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Nanotechnology in Pharmaceutical Design Current Pharmaceutical
Design, 2013 , Vol. 19, No. 35 6227
EditorialNanotechnology in Pharmaceutical Design
Nanotechnology is an engineering of materials at the nanometer
scale so that the materials have at least one dimension sized from
1 to
100 nm. Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary technology,
convergence of basic sciences and applied disciplines, and provides
various intel-
ligent systems and materials for better pharmaceutical
applications. This special issue therefore presents the most recent
development of
nanotechnology in pharmaceutical design, as summarized by a
multidisciplinary team of international experts in two broad areas,
i.e. nano-
drug and nanoparticle-drug system for effective delivery.
Many marketed drugs have a low solubility and subsequently a low
bioavailability. The low bioavailability limits the effectiveness
of
each dose, and thus requires frequent administration, leading to
a high financial burden and high drug wastage. In order to enhance
drug
bioavailability, various t echniques have been developed in the
recent decades, and one of the most promising methods is to control
the drug
particles in the nanometer scale (nano-drugs). The large surface
area of nano-drugs thus leads to the faster dissolution and the
higher solubil-
ity as the smaller drug particles have higher surface energy
than the bulky drug particles. In this issue, Cheow et al .
(Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore) [1], Moribe et al . (Chiba University,
Japan; and Mahidol University, Thailand) [2], and Ozeki and Tagami
(Nagoya
City University, Japan) [3] comprehensively review the recent
progresses in the production of nano-drugs by conventional top-down
and
bottom-up methods, and the enhancement of drugs solubility and
availability. In particular, Cheow et al . [1] also review some
non-
conventional methods to prepare nano-drugs and amorphous drug
particles, which both improve in the drug bioavailability.
Amorphous drug particles, with respect to the crystalline drug
particles, can be regarded as aggregates of very small nano-drugs.
In somespecial cases, in the existence of suitable excipients, the
nano-drugs and amorphous drugs could be formed in a controllable
way, as reviewed
by Ozeki and Tagami [3] and Shen et al . (Institute of Chemical
and Engineering Sciences, A*STAR, Singapore) [4] in this special
issue. The
nano-drugs are either dispersed in the excipient matrix as a
nanocomposite [3], or limited in the carrier pores (such as
mesoporous silica) [4].
In both cases, as-formed nano-drug particles in the nano-sized
spaces possess an enhanced dissolution rate and solubility, and an
increased
bioavailability in comparison with the bulky drug partic les.
Moreover, the release of drug molecules can be tailored in some
active way. For
example, the pore opening could be triggered by environmental
changes or other external effects [4].
More or less similarly, drug molecules would also exhibit the
improved bioavailability once they are carried by various delivery
systems
through some particular interactions or structures. Pan et al .
(Sun-Yat Sen University, China) [5] have reviewed a particular
delivery system
cubosome. Cubosomes are fragmented cubic gels that are formed
with amphiphilic lipids and water molecules, and can be used for
the deliv-
ery of hydrophilic, amphiphilic and hydrophobic drugs. On the
other hand, Cejkova and Stepanek (Institute of chemical Technology,
Czech
Republic) [6] extensively review advances in the fabrication and
characterization of micro- and nano-particles with a non-uniform
internalstructure, such as core-shell particles, particles with
multiple cores or a multi-layered structure, porous particles with
both regular and random
pore structure, and complex composite particles with a few
above-mentioned features. These nano-structured particles can
provide specific
benefits for effective drug delivery.
Targeting delivery system is always actively pursued in the
field of drug delivery and pharmaceutical design. In this special
issue, Fried-
man et al . (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
[7] review such smart targeting nanoparticle delivery systems.
These nanopar-
ticles require conjugation with targeting ligands to direct
selective binding to cell types or states. They present some
conventional and non-
conventional functionalization approaches currently used and
investigated.
In this special issue, three papers have reviewed the specific
application of nanoparticle-drug systems. Gu et al . (The
University of
Queensland, Australia) [8] comprehensively review various
nanoparticle-drug systems that are currently investigated in the
prevention or
treatment of a specific cardiovascular disease - restenosis,
re-narrowing of a blood vessel after removal of atherosclerotic
plaque. Wang et al
(Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
China) [9] review recent progress in formulating therapeutic
protein deliv-
ery systems - hydrophilic polymer microspheres and hydrophobic
polymer microcapsules. This paper emphasizes how to maintain the
bioac-
tivity of the therapeutic proteins during the system formation.
More interestingly, Liang et al . (the University of Queensland;
Macquarie Uni-
versity; University of South Australia, Australia) [10] review
recent investigations on the nanoparticle skin penetration into the
body which
could be potentially harmful (such as ZnO/TiO 2 nanoparticles in
sunscreen) or useful for topical delivery of drugs and skin health
nutrients.
In summary, this special issue discusses two relevant areas on
pharmaceutical design using nanotechnology. I would like to thank
all the
contributors to this special issue and wish that this special
issue will be helpful for the future application of nanotechnology
in pharmaceutical
design.
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6228 Current Pharmaceutical Design, 2013 , Vol. 19, No. 35
Nanotechnology in Pharmaceutical Design
REFERENCES[1] Cheow WS, Xu R, Hadinoto K. Towards
sustainability: new approaches to nano-drug preparation. Curr Phar
Des 2013; 19(35): 6229-45.[2] Moribe K, Ueda K, Limwikrant W,
Higashi K, Yamamoto K. Nano-sized crystalline drug production by
milling technology. Curr Phar Des 2013;
19(35): 6246-58.[3] Ozeki T, Tagami T. Functionally engineered
nanosized particles in pharmaceutics: Improved oral delivery of
poorly water-soluble drugs. Curr Phar
Des 2013; 19(35): 6259-69.[4] Shen S-C, Ng WK, Chia L, Dong Y-C,
Tan RBH. Applications of mesoporous materials as excipients for
innovated drug formulation. Curr Phar Des
2013; 19(35): 6270-89.[5] Pan X, Han K, Peng X, Yang Z, Qin L,
Zhu C, Huang X, Shi X, Dian L, Lu M, Wu C. Nanostructured cubosomes
as advanced drug delivery system.
Curr Phar Des 2013; 19(35): 6290-97.[6] Cejkova J, Stepanek F.
Compartmentalised and internally structured nanoparticles for drug
delivery-A review. Curr Phar Des 2013; 19(35): 6298-314.[7]
Friedman AD, Claypool SE, Liu R. The smart targeting of
nanoparticles. Curr Phar Des 2013; 19(35): 6315-29.[8] Gu Z, Rolfe
R, Thomas AC, Xu ZP. Restenosis treatments using nanoparticle-based
drug delivery systems. Curr Phar Des 2013; 19(35): 6330-39.[9] Wang
L, Liu Y, Zhang W, Chen X, Yang T, Ma G. Microspheres and
microcapsules for protein delivery: strategies of drug activity
retention. Curr
Phar Des 2013; 19(35): 6340-52.[10] Liang XW, Xu ZP, Grice J,
Zvyagin AV, Roberts MS, Liu X. Penetration of NPs and nanomaterials
in human skin: Formulation effect. Curr Phar Des
2013; 19(35): 6353-66.
Zhi Ping (Gordon) Xu (PhD)
ARC Centre of Excellence for Functional NanomaterialsAustralian
Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
The University of Queensland
Brisbane, QLD 4072Australia
E-mail: [email protected]
