Targeted drug delivery to ischemic heart with use of nanoparticulate carriers Concepts, pitfalls and perspectives

Purpose - Clinical outcome in patients with ischemic heart disease can be significantly improved with the implementation of targeted drug delivery into the ischemic myocardium. The purpose of this paper is to review the data of recent literature and present original findings relevant to the problem of therapeutic heart targeting with use of nanoparticles. Design/methodology/approach - For literature review, a public-domain database (Medline) was searched using a web-based search engine (PubMed) and the following key words: nanoparticles, nanocarriers, and targeted drug delivery. Experimental approaches included fabrication of carbon and silica nanoparticles, their characterization and surface modification. The acute hemodynamic effects of nanoparticle formulation as well as nanoparticle biodistribution were studied on male Wistar rats. Findings - Carbon and silica nanoparticles are biocompatible materials that can be used as carriers for heart-targeted drug delivery. Concepts of passive and active targeting can be applied to the development of targeted drug delivery to the ischemic myocardial cells. Originality/value - The present paper is believed to be the first on ligand-directed targeted drug delivery into the damaged myocardium.