Advances in Pharmaceutics, Genomics, and Biotechnology for Liver Disease Therapy

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 759

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Campus Guadalajara, Zapopan P.C. 45138, Mexico
Interests: liver cancer; liposomes; topical formulation; nanoparticles; drug delivery

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently, liver disease has increased in incidence worldwide, representing a global health burden that encompasses a spectrum of conditions such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. This growing burden underscores the urgent need to discover novel strategies to treat liver diseases and mitigate liver damage.

The new era of biomedical research has opened new avenues to pharmacological, genomic, and biotechnological interventions for more effective treatment. Recent advances in these areas have transformed the landscape of diagnosis, therapy, and prevention. Pharmacological strategies now include nanocarrier-based targeted drug delivery, immunomodulators formulated for sustained release, and antifibrotic agents loaded into biodegradable polymers to enhance hepatic bioavailability. Genomic technologies, including next-generation sequencing and genome-wide association studies (GWASs), now support the design of patient-specific lipid nanoparticles for gene therapy, guided by genetic variants in drug metabolism (e.g., CYP450 polymorphisms) or disease-associated targets (e.g., PNPLA3 in MASLD), thereby facilitating personalized formulation strategies. Biotechnological innovations such as drug-eluting bioengineered liver scaffolds and exosome-based delivery of regenerative miRNAs merge material science with pharmacology, offering novel platforms for liver repair and functional restoration.

Integrating these disciplines provides a comprehensive framework to improve patient outcomes and deepen our understanding of the complex biology underlying liver diseases. This Special Issue will explore emerging pharmacological, genomic, and biotechnological approaches in treating liver disease, aiming to gather relevant insights that will expand current knowledge and pave the way for developing novel therapeutic strategies.

Prof. Dr. Juan Socorro Armendariz-Borunda
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • liver disease
  • nanocarriers
  • lipid nanoparticles
  • gene therapy
  • bioengineered scaffolds
  • biotechnological innovation
  • drug delivery
  • pharmaceutical formulation

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

19 pages, 17396 KB  
Review
Toward a Genomics-Driven Hepatology: Liver Biology, Precision Diagnosis, and the Rise in Genetic Therapies
by Sri Harsha Boppana, Naveena Luke, Sravani Karuchola, Jahnavi Udaikumar and Cyrus David Mintz
Pharmaceutics 2026, 18(4), 455; https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics18040455 - 8 Apr 2026
Viewed by 441
Abstract
The liver’s anatomic position and immune specialization make it both a major target and a major filter for systemically delivered therapeutics. Because portal venous inflow exposes the liver early to gut-derived molecules and exogenous compounds, many intravenously administered agents, including gene-based medicines and [...] Read more.
The liver’s anatomic position and immune specialization make it both a major target and a major filter for systemically delivered therapeutics. Because portal venous inflow exposes the liver early to gut-derived molecules and exogenous compounds, many intravenously administered agents, including gene-based medicines and their viral and non-viral delivery systems, preferentially enter and accumulate in hepatic tissue. This review synthesizes how core liver physiology and immunobiology influence the performance, safety, and clinical translation of genomic medicines in hepatology, and outlines near-term practice and research shifts likely to define a genomics-driven future in liver disease care. We review the hepatic microarchitecture relevant to therapeutic trafficking, including sinusoidal transit, the space of Disse, hepatocyte uptake, and hepatobiliary elimination, and highlight the gatekeeping roles of liver sinusoidal endothelial cells and Kupffer cells in clearing particulate material and shaping inflammatory signaling. We then discuss how these same features create both opportunities, such as efficient hepatic targeting, and constraints, including innate immune activation, vector clearance, and variable intrahepatic distribution, for DNA- and RNA-based platforms. Finally, we propose five actionable developments poised to move genomics from a niche tool to a routine component of hepatology practice: earlier genomic testing in unexplained liver disease, multidisciplinary hepatology genome rounds, a centralized liver-specific gene resource, genetics-aware clinical trial design, and expansion of genetic therapies. Integrating liver biology with genomic medicine is essential to improve diagnostic yield, personalize therapy, and accelerate translation of gene-based treatments while mitigating immunologic and delivery-related barriers. Full article
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