430
drug, particle-matrix degradation or erosion and drug diffusion. Small size NPs
have burst release owing to the poor entrapment or adsorption of the drug to NPs
surface. NPs of large size have sustained release and no burst release. Different
approaches can be employed to assess the release of drugs in vitro using either the
dialysis method, diffusion cell approach, or ultracentrifugation method.
Kinds of Biodegradable NPs
Various kinds of NPs are portrayed in Fig. 25.13.
Application of NPs
Nanotechnology has overcome a variety of limitations in drug delivery (Table 25.3).
NPs are employed for both active and passive targeting in cancer therapy. NPs have
edge over other delivery systems because of the following features [80]:
Table 25.2 Commonly employed polymers for the fabrication of NPs used in drug delivery
Material
Polymeric matrix
Active agent
Technique
Synthetic
homo-polymers
Poly (lactide-co-glycolide) PLGA Cefixime [110]
Felodipine
[111]
Nanoprecipitation
Curcumin
[112]
Emulsification and
solvent evaporation
Poly (lactide) PLA
Quercetin [26] Nanoprecipitation
Poly (acrylate) and
poly(methacrylate)
Vancomycin
[113]
Emulsion solvent
evaporation method
Natural
polymers
Chitosan
Curcumin
[114]
Nanoprecipitation
Gelatin
Methotrexate
[115]
Emulsion solvent
evaporation
Alginate
ICD-85 [116] Ionic gelation method
Albumin
Albendazole
[117]
Modification of the
desolvation
Copolymers
Poly (epsilon-caprolactone)- poly
(ethylene glycol) PCL-PEG
Octreotide
[118]
Solvent evaporation
method
Poly (lactide-co-glycolide)- poly
(ethylene glycol) PLGA-PEG
Docetaxel
[119]
Nanoprecipitation
method.
Poly (lactide)- poly (ethylene
glycol) PLA- PEG
Plasmid DNA
[120]
Nanoprecipitation
method
Z. Iqbal et al.