Khan Samiullah, Do Chi-Wai, Ho Emmanuel A
Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR), 17W Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.
Drug Deliv Transl Res. 2025 Jun;15(6):1828-1876. doi: 10.1007/s13346-024-01756-x. Epub 2024 Dec 14.
Ocular diseases have a major impact on patient's vision and quality of life, with approximately 2.2 billion people have visual impairment worldwide according to the findings from the World Health Organization (WHO). The eye is a complex organ with unique morphology and physiology consisting of numerous ocular barriers which hinders the entry of exogenous substances and impedes drug absorption. This in turn has a substantial impact on effective drug delivery to treat ocular diseases, especially intraocular disorders which has consistently presented a challenge to eye care professionals. The most common method of delivering medications to the eye is topical instillation of eye drops. Although this approach is a viable option for treating many ocular diseases remains a major challenge for the effective treatment of posterior ocular conditions. Up till now, incessant efforts have been committed to design innovative drug delivery systems with the hopes of potential clinical application. Modern developments in nanocarrier's technology present a potential chance to overcome these obstacles by enabling targeted delivery of the loaded medication to the eyes with improved solubility, delayed release, higher penetration and increased retention. This review covers the anatomy of eye with associated ocular barriers, ocular diseases and administration routes. In addition it primarily focuses on the latest progress and contemporary applications of ophthalmic formulations providing specific insight on nanostructured drug delivery carriers reported over the past 5 years highlighting their values in achieving efficient ocular drug delivery to both anterior and posterior segments. Most importantly, we outlined in this review the macro and nanotechnology based ophthalmic drug formulations that are being patented or marketed so far for treating ocular diseases. Finally, based on current trends and therapeutic concepts, we highlighted the challenges faced by novel ocular drug delivery systems and provided prospective future developments for further research in these directions. We hope that this review will serve as a source of motivation and ideas for formulation scientists in improving the design of innovative ophthalmic formulations.
眼部疾病对患者的视力和生活质量有重大影响。根据世界卫生组织（WHO）的调查结果，全球约有22亿人存在视力障碍。眼睛是一个复杂的器官，具有独特的形态和生理结构，由众多眼部屏障组成，这些屏障阻碍了外源物质的进入并妨碍药物吸收。这反过来又对治疗眼部疾病的有效药物递送产生重大影响，尤其是眼内疾病，一直是眼科护理专业人员面临的挑战。将药物递送至眼部最常见的方法是局部滴眼药水。尽管这种方法是治疗许多眼部疾病的可行选择，但对于有效治疗后部眼部疾病仍然是一个重大挑战。迄今为止，人们一直在不断努力设计创新的药物递送系统，以期实现潜在的临床应用。纳米载体技术的现代发展提供了一个潜在的机会来克服这些障碍，通过实现将负载的药物靶向递送至眼部，提高溶解度、延迟释放、增强渗透和增加滞留。本综述涵盖了眼睛的解剖结构及相关的眼部屏障、眼部疾病和给药途径。此外，它主要关注眼科制剂的最新进展和当代应用，对过去5年报道的纳米结构药物递送载体提供具体见解，突出它们在实现向眼前段和眼后段有效递送眼部药物方面的价值。最重要的是，我们在本综述中概述了目前已获专利或上市的基于宏观和纳米技术的眼科药物制剂，用于治疗眼部疾病。最后，基于当前的趋势和治疗理念，我们强调了新型眼部药物递送系统面临的挑战，并为这些方向的进一步研究提供了前瞻性的未来发展方向。我们希望本综述能为制剂科学家改进创新眼科制剂的设计提供动力和思路来源。
