Lynch Courtney, Kondiah Pierre P D, Choonara Yahya E, du Toit Lisa C, Ally Naseer, Pillay Viness
Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, School of Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, South Africa.
Division of Ophthalmology, Department of Neurosciences, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 7 York Road, Parktown 2193, South Africa.
Polymers (Basel). 2019 Aug 20;11(8):1371. doi: 10.3390/polym11081371.
The effective delivery of drugs to the eye remains a challenge. The eye has a myriad of defense systems and physiological barriers that leaves ocular drug delivery systems with low bioavailability profiles. This is mainly due to poor permeability through the epithelia and rapid clearance from the eye following administration. However, recent advances in both polymeric drug delivery and biomedical nanotechnology have allowed for improvements to be made in the treatment of ocular conditions. The employment of biodegradable polymers in ocular formulations has led to improved retention time, greater bioavailability and controlled release through mucoadhesion to the epithelia in the eye, amongst other beneficial properties. Nanotechnology has been largely investigated for uses in the medical field, ranging from diagnosis of disease to treatment. The nanoscale of these developing drug delivery systems has helped to improve the penetration of drugs through the various ocular barriers, thus improving bioavailability. This review will highlight the physiological barriers encountered in the eye, current conventional treatment methods as well as how polymeric drug delivery and nanotechnology can be employed to optimize drug penetration to both the anterior and posterior segment of the eye.
将药物有效递送至眼部仍然是一项挑战。眼睛拥有众多防御系统和生理屏障，这使得眼部药物递送系统的生物利用度较低。这主要是由于药物透过上皮的渗透性差以及给药后从眼部快速清除。然而，聚合物药物递送和生物医学纳米技术的最新进展使得眼部疾病的治疗得以改进。在眼部制剂中使用可生物降解聚合物已带来了更长的保留时间、更高的生物利用度以及通过与眼部上皮的粘膜粘附实现控释等其他有益特性。纳米技术在医学领域已得到广泛研究，涵盖从疾病诊断到治疗等多个方面。这些不断发展的药物递送系统的纳米尺度有助于提高药物透过各种眼部屏障的渗透率，从而提高生物利用度。本综述将重点介绍眼部遇到的生理屏障、当前的传统治疗方法，以及如何利用聚合物药物递送和纳米技术来优化药物对眼前段和眼后段的渗透。
