Nasal Nanotechnology: What Do We Know and What Is Yet to Come?

A special issue of Pharmaceutics (ISSN 1999-4923). This special issue belongs to the section "Drug Delivery and Controlled Release".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 132

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Drug Delivery Technology, Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Viale A. Doria 6, 95124 Catania, Italy
Interests: drug delivery; nanomedicine; pharmaceutical technology; drug formulation

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy
Interests: new copolymers to obtain colloidal drug carrier; thermal analysis to study drug-biomembrane models interaction and thermal behavior of drug delivery systems (polymeric and/or lipidic carrier); design, optimization, characterization of nanomedicine for drug delivery; nanomedicine for nose to brain delivery
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to submit original research papers and reviews in the field of nasal drug delivery technology.

This Special Issue is addressed to researchers who are investigating different aspects related to the intranasal administration of drugs and bioactive molecules. It is well known that the nose can be an administration site for different therapeutic purposes: from local treatment to systemic adsorption and to the more recent application for brain targeting, as well as through the olfactory and trigeminal nerve pathways. This strategy allows drugs to reach the brain quickly by evading the BBB, showing a fast onset of action and fewer systemic side effects.

Researchers design formulations with selected raw materials and suitable production processes to obtain specific properties of a final formulation to achieve the above goals. Raw materials (polymers, lipids, surfactants, phospholipids) could be used individually or in combination to produce hybrid systems modified appropriately through functionalization with different molecules (i.e., targeting ligands, cell penetration peptides, etc.). These different strategies provide unique properties to the resulting system in terms of stability in biological fluids, mucoadhesion and controlled drug release.

Both microparticles and/or nanomedicine represent interesting formulation strategies for intranasal delivery. Exploring different aims requires a deep investigation of designed carriers, including specific in vitro evaluations. Ex vivo and in vivo experiments on healthy or disease model animals are used to achieve a proof of concept and are considered as crucial for the acceptance of submitted research papers.

This Special Issue will consider manuscripts dealing with the nasal administration of drug formulations for different therapeutic purposes. Particularly, devices used for nasal administration in preclinical studies represent a growing area of interest for distinguishing internal nasal regions that have been reached.

Original research and review articles are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: local pathologies such as infectious (caused by viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) and non-infectious diseases (e.g., caused by allergic and non-allergic, hormonal, and drug-induced reactions); systemic effect (vaccines, lung diseases, etc.); and brain targeting (neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic syndrome, trigeminal pain, headache, etc.).

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Rosario Pignatello
Prof. Dr. Teresa Musumeci
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • nasal drug delivery
  • polymeric and/or lipid nanocarriers
  • rhinitis
  • brain targeting
  • vaccines
  • nose-to-brain drug delivery
  • functionalization
  • ex vivo and in vivo studies
  • cytocompatibility/cytotoxicity
  • mucoadhesion
  • mucosal permeation

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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