- Drug delivery
-
For the scientific journal 'Drug Delivery', see Drug Delivery (journal).
Drug delivery is the method or process of administering a pharmaceutical compound to achieve a therapeutic effect in humans or animals.[1][2] Drug delivery technologies modify drug release profile, absorption, distribution and elimination for the benefit of improving product efficacy and safety, as well as patient convenience and compliance. Drug release is from: diffusion, degradation, swelling, and affinity-based mechanisms.[3] Most common routes of administration include the preferred non-invasive peroral (through the mouth), topical (skin), transmucosal (nasal, buccal/sublingual, vaginal, ocular and rectal) and inhalation routes.[4][5] Many medications such as peptide and protein, antibody, vaccine and gene based drugs, in general may not be delivered using these routes because they might be susceptible to enzymatic degradation or can not be absorbed into the systemic circulation efficiently due to molecular size and charge issues to be therapeutically effective. For this reason many protein and peptide drugs have to be delivered by injection or a nanoneedle array. For example, many immunizations are based on the delivery of protein drugs and are often done by injection.Current efforts in the area of drug delivery include the development of targeted delivery in which the drug is only active in the target area of the body (for example, in cancerous tissues) and sustained release formulations in which the drug is released over a period of time in a controlled manner from a formulation. In order to achieve efficient targeted delivery, the designed system must avoid the host's defense mechanisms and circulate to its intended site of action[6]. Types of sustained release formulations include liposomes, drug loaded biodegradable microspheres and drug polymer conjugates.
See also
- Targeted drug delivery
- Thin film drug delivery
- Self-microemulsifying drug delivery system
- Acoustic targeted drug delivery
- Neural drug delivery systems
- Drug carrier
References
- M. N. V. Ravi Kumar (2008), Handbook of Particulate Drug Delivery (2-Volume Set), American Scientific Publishers. ISBN 1-58883-123-X
- ^ "Definition". http://www.buildingbiotechnology.com/glossary2.php. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
- ^ "Definition". http://www.biostrategy.gc.ca/english/View.asp?mid=413&x=696. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
- ^ Wang, NX.; von Recum, HA. (2011). "Affinity-Based Drug Delivery". Macromol Biosci 11: 321–332. doi:10.1002/mabi.201000206.
- ^ "Definition". http://www.pharmacircle.com/dynamic/charts.php?kind=48. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ^ "Definition". http://www.pharmacircle.com/index.php?page=free/drug_delivery.php&expand=2. Retrieved 2008-05-27.[dead link]
- ^ Bertrand N, Leroux JC. (2011). "The journey of a drug carrier in the body: an anatomo-physiological perspective". Journal of Controlled Release. doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2011.09.098. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168365911009527.
External links
- Article in Chemical and Engineering News
- Drug Delivery Reports
- Nano-Tera.ch-Drug Delivery News
- Home of Langer Lab, one of the pioneers in Drug Delivery Systems
Categories:- Medical equipment
- Medicine stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.