Lipid-Based Formulations for Therapy of Vector-Borne Protozoan Diseases
A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Pharmacy and Formulation".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 May 2023) | Viewed by 5043
Special Issue Editor
Interests: drug delivery systems; liposomes; drug targeting; oral delivery; leishmaniasis; antiparasitic chemotherapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Vector-borne protozoan diseases represent a serious public health problem, especially in the tropics where poverty, together with vector-favorable climates, prevails. Diseases caused by Plasmodia (malaria), and three major trypanosomatid diseases (leishmaniasis, African Human Trypanosomiasis (HAT) and Chagas disease) are among the most prevalent and severe human vector-borne protozoan infections. Unfortunately, the sector of drug research has attracted less attention for these diseases, despite their heavy burden. Consequently, only a limited number of pharmaceuticals are currently in use. Furthermore, treatments are limited by the low efficacy and high toxicity of existing drugs, resulting in frequent treatment failure, low patient compliance and the emergence of drug resistance. Thus, there is urgent need for new more effective drugs and therapeutic strategies for these diseases.
The improvement of drugs that are already established in clinics through innovative drug delivery systems is an effective strategy for fast drug development. Delivery systems allow the modulation of drug solubilization or aggregation state, its protection from degradation and the control of pharmacokinetic parameters such as drug bioavailability, half-life, and biodistribution, resulting ultimately in enhanced drug efficacy and reduced drug toxicity.
Delivery systems with a nanometric dimension have been especially successful in allowing precise drug targeting of infectious sites. Among nanosystems, those containing lipids (e.g., liposomes, nanostructured lipid carriers, micelles, nano- and microemulsions, and solid lipid nanoparticles) have enormous potential in the field of drug delivery due to their unique biocompatibility and their structural and functional versatilities.
This Special Issue seeks to present a collection of innovative studies describing recent advances in the development of lipid-based drug formulations to improve the therapy of vector-borne protozoan infections. Special attention is given to works that explore alternative administration routes, immunochemotherapy strategies and address major challenges in current drug development, such as drug delivery across biological barriers, effective drug targeting, as well as the formulation of large molecules (e.g., proteins and nucleic acids).
Prof. Dr. Frédéric Frézard
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- liposomes
- lipid-based formulations
- solid lipid nanoparticles
- micelles
- oral drug delivery
- drug targeting
- protozoan diseases
- leishmaniasis
- Chagas disease
- malaria
