Sustained-release from nanocarriers: a review.

Nanocarriers have been explored for delivering drugs and other bioactive molecules for well over 35years. Since the introduction of Doxil®, a nanoliposomal delivery system for the cancer drug doxorubicin, several products have been approved worldwide. The majority of these products focus on cancer chemotherapy, and utilize the size advantage of nanocarriers to obtain a favourable distribution of the drug carrier in the human body.

Release retardation of model protein on polyelectrolyte-coated PLGA nano- and microparticles.

PEM capsules have been proposed for vehicles of drug microencapsulation, with the release triggered by pH, salt, magnetic field, or light. When built on another carrier encapsulating drugs, such as nanoparticles, it could provide additional release barrier to the releasing drug, providing further control to drug release. Although liposomes have received considerable attention with PEM coating for sustained drug release, similar results employing PEM built on poly(lactic-co-lycolic acid) (PLGA) particles is scant.

Gastric-floating microcapsules provide controlled and sustained release of multiple cardiovascular drugs.

Floating polymeric microcapsules that simultaneously entrap multiple drugs were prepared using a solid/water/oil/water emulsion solvent evaporation method, based on harnessing interfacial phenomena and manipulation of the solvent removal process. The fabricated microcapsules exhibited excellent buoyancy in simulated gastric fluid and provided controlled and sustained release of multiple drugs for up to 24 h, thus revealing their potential as a rate-controlled oral drug delivery system.