Drug delivery

Nanotechnology-based medicines (nanomedicines) are emerging as a major innovation in the field of healthcare, combining nanoscale materials with pharmaceutical sciences to improve diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases. This review explores the market potential and consumer acceptance of nanotechnology-based medicines. The nanomedicine market is expected to grow substantially due to increased prevalence of chronic diseases, advancements in targeted drug delivery, and rising investment in research and development.4 However, consumer acceptance is influenced by factors such as safety concerns, cost, ethical implications, and regulatory uncertainty. This paper highlights market dynamics, regional growth, challenges, and recommendations to improve acceptance and commercialization of nanomedicine. Despite these advancements, widespread consumer acceptance of nanomedicines remains influenced by several factors, including safety concerns, ethical considerations, high production costs, and lack of standardized regulatory frameworks. Public perception and awareness also play a critical role in determining market success. Furthermore, regional disparities in access to advanced healthcare technologies, limited infrastructure, and challenges in large-scale manufacturing hinder commercialization. This paper highlights current trends in nanomedicine development, market drivers, and barriers affecting its acceptance. It also discusses the potential impact of nanotechnology on personalized medicine and the pharmaceutical industry’s evolution. To enhance consumer trust and promote broader adoption, there is a need for transparent regulatory policies, ethical guidelines, and extensive clinical evaluation to ensure safety and efficacy. ed medicines hold the review concludes that with proper governance and technological refinement, nanotechnology-bas immense promise for transforming global healthcare systems.

Keratin is a fibrous structural protein and major component of hair, horns, claws, hooves, feather, wool, hoof and outer layer of skin. These keratinous materials are formed by cells filled with keratin and are considered ‘dead tissue’. Keratin acts both as an external protective protein & internal structural protein in the cortex. It is insoluble in water and organic solvents. Keratin can be derived from the human and animal sources by the advancement in extraction, purification and characterization process. It consists of highly repetitive amino acid sequences which result in formation of various homogeneous secondary structures. Keratin has been processed in oxidized and reduced forms in term of keratose and kerateine which shows strong mucoadhesive properties in drug delivery systems .It can also be processed as keratin hydrolysate by using acid, alkali and enzyme. Especially for hair care products, skin treatment and harsh products such as detergents, shampoos, conditioners etc. As it does not contain any harmful effect, it can be used to produce variety of cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. In addition, extracted keratins are capable of forming self-assembled structures that regulate cellular recognition and behavior. These qualities of keratin led to the development of biomaterials with applications in wound healing, drug delivery, target release action, tissue engineering, trauma and medical devices. This review discusses the natural sources of keratin and their derivatives and application of keratin biomaterials in pharmaceutics and cosmetics.

Cancer is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Treating the cancer is one of the major challenges in modern science as the drug delivery to solid tumors is a seminal challenge to develop more effective cancer therapies. A well-designed drug delivery system can potentially enhance the efficacy of a treatment by improving drug accumulation in the tumor. Application of nanotechnology to prevent and treat the cancer disease is known as nanomedicine. Cancer diagnosis and treatment can be achieved to a greater extent by the application of nanotechnology principles to biomedicine. Over these years targeted treatment for cancer has been greatly improved by the approaches based on nanotechnology. Nanoparticles have the potential to increase the specificity in treating cancer cells while leaving the healthy cells. The goal of this review is to discuss the current state of nanomedicine in the field of cancer detection and the subsequent application of nanotechnology to treat cancer by using nanoparticles such as dendrimers, quantum dots, nanocells, nanocrystals, and nanoshells for the detection and treatment of cancer.

Curcumin, an orange-yellow colored component of turmeric is a diarylheptanoid. It is the principal curcuminoid obtained from the rhizomes of the Curcuma longa plant (Zingiberaceae). It is a polyphenol product obtained from turmeric. It is been used in some medicinal preparation and even as a food-coloring agent. By the in vivo and in vitro studies it is confirmed that curcumin has antiviral, anti-arthritic anticancer, anti-amyloid, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The present article highlights the role of curcumin in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It emphasizes on the oral, transdermal and parenteral routes of drug delivery systems and the emerging trends related to these delivery systems such as solid dispersions, cyclodextrin inclusion compounds, solid lipid nanoparticles, liposomes, micro nano emulsions, transdermal patches, topical gel and proniosomes etc.

Green synthesis of nanoparticles is eye catching area of nanoscience and nanotechnology. It involve development of clean, biocompatible, non-toxic and eco-friendly methods for nanoparticles synthesis as compared to conventional method like physical and chemical which are often toxic. In the  present scenario variety of nanoparticles with well-defined chemical compositions, sizes and morphology have been synthesized using different microorganisms and their applications in various cutting-edge technological areas have been explored. This review highlights the recent developments of the biosynthesis mechanisms of different types of nanoparticles using bacteria. Nanoparticles have been used in diagnosis, treatment, drug delivery, medical device coating, wound dressings, medical textiles, contraceptive devices, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory etc. Future prospects for synthesis of nanoparticles using bacteria have also been discussed.

Chitosan is a natural, biologically safe polymer synthesized from chitin by deacetylation reaction. It is a tough, biodegradable, biocompatible, non-toxic linear polysaccharide suitable for various applications in pharmaceutical drug delivery technology. Chitosan has unique physicochemical and biological characteristics demanded for the development of safe and effective drug delivery systems.  One of the most properties of chitosan is for chelation. It can selectively bind to desired materials such as cholesterol, fats, metal ions, and protein and tumor cells. It also does not cause allergic reactions and rejection and is biodegradable in nature. It is metabolized into harmless products (amino sugars), which are completely absorbed by the human body. Chitosan being a good cationic polymer for membrane formation; have also been useful as artificial kidney membranes. Along with these properties it also possesses certain medicinal applications such as analgesic, hypocholesterolemic, hemostatic  antitumor, anti-oxidant spermicidal, CNS depressant, immunoadjuvant properties, antacid, antiulcer activities, wound and burn healing action and has been found to be suitable for immobilization of enzymes and living cells in ophthalmology Important applications of chitosan in the pharmaceutical industry are in the development of nasal, vaginal, ophthalmic, transdermal & topical, buccal, parenteral, colon-specific and in implantable drug delivery systems. This paper discusses the potential of chitosan in the development of drug delivery systems.