Targeting Inflammatory Bowel Diseases by Nanocarriers Loaded with Small and Biopharmaceutical Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

Nanotechnology has emerged as a promising strategy toward inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment. Nano-sized drug delivery systems exhibit an increased accumulation in inflamed tissues due to their nanometer size and present the ability to overcome the challenging inflamed colonic barriers (i.e. thick mucus layer, disrupted epithelium, altered colonic transit time). Moreover, nanocarriers are able to increase the amount of drug present at the colonic site decreasing their associated systemic side effects and increasing their efficacy. This review aims to analyze the nanoparticulate systems that have been evaluated for IBD treatment based on (i) the strategy followed towards an increased colonic accumulation and/or permeation, (ii) the small or biopharmaceutical anti-inflammatory drug encapsulated within the nanocarriers and (iii) the polymer(s) used for their preparation, highlighting the profits and the drawbacks of each of the candidates based on reported results.