Shafi Ullah

Organ-specific drug delivery is aimed at achieving increased concentration of therapeutic molecules at target sites with minimum side effects on other healthy tissues. Similarly, drug-specific delivery to some vital organs, such as the brain, lungs, heart and kidneys remains a challenging task for the formulation scientists. Oral delivery of most of the commercially available life-saving drugs has also been impeded by various physio-chemical and biological barriers. These advancements in nanotechnology have led to the development of various pharmaceutical nanocarriers. Nanocarriers for Organ-Specific and Localized Drug Delivery summarizes targeted drug delivery systems and approaches to the major organs of the body. The book shows how drugs can be specifically targeted to the pathological area within an organ in a viable way. Employing pharmaceutical nanocarriers for drug delivery targeted to specific organs of the body requires a comprehensive knowledge of the disease site’s pathophysiology as well as physical, chemical and pharmaceutical techniques for modification or functionalization of the nanocarriers. Combining theoretical principles and practical applications of various nanocarriers for organ-specific drug delivery, this is an important reference source for all those seeking to increase their understanding of how pharmaceutical nanocarriers are being used to create more efficient drug delivery systems.

Nanocarriers for Cancer Diagnosis and Targeted Chemotherapy reviews the principles and applications of nanocarriers for targeted drug delivery. Drug targeting involves active and passive strategies that exploit both the use of ligands for interactions and the physical and chemical properties of nanocarriers and micro-environments at target sites. Multidrug resistance and adverse side effects associated with anticancer drugs have attracted greater scientific attention and led formulation scientists to specifically target these drugs to target sites. Nanocarriers like liposomes, niosomes, gold nanorods, carbon nanotubes, and micelles are discussed for the delivery of drugs to specific disease sites. This is an important reference source for researchers in the biomedical and biomaterials fields who want to gain an understanding on how nanotechnology is used for earlier diagnoses and more effective cancer treatment.

Lipid-Based Nanocarriers for Drug Delivery and Diagnosis explores the present state of widely used lipid-based nanoparticulate delivery systems, such as solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN), nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC), nanoliposomes, micelles, nanoemulsions, nanosuspensions and lipid nanotubes. The various types of lipids that can be exploited for drug delivery and their chemical composition and physicochemical characteristics are reviewed in detail, along with their characterization aspects and effects of their dimensions on drug delivery systems behavior in-vitro and in-vivo. The book covers the effective utilization of these lipids based systems for controlled and targeted delivery of potential drugs/genes for enhanced clinical efficacy.