What does the future hold for chemotherapy with the use of lipid-based nanocarriers?

Antibiotic-loaded lipid-based nanocarrier: a promising strategy to overcome bacterial infection

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), bacterial infections are one of the greatest threats to global health, food production, and life expectancy. In this sense, the development of innovative formulations aiming at greater therapeutic efficacy, safety, and shorter treatment duration compared to conventional products is urgently needed. Lipid-based nanocarriers (LBNs) have demonstrated the potential to enhance the effectiveness of available antibiotics. Among them, liposome, nanoemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticle (SLN), and nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) are the most promising due to their solid technical background for laboratory and industrial production. This review describes recent advances in developing antibiotic-loaded LBNs against susceptible and resistant bacterial strains and biofilm. LBNs revealed to be a promising alternative to deliver antibiotics due to their superior characteristics compared to conventional preparations, including their modified drug release, improved bioavailability, drug protection against chemical or enzymatic degradation, greater drug loading capacity, and biocompatibility. Antibiotic-loaded LBNs can improve current clinical drug therapy, bring innovative products and rescue discarded antibiotics. Thus, antibiotic-loaded LBNs have potential to open a window of opportunities to continue saving millions of lives and prevent the devastating impact of bacterial infection.

Transdermal Delivery of Macromolecules Using Nano Lipid Carriers

Skin being the largest external organ, offers an appealing procedure for transdermal drug delivery, so the drug needs to reach above the outermost layer of the skin, i.e., stratum corneum. Small molecular drug entities obeying the Lipinski rule, i.e., drugs having a molecular weight less than 500 Da, high lipophilicity, and optimum polarity, are favored enough to be used on the skin as therapeutics. Skin's barrier properties prevent the transport of macromolecules at pre-determined therapeutic rates. Notable advancements in macromolecules' transdermal delivery have occurred in recent years. Scientists have opted for liposomes, the use of electroporation, low-frequency ultrasound techniques, etc. Some of these have shown better delivery of macromolecules at clinically beneficial rates. These physical technologies involve complex mechanisms, which may irreversibly incur skin damage. Majorly, two types of lipid-based formulations, including Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLNs) and Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLCs), are widely investigated as transdermal delivery systems. In this review, the concepts, mechanisms, and applications of nanostructured lipid carriers used to transport macromolecules via transdermal routes are thoroughly reviewed and presented along with their clinical perspective.

Beyond DNA-targeting in Cancer Chemotherapy. Emerging Frontiers - A Review

Modern anti-cancer drugs target DNA specifically for rapid division of malignant cells. One downside of this approach is that they also target other rapidly dividing healthy cells, such as those involved in hair growth leading to serious toxic side effects and hair loss. Therefore, it would be better to develop novel agents that address cellular signaling mechanisms unique to cancerous cells, and new research is now focussing on such approaches. Although the classical chemotherapy area involving DNA as the set target continues to produce important findings, nevertheless, a distinctly discernible emerging trend is the divergence from the cisplatin operation model that uses the metal as the primary active center of the drug. Many successful anti-cancer drugs present are associated with elevated toxicity levels. Cancers also develop immunity against most therapies and the area of cancer research can, therefore, be seen as an area with a high unaddressed need. Hence, ongoing work into cancer pathogenesis is important to create accurate preclinical tests that can contribute to the development of innovative drugs to manage and treat cancer. Some of the emergent frontiers utilizing different approaches include nanoparticles delivery, use of quantum dots, metal complexes, tumor ablation, magnetic hypothermia and hyperthermia by use of Superparamagnetic Iron oxide Nanostructures, pathomics and radiomics, laser surgery and exosomes. This review summarizes these new approaches in good detail, giving critical views with necessary comparisons. It also delves into what they carry for the future, including their advantages and disadvantages.