Recent Advances in Drug Delivery of Polymeric Nano-Micelles

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

E-ISSN: 1875-5453|18|1|16-29

ISSN: 1389-2002

Source: Current Drug Metabolism, Vol.18, Iss.1, 2017-01, pp. : 16-29

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Abstract

In clinical studies, drugs with hydrophobic characteristic usually reflect low bioavailability, poor drug absorption,and inability to achieve the therapeutic concentration in blood. The production of poor solubility drugs, inabundance, by pharmaceutical industries calls for an urgent need to find the alternatives for resolving the above mentionedshortcomings. Poor water solubility drugs loaded with polymeric micelle seem to be the best alternative to enhancedrugs solubility and bioavailability. Polymeric micelle, formed by self-assembled of amphiphilic block copolymersin aqueous environment, functioned as solubilizing agent for hydrophobic drug. This review discusses the fundamentalsof polymeric micelle as drug carrier through representative literature, and demonstrates some applications invarious clinical trials. The structure, characteristic, and formation of polymeric micelle have been discussed firstly.Next, this manuscript focuses on the potential of polymeric micelles as drug vehicle in oral, transdermal routes, andanti-cancer agent. Several results from previous studies have been reproduced in this review in order to prove the efficacyof the micelles in delivering hydrophobic drugs. Lastly, future strategies to broaden the application of polymericmicelles in pharmaceutical industries have been highlighted.