How nanoparticles are used as targeted drug delivery system?

Nanoparticles can cross the blood-brain barrier following the opening of endothelium tight junctions by hyper-osmotic mannitol, which may provide sustained delivery of therapeutic agents for difficult-to-treat diseases like brain tumors (Kroll et al., 1998).

How do drugs enter the central nervous system?

Systemically administered drugs can reach the brain by crossing one of two physiological barriers resistant to free diffusion of most molecules from blood to CNS: the endothelial blood-brain barrier or the epithelial blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. These tissues constitute both transport and enzymatic barriers.

What are targeted nanoparticles?

Nanoparticles with multifunctionality are being designed and formulated to overcome various limitations of drugs as well as conventional drug delivery systems. Engineered nanoparticles to specifically target cancer cells have the ability to reduce collateral damage on normal tissue due to pan-toxic effects of drugs.

How is nanotechnology used in drug delivery?

The application of nanotechnology for drug delivery provides the potential for enhanced treatments with targeted delivery and fewer side effects. Nanotechnology drug delivery applications occur through the use of designed nanomaterials as well as forming delivery systems from nanoscale molecules such as liposomes.

How do nanoparticles carry drugs?

Nanoparticles with carefully controlled chemistry, size, surface charge and other properties can carry drugs to new places and give them new functions. Nanoengineered drug carriers can slip selectively into cancerous tissue, or protect the drugs they carry from being destroyed before they reach their destination.

When is targeted therapy used?

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs or other substances to precisely identify and attack certain types of cancer cells. A targeted therapy can be used by itself or in combination with other treatments, such as traditional or standard chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation therapy.

Which of the following substances can most easily pass through the blood-brain barrier?

Only water, certain gases (e.g. oxygen), and lipid-soluble substances can easily diffuse across the barrier (other necessary substances like glucose can be actively transported across the blood-brain barrier with some effort).

What is nanotechnology drug delivery?

Nanotechnology drug delivery applications occur through the use of designed nanomaterials as well as forming delivery systems from nanoscale molecules such as liposomes. Applying nanotechnology to drug delivery should achieve the following benefits: Improve the ability to deliver drugs that are poorly water soluble.

Why we use targeted drug delivery?

The goal of a targeted drug delivery system is to prolong, localize, target and have a protected drug interaction with the diseased tissue. The conventional drug delivery system is the absorption of the drug across a biological membrane, whereas the targeted release system releases the drug in a dosage form.

What drugs are used in targeted therapy?

Examples: alemtuzumab (certain chronic leukemias), trastuzumab (certain breast cancers), cetuximab (certain colorectal, lung, head and neck cancers). NOTE: Some monoclonal antibodies are referred to as targeted therapy because they have a specific target on a cancer cell that they aim to find, attach to, and attack.

What are the types of targeted therapy?

There are two main types of targeted therapies: small molecule medicines and monoclonal antibodies. Small molecule medicines are small enough to slip inside cancer cells and destroy them.