Engineered Inorganic Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Applications

Title:Engineered Inorganic Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Applications

Volume: 14 Issue: 5

Author(s): Isaac Ojea-Jimenez, Joan Comenge, Lorena Garcia-Fernandez, Zoe A. Megson, Eudald Casals and Victor F. Puntes

Affiliation:

Keywords: Nanoparticles, drug delivery, surface modification, colloidal stability, immune system, biodistribution.

Abstract: Inorganic nanoparticles (NPs) currently have immense potential as drug delivery vectors due to their unique physicochemical properties such as high surface area per unit volume, their optical and magnetic uniqueness and the ability to be functionalized with a large number of ligands to enhance their affinity towards target molecules. These features, together with the therapeutic activity of some drugs, render the combination of these two entities (NP-drug) as an attractive alternative in the area of drug delivery. One of the major advantages of these conjugates is the possibility to have a local delivery of the drug, thus reducing systemic side effects and enabling a higher efficiency of the therapeutic molecule. This review highlights the direct implications of nanoscale particles in the development of drug delivery systems. In more detail, it is also remarked the extensive use of inorganic NPs for targeted cancer therapies. As the range of nanoparticles and their applications continues to increase, human safety concerns are gaining importance, which makes it necessary to better understand the potential toxicity hazards of these materials.

Cite this article as:

Ojea-Jimenez Isaac, Comenge Joan, Garcia-Fernandez Lorena, Megson A. Zoe, Casals Eudald and Puntes F. Victor, Engineered Inorganic Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Applications, Current Drug Metabolism 2013; 14 (5) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/13892002113149990008