in autoimmune pathologies.
Methods: We conducted a systematic search of peer-reviewed original studies focusing on nanoformulations suitable for
use against autoimmune disorders. Each study was evaluated by at least two reviewers who applied inclusion and exclusion
criteria in order to establish the quality of the research reported in the selected papers. The systematic screening of
the literature also identified the most recent patents issued in the field of inflammatory/autoimmune diseases which were
included in the current paper.
Results: One hundred ninety-seven bibliographic titles were included in the review of which fifty-three recently published
patents. Twenty-one papers were selected to define the interaction between nanoformulations and the immune system
triggering either immunosuppression or immunostimulation. Thirty-seven papers outlined the characteristics of liposomal
formulations that have been reported as treatment for several autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis. Twentythree
articles provided data on the main lipid nanoparticles of the first and second generation which may include physiological
lipids with low cytotoxicity. Gold nanoparticles were described by thirteen papers which highlighted the advantages
of the new hybrid organic-inorganic nanoparticles vs. the classical ionic gold compounds. Polymeric nanoformulations
were the subject of fifty-nine papers that described their preparation as well as various advantages in the treatment of
inflammatory disorders; dendrimers and polymeric micelles were included in the study. Thirty-three studies were selected
to outline the benefits provided by the use of cyclodextrins as carriers for active drugs. The review also identified the possibility
of producing combined nanoformulations (e.g. polymer/cyclodextrin, liposome/polymer) thus achieving superior
therapeutic results.
Conclusion: Nanoformulations offer multiple advantages over the classical pharmaceutical formulations, the main ones
being the precise targeted therapy with small doses of active drugs, longer circulating time in the bloodstream, and high
loading capacity for diagnostic and therapeutic molecules; moreover, the nanoparticles may be functionalized in order to
act as nanotheranostics within the larger frame of personalized medicine.
