Nanotechnology-Based Drug Delivery Systems: Formulation, Characterisation, Therapeutic Applications and Future Perspectives
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64882/ijrt.v11.i3.1795Keywords:
nanotechnology, nanoparticles, drug delivery, clinical translation, nanomedicine, targeted delivery, lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, liposomesAbstract
Nanotechnology has reshaped pharmaceutical drug delivery over the past three decades by allowing therapeutic agents to be carried in engineered particulate systems typically between 10 and 1000 nm in diameter. At this scale, materials acquire properties that bulk formulations cannot reproduce: an enormous surface-area-to-volume ratio that accelerates dissolution, a size regime that permits extravasation through leaky tumour vasculature and uptake by endocytic pathways, and a surface that can be chemically modified to control circulation time and tissue distribution. This review examines the principles underlying pharmaceutical nanotechnology and surveys the major carrier classes, including polymeric nanoparticles, liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, nanoemulsions, polymeric micelles and dendrimers, comparing their loading capacity, release behaviour, stability and clinical maturity. A critical account of the existing literature is provided, identifying both the substantial progress made in solubility enhancement, targeting and controlled release and the persistent gap between preclinical promise and clinical delivery, most visibly in the modest tumour accumulation actually achieved by systemically administered nanoparticles. Preparation methods from nanoprecipitation and emulsification through high-pressure homogenisation, ultrasonication, ionic gelation and thin-film hydration are compared, followed by the characterisation techniques used to establish particle size, surface charge, morphology, drug loading, solid-state behaviour and release kinetics. Therapeutic applications are reviewed across oncology, infectious disease, cardiovascular and neurological disorders, metabolic and inflammatory disease, vaccines, nucleic acid delivery and ocular and topical routes, with particular attention to the lipid nanoparticle platforms that enabled messenger RNA vaccination. Advantages, nanotoxicological considerations, stability and scale-up constraints and regulatory expectations are then discussed, followed by emerging directions in stimuli-responsive, biomimetic, theranostic and computationally designed nanocarriers.
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