Carrier Systems for Advanced Drug Delivery: Improving Drug Solubility/Bioavailability and Administration Routes

Abstract

The disadvantages of some conventional drugs, including their low bioavailability, poor targeting efficiency, and important side effects, have led to the rational design of drug delivery systems. In particular, the introduction of drug delivery systems is a potential approach to enhance the uptake of therapeutic agents and deliver them at the right time and in the right amount of concentration at the required site, as well as open new strategies for effective illness treatment. In this review, we provide a basic understanding of drug delivery systems with an emphasis on the use of cyclodextrin-, polymer- and surfactant-based delivery systems. These systems are very attractive because they are biocompatible and biodegradable nanomaterials with multifunctional components. We also provide some details on their design considerations and their use in a variety of medical applications by employing several routes of administration.

Introduction

The rational design of different drug delivery systems is a progressive interdisciplinary field—that depends on pharmaceutics, chemical science, medicine, polymer science, and molecular biology- that addresses finding the best effective formulation to mediate the desired dose of the drug to the desired site of the action (e.g., unhealthy tissues, tumors), maximizing drug therapeutic efficacy and minimizing side effects. Different factors and parameters must be considered in designing drug delivery systems, including biomaterial properties, route of administration, pharmacokinetics, stability enhancement, the ability of the drug to cross biological barriers, and regulatory aspects, among others.

Carrier systems do not change the fundamental pharmacodynamics properties of a drug with poor water solubility and membrane permeability , but they may change/enhance its pharmacokinetic properties (maximum serum concentration and time to reach it, elimination half-life, among others) to impact its pharmacodynamic performance [1–3]. Poor aqueous solubility of the drug, low permeability, and presystemic clearance are common issues for poor bioavailability. Potential advanced drug delivery systems over single- and multiple-dose approaches must keep the effective concentration of the drug in plasma within the therapeutic window. The way in which a drug is administered can have an important effect on its efficiency. Some drugs have optimal doses for which the efficiency is the highest; lower or higher doses than those considered optimal doses may be hazardous or have no therapeutic effect. The carrier systems can be designed to break down slowly, be selectively delivered to their desired target, and respond to stimuli (e.g., pH or temperature).

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Losada-Barreiro, S.; Celik, S.; Sezgin-Bayindir, Z.; Bravo-Fernández, S.; Bravo-Díaz, C. Carrier Systems for Advanced Drug Delivery: Improving Drug Solubility/Bioavailability and Administration Routes. Pharmaceutics 2024, 16, 852. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16070852

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