Pharmaceutical Nanoscience: Pulmonary Drug Delivery System

Pulmonary diseases impose an immense burden on global health. Asthma, cystic and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, lung cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) are among the diseases that require efficient pulmonary drug delivery. Targeted-drug delivery refers to the delivery of a drug or a therapeutic agent to a certain tissue or organ; this can be achieved through pulmonary drug delivery (PDD) with nanomaterials. Nanomaterials are made from polymers, ceramics, metals, and biological materials into different sizes and structures. Nanomaterials for PDD entail nanoparticles of therapeutic ingredients, including herbal based drugs and nanocarriers of the therapeutic bioactive substance. These types of materials used in managing pulmonary diseases are discussed in this chapter.