Open AccessNanostructured materials for ocular delivery: nanodesign for enhanced bioadhesion, transepithelial permeability and sustained delivery
Author(s) -
Jean Kim,
Erica Schlesinger,
Tejal A. Desai
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
therapeutic delivery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.619
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 2041-6008
pISSN - 2041-5990
DOI - 10.4155/tde.15.75
Subject(s) - nanotopography , drug delivery , nanotechnology , nanoporous , materials science , patient compliance , biomedical engineering , medicine , emergency medicine
Effective drug delivery to the eye is an ongoing challenge due to poor patient compliance coupled with numerous physiological barriers. Eye drops for the front of the eye and ocular injections for the back of the eye are the most prevalent delivery methods, both of which require relatively frequent administration and are burdensome to the patient. Novel drug delivery techniques stand to drastically improve safety, efficacy and patient compliance for ocular therapeutics. Remarkable advances in nanofabrication technologies make the application of nanostructured materials to ocular drug delivery possible. This article focuses on the use of nanostructured materials with nanoporosity or nanotopography for ocular delivery. Specifically, we discuss nanotopography for enhanced bioadhesion and permeation and nanoporous materials for controlled release drug delivery. As examples, application of polymeric nanostructures for greater transepithelial permeability, nanostructured microparticles for enhanced preocular retention time and nanoporous membranes for tuning drug release profile are covered.