ERYTHROCYTE BASED NANOMEDICINE: A NOVEL APPROACH FOR TARGETED DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM
Nilakshi N. Dhoble*, Snehal H. Gawai, Rashmi G. Khope and Jagdish R. Baheti
ABSTRACT
Recently, drug delivery using biological carriers has emerged as one of the most recent topics of research.
Approach of using synthetic nanoparticles (NPs) and erythrocytes combination strategy offers an optimal blend of
natural and synthetic materials. This combination strategy could serve as an immune-evasive multifunctional
platform. This review summarized significant advances in erythrocytes based nanomedicine targeted drug
delivery, and included their fabrication process, their unique properties and applications. Erythrocytes or red blood
cells, can act as potential carriers for a wide variety of drugs, including analgesic, anticancer, antibacterial,
antiviral, and anti-inflammatory, peptides, enzymes, and other macromolecules. Human red blood cells (RBC),
after differentiating from erythroblasts in the bone marrow, are released into the blood and survive in the
circulation for approximately 115 days. Erythrocytes having a remarkable bio-compatibility, bio-degradability,
and life-span in circulation; makes it a desirable vector for the delivery of the drug as nanomedicine. The
erythrocytes based nanomedicine is generally synthesized by either physical or chemical methods by incorporating
a wide spectrum of therapeutic agents in the form of nanoparticles. In the current scenario, erythrocyte based
nanomedicine holds a great potential of the targeting of drug for therapeutic uses and can also be used for the
diagnosis of the human diseases. This review focuses on the most recent advancements in the field of erythrocytes
based targeted drug delivery and as an excellent and promising nano platform for the novel targeted drug delivery
of various drugs especially antineoplastic and thrombolytic drugs along with their potential as a promising
diagnostic tool for the identification of different tumors.
Keywords: Erythrocyte, Nanomedicine, Targeted Drug Delivery, immune-evasive.
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