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Drug carrier
Inert medium used in drug-delivery systems

A drug carrier is a substrate used in drug delivery to enhance the selectivity, effectiveness, and safety of drug administration. It controls the release of drugs into systemic circulation, either by slow release through diffusion or triggered release via stimuli like pH changes or heat. Drug carriers also improve pharmacokinetic properties such as bioavailability for drugs with poor solubility or membrane permeability. Common carriers include liposomes, polymeric micelles, microspheres, and nanoparticles, employing various attachment methods such as adsorption, encapsulation, and covalent bonding.

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Carrier types

Liposomes

Liposomes are structures which consist of at least one lipid bilayer surrounding an aqueous core. This hydrophobic/hydrophilic composition is particularly useful for drug delivery as these carriers can accommodate a number of drugs of varying lipophilicity. Disadvantages associated with using liposomes as drug carriers involve poor control over drug release. Drugs which have high membrane-permeability can readily 'leak' from the carrier, while optimization of in vivo stability can cause drug release by diffusion to be a slow and inefficient process.4 Much of the current research involving liposomes is focused on improving the delivery of anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin and paclitaxel.5

Polymeric micelles

Polymeric micelles are drug carriers formed by the aggregation of some amphiphile\amphiphilic molecule with an amphiphilic block copolymer. These carriers form at some high concentration specific to the compounds used, called the critical micelle concentration. The addition of an amphiphilic block copolymer effectively lowers this critical micelle concentration by shifting the monomer exchange equilibrium.6 These carriers are comparable to liposomes, however the lack of an aqueous core makes polymeric micelles less accommodating to a wide variety of drugs.

Microspheres

Microspheres are hollow, micron-sized carriers often formed via self-assembly of polymeric compounds which are most often used to encapsulate the active drug for delivery. Drug release is often achieved by diffusion through pores in the microsphere structure or by degradation of the microsphere shell. Some of the research currently being done uses advanced assembly techniques, such as precision particle fabrication (PPF), to create microspheres capable of sustained control over drug release.7

Nanostructures

Nanodiamonds

Nanodiamonds (NDs) are carbon nanoparticles which can vary from ~4-100 nm in diameter.8 NDs are typically formed in two ways: from micron-sized diamond particles under high-pressure high-temperature conditions, called high-pressure high-temperature nanodiamonds (HPHT NDs) and by shock-wave compression, called detonation nanodiamonds (DNDs). The surfaces of these NDs can be modified by processes such as oxidation and aminification to alter adsorption properties.9

Nanofibers

10

Protein-DNA complexes

Protein-drug conjugates

11

Erythrocytes

Virosomes

Dendrimers

Resources

The following research papers from IUPAC are in pdf format:

References

  1. "Pharmaceutical Vehicles | DrugBank Online". go.drugbank.com. Retrieved 2022-02-10. https://go.drugbank.com/categories/DBCAT001429#:~:text=A%20carrier%20or%20inert%20medium%20used%20as%20a%20solvent%20(or%20diluent)%20in%20which%20the%20medicinally%20active%20agent%20is%20formulated%20and%20or%20administered.%20(Dictionary%20of%20Pharmacy,%201986) ↩

  2. Svenson, Sönke (2004). Carrier-based drug delivery. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry. pp. 3–9. OCLC 1132091618. https://pubs.acs.org/isbn/0841238391 ↩

  3. Zhang, Silu; Chu, Zhiqin; Yin, Chun; Zhang, Chunyuan; Lin, Ge; Li, Quan (2013). "Controllable Drug Release and Simultaneously Carrier Decomposition of SiO2-Drug Composite Nanoparticles". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 135 (15): 5709–5716. doi:10.1021/ja3123015. OCLC 841292280. PMID 23496255. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021 – via WorldCat, PubMed. https://web.archive.org/web/20210816100128/https%3A%2F%2Fpubs.acs.org%2Fdoi%2F10.1021%2Fja3123015 ↩

  4. Svenson, Sönke (2004). Carrier-based drug delivery. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry. pp. 3–9. OCLC 1132091618. https://pubs.acs.org/isbn/0841238391 ↩

  5. Taléns-Visconti R, Díez-Sales O, de Julián-Ortiz JV, Nácher A (Apr 2022). "Nanoliposomes in Cancer Therapy: Marketed Products and Current Clinical Trials". International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 23 (8): 4249. doi:10.3390/ijms23084249. PMC 9030431. PMID 35457065. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9030431 ↩

  6. Svenson, Sönke (2004). Carrier-based drug delivery. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society, Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry. pp. 3–9. OCLC 1132091618. https://pubs.acs.org/isbn/0841238391 ↩

  7. Berkland, Cory; Kim, Kyekyoon; Pack, Daniel (2009). "Precision Polymer Microparticles for Controlled-Release Drug Delivery". ACS Symposium Series. 879 (Chapter 14): 197–213. doi:10.1021/bk-2004-0879.ch014. /wiki/Doi_(identifier) ↩

  8. Lin, Chung-Lun; Lin, Cheng-Huang; Chang, Huan-Cheng; Su, Meng-Chih (2015). "Protein Attachment on Nanodiamonds". The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. 119 (28): 7704–7711. Bibcode:2015JPCA..119.7704L. doi:10.1021/acs.jpca.5b01031. OCLC 5856831833. PMID 25815400. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022 – via WorldCat, PubMed. https://web.archive.org/web/20220210084036/https%3A%2F%2Fpubs.acs.org%2Fdoi%2F10.1021%2Facs.jpca.5b01031 ↩

  9. Mochalin, V.; Pentecost, A.; Li, X. M.; Neitzel, I.; Nelson, M.; Wei, C.; He, T.; Guo, F.; Gogotsi, Y. (2013). "Adsorption of Drugs on Nanodiamond: Toward Development of a Drug Delivery Platform". Molecular Pharmaceutics. 10 (10): 3729. doi:10.1021/mp400213z. OCLC 5144183581. PMID 23941665. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022 – via WorldCat, PubMed. https://web.archive.org/web/20220210084906/https%3A%2F%2Fpubs.acs.org%2Fdoi%2F10.1021%2Fmp400213z ↩

  10. Nagy, Z. K.; Balogh, A.; Vajna, B.; Farkas, A.; Patyi, G.; Kramarics, A.; Marosi, G. (December 2011). "Comparison of Electrospun and Extruded Soluplus-Based Solid Dosage Forms of Improved Dissolution". Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 101 (1): 322–32. doi:10.1002/jps.22731. PMID 21918982. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022 – via PubMed. https://web.archive.org/web/20220210082930/https://jpharmsci.org/article/S0022-3549(15)31752-4/fulltext ↩

  11. Kratz, F.; Muller-Driver, R.; Hofmann, I.; Drevs, J.; Unger, C. (10 March 2000). "A Novel Macromolecular Prodrug Concept Exploiting Endogenous Serum Albumin as a Drug Carrier for Cancer Chemotherapy". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 43 (7): 1253–1256. doi:10.1021/jm9905864. OCLC 122116158. PMID 10753462. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022 – via WorldCat, PubMed. https://web.archive.org/web/20220210090008/https%3A%2F%2Fpubs.acs.org%2Fdoi%2F10.1021%2Fjm9905864 ↩