Aug 2026· Physical Chemistry, Chemical Physics - PCCP· 0 citations
Medicine
TL;DR
Findings establish chitosan-coated, cholesterol-Tween niosomes as versatile, biocompatible carriers that provide sustained release and preserve bioactivity, with promising potential for ocular drug delivery and broader biomedical applications.
Abstract
Nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems have gained considerable attention for enhancing the therapeutic efficacy of bioactive compounds with poor physicochemical properties. Polyphenols such as quercetin and resveratrol exhibit potent antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities; however, they suffer from poor bioavailability. To address this limitation, we prepared cholesterol-based niosomes using the Tween 20, Tween 40, and Tween 80 surfactants via thin-film hydration, followed by chitosan coating for enhanced stability. The formulations were characterised using dynamic light scattering (DLS), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and FTIR spectroscopy, which together confirmed the formation of spherical, nanoscale vesicles, successful chitosan deposition, and physical (non-covalent) entrapment of both drugs. Encapsulation efficiencies exceeded 70% across all systems. Among the formulations, the Tween 40 formulation consistently produced the smallest, most uniform vesicles and showed the highest cumulative drug release, while the Tween 20 and Tween 80 systems favoured stronger drug retention and more gradual release, suggesting the key role of the surfactant tail in controlling drug release. Encapsulation preserved the bioactivity of the polyphenols. Consequently, the drug-loaded niosomes retained strong radical-scavenging activity and reducing capacity, inhibited both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (with stronger activity against Gram-negative E. coli), and markedly suppressed the oxidative stress-induced aggregation of γD-crystallin, a key event in cataract formation. MTT assays confirmed their good biocompatibility. Collectively, these findings establish chitosan-coated, cholesterol-Tween niosomes as versatile, biocompatible carriers that provide sustained release and preserve bioactivity, with promising potential for ocular drug delivery and broader biomedical applications.
Controlled and sustained drug delivery has emerged as a transformative strategy for overcoming the limitations of conventional pharmaceutical formulations, including poor bioavailability, rapid drug clearance, systemic toxicity, and non-specific distribution. Among the numerous delivery platforms investigated, polymeric nanocomposite carriers have attracted considerable attention because they integrate the excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and processability of polymers with the unique physicochemical, mechanical, optical, magnetic, and therapeutic properties of inorganic nanomaterials. This review provides a comprehensive and critical evaluation of recent advances in polymeric nanocomposite-based drug delivery systems, highlighting the synergistic interactions between natural and synthetic polymers and a broad spectrum of nanofillers, including metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon-based nanomaterials, nanoclays, mesoporous materials, and electrospun nanofibers. The influence of nanocomposite composition, fabrication strategies, and physicochemical characteristics on drug loading, encapsulation efficiency, release kinetics, targeting capability, and biological performance is systematically discussed. Furthermore, representative therapeutic applications in cancer therapy, wound healing, antimicrobial treatment, tissue engineering, neurological disorders, and regenerative medicine are critically compared to establish structure–property–performance relationships. This review primarily summarizes individual carrier systems, preparation methods, release mechanisms, and biomedical applications into a unified framework while identifying current limitations related to nanoparticle aggregation, long-term biocompatibility, biodegradation, large-scale manufacturing, regulatory approval, and clinical translation. This review provides valuable insights for researchers working on the rational design of advanced polymeric nanocomposites with enhanced therapeutic efficacy, improved safety, and accelerated clinical applicability.
M. Samy· Kompleksnoe Ispolzovanie Min...· 0 citations
The development of efficient and targeted drug delivery systems remains a significant challenge, particularly for active pharmaceutical ingredients with poor aqueous solubility. Among various nanocarrier systems, Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles (MSNs) have emerged as promising candidates due to their high surface area, tunable pore size (2-50 nm), thermal stability, and chemical modifiability. This review comprehensively discusses the rationale behind the utilization of MSN as drug delivery systems, focusing on how the type and concentration of surfactants, along with surface functionalization strategies, influence their physicochemical characteristics and pharmacokinetic performance. The synthesis of MSNs typically involves sol-gel processes using silica precursors (e.g., tetraethyl orthosilicate) and surfactants (e.g., cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, Pluronic F127), which dictate the morphology, particle size, and pore architecture of the resulting nanoparticles. Furthermore, surface modifications employing functional groups such as polyethylene glycol or pH-responsive polymers enhance biocompatibility, prolong systemic circulation, and enable controlled and site-specific drug release. Evidence from recent studies demonstrates that MSNs significantly improve drug loading efficiency, enhance solubility and bioavailability, and reduce off-target toxicity. Consequently, MSNs represent a highly versatile and modifiable platform with considerable potential for addressing the limitations of conventional drug delivery systems, particularly in oncology and the treatment of chronic diseases.
Ahmad Ainurofiq, Y. Ramadhana, Salma Aqilah Rachmadani et al.· Recent Advances in Drug Deli...· 0 citations
Nanotechnology has revolutionized pharmaceutics by enabling the entrapment of bioactive molecules in carriers that enhance their aqueous solubility, chemical stability, pharmacokinetics and tissue-specificity. Nanocarrier-based delivery system can entrap small molecules, peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and imaging probes with the additional benefits of controlled release and diminished systemic toxicity. This updated review covers high efficiency loading and delivery of drugs with focus on the impact of the nanocarrier structure and physicochemical characteristics, formulation processing, biological interaction and manufacturing approach on drug encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, drug retention, drug release, and therapeutic effect [1-4],[9-18]. Several classes of nanocarriers: liposomes, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), polymeric nanoparticles, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, nanogels and exosome-like systems are discussed and compared in relation to their structure, loading mechanisms, advantages and limitations [18-21]. Emphasis on passive loading, active/remote loading, microfluidic production, flash nanoprecipitation, protein corona formation, passive/active targeting, stimuli-responsive release, characterization, and medically approved nanomedicines is provided [22-28,51-58]. Lastly, translation bottlenecks such as poor in vivo delivery efficiency, scale-up, sterilization, regulatory requirements, and long-term safety, are critically discussed along with potential solutions including biomimetic design, in silico prediction, artificial intelligence-guided formulation, quality-by-design manufacturing [8,9,24],[27-30],[59,60].
Bekhal Omer Mohammed, Heshw Nozad Yousif, Safaa Ridah Shakor· International Journal of Che...· 0 citations
Overall, this review shows that nanofiber-based drug delivery systems have significant advantages over conventional dosage forms and demonstrate considerable potential for next-generation therapies and pharmaceutical products with systematic formulation optimization, standardized characterization protocols, and clinically relevant evaluation strategies.
P. S. Patil, P. Pawar· Current Nanomaterials· 0 citations
