Nanomedicine for Treatment of Acute Lung Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Sadikot, Ruxana T.; Kolanjiyil, Arun V.; Kleinstreuer, Clement; Rubinstein, Israel

Nanoscience is the study of nanoscale materials, processes, and devices. In recent years nanomedicine has become an attractive concept for the targeted delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic compounds to the lung [9, 10] . Nanoparticle drug delivery systems can be used to provide delivery of drugs, improve bioavailability, and sustain the release of drugs for systemic delivery. These systems have the ability to improve the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of agents, allowing an increase in the biodistribution of therapeutic agents to target organs and resulting in improved efficacy while minimizing drug toxicity [11] [12] [13] . Nanocarriers are specially designed to target inflammation and cancer that have a permeable vasculature. Among the various drug delivery systems considered for pulmonary application, the use of biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles represents several advantages for the treatment of respiratory diseases [14, 15] . These methods are particularly attractive for the delivery of molecular targets in the setting of critical illnesses such as adult respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis [7, 8] . A number of different strategies have been proposed for modification of nanoparticle characteristics to control their behavior within biological environments, such as cell-specific targeted drug delivery or modified biological distribution of drugs, both at the cellular and organ levels. This method of delivery is particularly attractive for inflammatory conditions such as ALI and ARDS.