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Background: Over the past century, the prevalence of skin diseases has substantially increased. These diseases present a significant physical, emotional and socio-economic burden to the society. Such conditions are also associated with a multitude of psychological traumas to the suffering patients. The effective treatment strategy implicates targeting of drugs to the skin. The field of drug targeting has been revolutionized with the advent of nanotechnology. The emergence of stimulus-responsive nanoplatforms has provided remarkable control over fundamental polymer properties for external triggers. This enhanced control has empowered pioneering approaches in the treatment of chronic inflammatory skin diseases., Objective: Our aim was to investigate the studies on smart nanoplatforms that exploit the altered skin physiology under diseased conditions and provide site-specific controlled drug delivery., Method: All literature search regarding the advances in stimulus sensitive smart nanoplatforms for skin diseases was done using Google Scholar and Pubmed., Conclusion: Various stimuli explored lately for such nano platforms are pH, temperature, light and magnet. Although, the scientists have actively taken up this research topic but there are still certain lacunaes associated which have been discussed in this review. Further, an interdisciplinary collaboration between the healthcare providers and pharmacists is a pivotal requirement for such systems to be available for patients., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

On-demand pain relief systems would be very helpful additions to the armamentarium of pain management. Near-infrared triggered drug delivery systems have demonstrated the potential to provide such care. However, challenges remain in making such systems as stimulus-sensitive as possible, to enhance depth of tissue penetration, repeatability of triggering, and safety. Here we developed liposomes containing the local anesthetic tetrodotoxin and also containing a photosensitizer and gold nanorods that were excitable at the same near-infrared wavelength. The combination of triggering mechanisms enhanced the photosensitivity and repeatability of the system in vitro when compared with liposomes with a single photoresponsive component. In vivo, on-demand local anesthesia could be induced with a low irradiance and short irradiation duration, and liposomes containing both photosensitizer and gold nanorods were more effective than those containing just one photoresponsive component. Tissue reaction was benign.

A smart targeting drug delivery nanocarrier is successfully constructed based on phototriggered competition of host-guest interaction. The targeting motif, i.e., biotin is first concealed by β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) via host-guest interaction. When the nanoparticles are exposed to UV light, the cleavage of photosensitive groups results in the exposure of adamantane (Ad) groups initially located in the interior of nanoassemblies, and β-CDs capped on biotin ligands can be replaced by Ad because of the higher binding constant between Ad and β-CD than that between biotin and β-CD. The competition of host-guest interaction leads to the recovery of targeting capacity of biotin ligands on the nanocarriers. By virtue of photoregulation, the nanocarriers exhibit controllable ligand-receptor recognition, which is proved by flow cytometry, laser confocal microscopy, and cytotoxicity assay. This strategy has a potential to improve the selectivity and safety of targeting drug delivery systems., (© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Recently, the controlled drug delivery system has become a potential platform for biomedical application. Herein, we developed a pH and light-dual controlled cargo release system exhibiting AND logic based on MCM-41 mesoporous silica nanoparticles, which was surface modified using β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) with imine bond and azobenzene derivative. The complex of β-CD and azobenzene derivative effectively blocked the cargo delivery in pH=7.0 phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution without 365nm UV light irradiation. The cargo was fully released when both factors of acidic environment (pH=5.0 PBS) and 365nm UV light irradiation were satisfied, meanwhile only very little cargo was delivered if one factor was satisfied. The result also demonstrates that the opening/closing of the gate and the release of the cargo in small portions can be controlled., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an intrinsic signaling molecule with importance on par with that of nitric oxide. During the past decade, pharmacologic studies have amply demonstrated the therapeutic potential of carbon monoxide. However, such studies were mostly based on CO inhalation and metal-based CO-releasing molecules. The field is now at the stage that a major effort is needed to develop pharmaceutically acceptable forms of CO for delivery via various routes such as oral, injection, infusion, or topical applications. This review examines the state of the art, discusses the existing hurdles to overcome, and proposes developmental strategies necessary to address remaining drug delivery issues., (Copyright © 2016 American Pharmacists Association®. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Derivatives of fullerene ( C60) as photosensitizers have rarely been studied as delivery carrier materials. The focus of this study was to explore the potential advantages of diadduct malonic acid-fullerene ( DMA- C60) as delivery carrier materials and combination of chemo-phototherapy of some tumors. In this study, DMA- C60 and docetaxel ( DTX) were coentrapped in micelles ( MCs) ( DMA- C60/ DTX- MC). The addition of DMA- C60 could obviously improve static stability and decrease critical MC concentration of DTX- MC without hemolysis. The sustained release of DTX and DMA- C60 could be achieved, following Higuichi and first-order model, respectively. DMA- C60 could still produce reactive oxygen species efficiently in He La cells after encapsulation in MC. The addition of DMA- C60 under irradiation caused DTX- MC more stronger cytotoxicity, cell cycle changes, and more early apoptotic cells in vitro. More importantly, after intravenous injection, the addition of DMA- C60 in DTX- MC could result in 2.25-fold and 4.57-fold longer mean residence time compared with DTX- MC and Duopafei®, increase drug intratumoral distribution and decrease drug distribution in heart and kidney, and enhance antitumor effect under irradiation without body weight loss. These results suggested tremendous promise of DMA- C60 as carrier materials of MC and significant advantages in combination of chemo-phototherapy of some tumors. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 103:3225-3234, 2014 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Target-specific delivery has become an integral area of research in order to increase bioavailability and reduce the toxic effects of drugs. As a drug-delivery option, trigger-release liposomes offer sophisticated targeting and greater control-release capabilities. These are broadly divided into two categories; those that utilise the local environment of the target site where there may be an upregulation in certain enzymes or a change in pH and those liposomes that are triggered by an external physical stimulus such as heat, ultrasound or light. These release mechanisms offer a greater degree of control over when and where the drug is released; furthermore, targeting of diseased tissue is enhanced by incorporation of target-specific components such as antibodies. This review aims to show the development of such trigger release liposome systems and the current research in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Cancer remains as the world second leading cause of death. The severe side effects associated to high doses of chemotherapy and the development of drug resistance are major drawbacks for a successful cancer treatment. Therefore, new formulations that promote localized therapy at tumor sites are needed to improve the therapeutic outcomes and patient welfare. The use of hydrogels is a very promising alternative, since they can be composed by smart materials able to respond to external factors, changing their properties accordingly and promoting a localized drug delivery. As a result, a more specific, efficient, and less toxic local cancer treatment can be accomplished. In this context, the most important characteristics of hydrogels recent studies regarding the application of pH-, light-, ionic strength-, and magnetic-responsive hydrogels in cancer treatment are here presented. Cancer remains as the second leading cause of death, worldwide. Despite the enormous important advances observed in the last decades, advanced stages of the disease remain incurable. The severe side effects associated to systemic high doses of chemotherapy and the development of drug resistance impairs a safe and efficiency anticancer therapy. Therefore, new formulations are continuously under research and development to improve anticancer drugs therapeutic index through localized delivery at tumor sites. Among a wide range of possibilities, hydrogels have recently gained special attention due to their potential to allow in situ sustained and controlled anticancer drug release. In particular, stimuli-responsive hydrogels which are able to change their physical state from liquid to gel accordingly to external factors such as temperature, pH, light, ionic strength, and magnetic field, among others. Some of these formulations presented promising results for the localized control and treatment of cancer. The present work aims to discuss the main properties and application of stimuli-responsive hydrogels in cancer treatment and summarize the most important advances observed in the last decades focusing on the use of pH-, light-, ionic strength-, and magnetic-responsive hydrogels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]