Nanotechnology-based Strategies for Ocular Drug Delivery Systems

This review describes current nanotechnology-based delivery systems for ocular targeting. Amongst all the drug delivery systems existing today, ocular drug delivery is one such delivery approach which is having great endeavours due to the challenges faced by it. Many new as well as exciting treatment options have emerged in this field. The major cause behind development of new treatment alternatives in this field are the limitations raised by the conventional approaches. Currently, researchers are working on development of novel nano techniques to overcome these challenges. The major hurdle is associated with the complicated anatomy and physiology of eye having various static (cornea, conjunctiva, retinal pigmental epithelium) as well as dynamic barriers (blood aqueous barrier, blood retinal barrier) which reduce the overall bioavailability of the drugs. These membranous and fluidic barriers make drug delivery to eye a very challenging task. Hence, current research focuses on developing a system, which is least invasive and able to surpass ocular barriers to maintain sufficient drug levels within the ocular tissue. Nanotechnology based delivery systems play a vital role in this. Many vesicular as well as particulate systems are attempted for the same for anterior as well as posterior segment targeting which can easily overcome limitations of conventional drug delivery systems. Current momentum and ongoing research in this field holds a significant level of promise towards development of improved therapies for treating vision related ailments.