Nanomedicine for the effective and safe delivery of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: A review of preclinical research.

The toxicity of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is one of the major limitations to their long-term use in the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions. This review provides an overview of the preclinical efforts on the development of nanodelivery systems for NSAIDs with a focus on the effect of nanoformulation on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the delivered drugs. Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that nanomedicine products can reduce toxicity and enhance the efficacy of certain encapsulated therapeutics. In this context, significant effort has been devoted to the development of nanodelivery systems for NSAIDs as means in reducing their side effects. Indeed, the preclinical studies on NSAID nanoformulations have been shown to reduce the toxicity while enhancing the bioavailability of incorporated NSAIDs at equal doses compared to conventional NSAID formulations. Furthermore, compared to conventional formulations, a number of nanoformulations were able to sustain the release of the loaded NSAIDs, and improve the pharmacodynamics of the encapsulated drug in preclinical models of inflammatory diseases. These advantages have been demonstrated using various routes of administration including oral, parenteral, ocular, transdermal, and others for the nanoformulations. A review of the research results implies a great potential for the use of nanotechnology in improving the quality of life for patients taking NSAIDs for chronic conditions, through reducing drug side effects or frequency of administration. The approach may also enable the administration of higher doses of NSAID needed for off-label therapeutic indications for diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.