Polysaccharide-Based Nanomaterials for Ocular Drug Delivery: A Perspective

Haozhe Yu; Wenyu Wu; Xiang Lin; Yun Feng

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2020.601246

Polysaccharide-Based Nanomaterials for Ocular Drug Delivery: A Perspective

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2020 Dec 10:8:601246. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.601246. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Haozhe Yu^{1

2}, Wenyu Wu², Xiang Lin³, Yun Feng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Medical Technology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
² Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
³ School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Abstract

Ocular drug delivery is one of the most challenging issues in ophthalmology because of the complex physiological structure of the eye. Polysaccharide-based nanomaterials have been extensively investigated in recent years as ideal carriers for enhancing the bioavailability of drugs in the ocular system because of their biocompatibility and drug solubilization. From this perspective, we discuss the structural instability of polysaccharides and its impact on the synthesis process; examine the potential for developing bioactive polysaccharide-based ocular drug nanocarriers; propose four strategies for designing novel drug delivery nanomaterials; and suggest reviewing the behavior of nanomaterials in ocular tissues.

Keywords: nano; nanocarriers; ocular drug delivery; polysaccharide-based nanomaterials; polysaccharides.