International Journal of Nanomedicine (May 2024)
Breaking Barriers: Nanomedicine-Based Drug Delivery for Cataract Treatment
Abstract
Yilin Chen,1,2 Zi Ye,1,2 Haixu Chen,3 Zhaohui Li1,2 1School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China; 2Senior Department of Ophthalmology, The Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Institute of Geriatrics, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatrics Diseases, The Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Zhaohui Li, Senior Department of Ophthalmology, The Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100853, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Cataract is a leading cause of blindness globally, and its surgical treatment poses a significant burden on global healthcare. Pharmacologic therapies, including antioxidants and protein aggregation reversal agents, have attracted great attention in the treatment of cataracts in recent years. Due to the anatomical and physiological barriers of the eye, the effectiveness of traditional eye drops for delivering drugs topically to the lens is hindered. The advancements in nanomedicine present novel and promising strategies for addressing challenges in drug delivery to the lens, including the development of nanoparticle formulations that can improve drug penetration into the anterior segment and enable sustained release of medications. This review introduces various cutting-edge drug delivery systems for cataract treatment, highlighting their physicochemical properties and surface engineering for optimal design, thus providing impetus for further innovative research and potential clinical applications of anti-cataract drugs.Keywords: nanomedicine, cataract, ocular barrier, drug delivery system
