Approaches to erythrocyte-mediated drug delivery

Abstract

Introduction: Drug delivery by means of erythrocytes is becoming a growing field with applications that in recent years have moved from the laboratory to the clinic. Several reviews have been published in recent years and have well illustrated the developments and the different fields of application. In this paper we have summarized the techniques that make the bases for these developments and provided illustrative examples on how the erythrocytes can be used in drug delivery.

Areas covered: We have illustrated the possibility of using erythrocytes for the slow delivery in circulation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), for the encapsulation of those ingredients that must remain confined within the erythrocyte, the encapsulation of drug-binding proteins (or protein domain) able to reversibly bind drugs of interest and for coupling of APIs on the surface of carrier erythrocytes.

Expert opinion: Since many years erythrocytes are recognized as powerful cellular carriers for drugs. In this review, we briefly summarize different approaches that can be used to take advantage of these natural carriers. It is shown that several different APIs can be delivered by way of erythrocytes but the selection of the technique to be employed is crucial for a successful development. The examples illustrated can guide in selecting the most appropriate way of using erythrocytes as delivery systems.

Keywords::

• antithrombotic agents delivery
• enzyme delivery
• erythrocyte carriers
• slow delivery in circulation

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of a number of Colleagues and coworkers that during the years have contributed to the development of erythrocytes as drug-delivery systems and that are mainly listed in the selected references of this paper and in the several review articles cited here. We also wish to thank Claudia Gabucci for help in the preparation of the manuscript and helpful discussion.

Declaration of interest

The authors received research funds from the University of Urbino, Italy. The authors hold shares in EryDel S.p.A. and have received unconditional financial support from EryDel S.p.A.

Notes

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