Biomaterial Database

Dendritic systems in drug delivery applications. 2007

Narendra K Jain, and Abhay Asthana

Dr Hari Singh Gour University, Pharmaceutics Research Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sagar 4700 03, India. jnarendr@yahoo.co.in

The design of well-defined particulate carrier systems with controlled size, shapes and physicochemical characteristics is becoming a focal point in the field of biomedicine and drug delivery. Dendrimers are one of the emerging technologies of recent times and have served as a unique platform to achieve the development as novel drug delivery scaffolds. Dendrimers may be engineered to meet the specific needs of biologically active agents, which can either be encapsulated within dendrimers or chemically attached to these units. The large number of active functional groups on the surface of dendrimers allows them to be meticulously tailored and to act as nano-scaffolds or nano-containers of various categories of drugs. The architecture of modified dendrimers has posed a challenge to drug delivery, in particular with respect to their in vivo metabolic fate. The drug delivery applications of dendrimers presented in this article provide an insight of their potential and substantiate the major roles for the future of these nanoconstructs.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D004333	Drug Administration Routes	The various ways of administering a drug or other chemical to a site in a patient or animal from where the chemical is absorbed into the blood and delivered to the target tissue.	Administration Routes, Drug,Administration Route, Drug,Drug Administration Route,Route, Drug Administration,Routes, Drug Administration
D004337	Drug Carriers	Forms to which substances are incorporated to improve the delivery and the effectiveness of drugs. Drug carriers are used in drug-delivery systems such as the controlled-release technology to prolong in vivo drug actions, decrease drug metabolism, and reduce drug toxicity. Carriers are also used in designs to increase the effectiveness of drug delivery to the target sites of pharmacological actions. Liposomes, albumin microspheres, soluble synthetic polymers, DNA complexes, protein-drug conjugates, and carrier erythrocytes among others have been employed as biodegradable drug carriers.	Drug Carrier
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D015195	Drug Design	The molecular designing of drugs for specific purposes (such as DNA-binding, enzyme inhibition, anti-cancer efficacy, etc.) based on knowledge of molecular properties such as activity of functional groups, molecular geometry, and electronic structure, and also on information cataloged on analogous molecules. Drug design is generally computer-assisted molecular modeling and does not include PHARMACOKINETICS, dosage analysis, or drug administration analysis.	Computer-Aided Drug Design,Computerized Drug Design,Drug Modeling,Pharmaceutical Design,Computer Aided Drug Design,Computer-Aided Drug Designs,Computerized Drug Designs,Design, Pharmaceutical,Drug Design, Computer-Aided,Drug Design, Computerized,Drug Designs,Drug Modelings,Pharmaceutical Designs
D016503	Drug Delivery Systems	Systems for the delivery of drugs to target sites of pharmacological actions. Technologies employed include those concerning drug preparation, route of administration, site targeting, metabolism, and toxicity.	Drug Targeting,Delivery System, Drug,Delivery Systems, Drug,Drug Delivery System,Drug Targetings,System, Drug Delivery,Systems, Drug Delivery,Targeting, Drug,Targetings, Drug
D050091	Dendrimers	Tree-like, highly branched, polymeric compounds. They grow three-dimensionally by the addition of shells of branched molecules to a central core. The overall globular shape and presence of cavities gives potential as drug carriers and CONTRAST AGENTS.	Dendrimer,Dendritic Compounds,Dendritic Polymers,Dendrons,Compound, Dendritic,Dendritic Compound,Dendritic Polymer,Polymer, Dendritic,Polymers, Dendritic
D053758	Nanoparticles	Nanometer-sized particles that are nanoscale in three dimensions. They include nanocrystaline materials; NANOCAPSULES; METAL NANOPARTICLES; DENDRIMERS, and QUANTUM DOTS. The uses of nanoparticles include DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS and cancer targeting and imaging.	Nanocrystalline Materials,Nanocrystals,Material, Nanocrystalline,Materials, Nanocrystalline,Nanocrystal,Nanocrystalline Material,Nanoparticle
D036103	Nanotechnology	The development and use of techniques to study physical phenomena and construct structures in the nanoscale size range or smaller.	Nanotechnologies