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Polymeric Nanoparticles as Drug Carriers
| Content Provider | Scilit |
|---|---|
| Author | Hillaireau, Hervé Couvreur, Patrick |
| Copyright Year | 2006 |
| Description | Book Name: Polymers in Drug Delivery |
| Abstract | One of the major obstacles to drug efficacy is the nonspecific distribution of the biologically active compound after administration. This is generally due to the fact that the drug distributes according to its physicochemical properties, which means that diffusion through biological barriers may be limited. Also, certain chemical entities are either rapidly degraded and/or metabolized after administration (peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids). This is the reason the idea that nanotechnologies may be employed to modify or even to control the drug distribution at the tissue, cellular, or subcellular levels (Figure 8.1) has emerged. Among the technologies utilized for drug targeting are polymer-based nanoparticles, which have been developed since the early 1980s, when progress in polymer chemistry allowed the design of biodegradable and biocompatible materials. Nanoparticles may be defined as being submicron (<1 µm) colloidal systems generally composed of polymers. Thus, nanoparticles are colloidal systems with a size 7 to 70 times smaller than the red cells (Figure 8.2). They may be administered intravenously without any risk of embolization. Depending on the method used in the preparation of nanoparticles, either nanospheres or nanocapsules can be obtained. Nanospheres are matrix systems in which the drug is dispersed within the polymer throughout the particle. On the contrary, nanocapsules are vesicular systems, which are formed by a drug-containing liquid core (aqueous or lipophilic) surrounded by a single polymeric membrane. Nanocapsules may thus be considered as a “reservoir” system (Figure 8.3). This chapter will review the application of nanoparticles as drug carriers. 102Figure 8.1 Nanoparticles as specific drug delivery systems to tissues, cells, and subcellular compartments (black circles). For comparison, a free drug is nonspecific (diffuse gray). Figure 8.2 Sizes of nanoparticles compared with other biological entities. Figure 8.3 Morphology of nanospheres and nanocapsules. |
| Related Links | https://content.taylorfrancis.com/books/download?dac=C2010-0-33282-4&isbn=9780429120756&doi=10.1201/9781420021677-8&format=pdf |
| Ending Page | 110 |
| Page Count | 10 |
| Starting Page | 101 |
| DOI | 10.1201/9781420021677-8 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| Publisher Date | 2006-05-19 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Book Name: Polymers in Drug Delivery Biomedical Engineering Efficacy Polymer Proteins Nanocapsules Nanospheres Nanoparticles As Drug Carriers |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Chapter |
