Drug loading methods and kinetic release models using of mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a drug delivery system: A review

Abstract

Oral drug administration remains one of the most convenient routes due to its Simplicity, high patient compliance, and cost-effectiveness. However, many medicinal products available on the market exhibit poor water solubility, which adversely affects the dissolution rate of drugs in biological fluids. Drug loading is a promising strategy to produce highly stable amorphous drugs with improved dissolution rates, solubility, and bioavailability. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are particularly advantageous due to their tunable surface area, pore size, and pore volume, making them suitable to load various molecules such as drugs, genes, and proteins. The use of mathematical models is crucial for predicting and analyzing the release profile of active molecules and diffusion patterns within delivery systems. This enables the design and development of new systems with more desirable release patterns. This review provides an overview of MSNs and drug loading methods, discusses the mechanisms of drug release and release kinetic models using mesoporous carriers, and highlights critical considerations in designing MSNs, such as particle stability and cytotoxicity.

Keywords

• Mesoporous silica
• Drug delivery
• Release mechanism
• Release kinetics
• Drug loading
• Nano-confinement