Current Drug Delivery - Volume 23, Issue 1, 2026

The global burden of Chronic Liver Diseases (CLDs) is escalating, with increasing prevalence and mortality. Various conditions ranging from fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma are associated with conditions such as toxin accumulation, viral infections, and metabolic derangements. In this already difficult context, the emergence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and steatohepatitis complicated the picture even further. While there has been much advancement in medical research, there is currently no standard cure; hence, the best treatment options are limited, providing a rising need for new therapeutic approaches. Nanoparticle drug delivery systems represent a promising avenue, providing targeted delivery and enhanced therapeutic effectiveness. Nanosystems can protect therapeutic agents from degradation, evade rapid clearance mechanisms, and target drugs directly to a specific hepatic cell type. However, the complex architecture of the liver presents challenges for these therapies, including the need to precisely target individual cells and retain the stability of nanoparticles within the hepatic microenvironment. This review presents recent advances in nanoparticle and targeted ligands-based technologies. These technologies help to navigate barriers associated with similar therapies. As these challenges are addressed, nanotechnological advancements could potentially lead to a major revolution in the treatment of CLDs, paving the way for improved management strategies and providing new hope for affected individuals worldwide.

The medicinal value of Chinese medicines has been recognized since ancient times, and they have also been used to treat various diseases. However, in-depth studies on the active ingredients of Chinese medicines have shown that many of them suffer from poor water-solubility, stability, and bioavailability, which has severely limited their further development. The advent of nanomedicine represents a novel direction and paradigm for addressing these challenges. Particularly, within the framework of nanocrystal technology, enhancements in the water solubility, stability, and bioavailability of Chinese medicines are expected to significantly improve the therapeutic efficiency. This advancement also holds promise for unlocking new therapeutic capabilities. Nanocrystals offer significant advantages in oral, intravenous, intranasal and targeted delivery. The drug loading principle is “all in one”, with hydrophobic-drug-in and hydrophilic-drug-out and stabilization by amphiphilic agents. Nanocrystal technology in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) holds extensive application potential. Continuous refinement of preparation techniques, sound safety assessments, and the promotion of large-scale production are anticipated to augment its pivotal role in TCM formulations, thereby creating novel opportunities for clinical drug therapy.

Nanomaterials, especially nanofibers, hold considerable promise as drug delivery systems (DDS) by providing targeted administration of drugs due to their unique properties, such as large surface area, high porosity, and mechanical robustness. Nanofibers can be fabricated using various techniques like electrospinning, self-assembly, phase separation, and template synthesis, offering properties such as adjustable size, shape, high precision, and biodegradability. Additionally, features such as multiple target functionalization, controlled release of the drug, and prolonged circulation of the drug make nanofibers particularly suitable for biomedical applications, including drug delivery, tissue regeneration, and biosensing. This comprehensive review explores the characteristics, types, fabrication methods, and applications of nanofibers. Diverse types of polymer nanofibers are used in drug delivery, such as blended nanofibers, core-shell nanofibers, and layer-by-layer assembly, each demonstrating their own advantages in controlled drug release and targeted therapy. Electrospun nanofibers are extensively utilized in biomedical applications due to their superior mechanical performance and high porosity and advancements in coaxial electrospinning enabling the fabrication of core-shell nanofibers, offering controlled drug release kinetics and protection of loaded molecules. These nanofibers demonstrate enhanced bioactivity and biocompatibility and can find application in tissue engineering. Furthermore, this review addresses the challenges associated with nanofiber production, including reproducibility and scalability. Nanofibers exhibit the potential to revolutionize medical treatment across diverse therapeutic areas. Future research directions and challenges in nanofiber-based drug delivery discussed in this review offer guidance for further advancements in this rapidly evolving field.

Ophthalmic diseases include a wide array of conditions, each requiring individualized treatment approaches. In ophthalmic research and as therapeutics against potential pharmacological indications, several subtypes of exosomes (EVs) have been reconnoitered, mainly for their regenerative, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory characteristics. EVs are recently gaining wider attention as promising vehicles for therapies because of their natural participation in communication between cells and targeted delivery. These small vesicles, derived from cells, transport numerous molecules between cells, thus contributing advantages like low immunogenicity, stability, and the ability to target cells specifically. These inherent advantages of carrying the therapeutic cargo and enabling intercellular signaling make them a captivating avenue for progressing ophthalmic disease treatment options. While research is ongoing, and clinical applications are still emerging, several EV subtypes have shown promise for possible applications in addressing several ophthalmic diseases, such as glaucoma, age-related macular degenerative disorders, retinal degenerative disorders, and ocular inflammatory conditions.

The development of nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems has been extensively investigated across various therapies, leading to the creation of numerous nanomedicines for clinical use. However, these nanomedicines have yet to achieve the anticipated therapeutic efficacy in clinical settings, highlighting the urgent need for further research in this area. A primary challenge in nanomedicine research lies in ensuring that nanoparticles and therapeutic agents can effectively penetrate and accumulate within tumors. The enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect has been previously explored as a means to enhance drug delivery to tumors, but recent findings have revealed its limitations, including variable responses, restricted penetration, clearance by the reticuloendothelial system, and non-specific accumulation. As an alternative approach, transcytosis has been explored for delivering drugs to specific organs or tissues, potentially bypassing some of the constraints of the EPR effect. For example, nanoparticles can be guided through barriers by targeting specific receptors on cell surfaces or by utilizing a different charge compared to tumor cells' surfaces. Therefore, this article explores transcytosis, including adsorptive, receptor-mediated, and cell-mediated subtypes, all of which have demonstrated promising results and offer potential solutions to enhance the effectiveness of nanomedicine delivery for cancer therapy.