Even though the dawn of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) proved out to be a boon for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients, management of HIV infections persists to be a major global health curse. A reduced efficacy with existing conventional therapy for brain targeting has been largely credited to the inability of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to transmigrate across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in productive concentrations. The review consists of nano-based drug delivery strategies rendering superior outcomes to delivery of ARV drugs to the viral sanctuaries in the brain. Nano-ART for ARV drugs promotes the development of an optimized dosage regimen, thereby improving the penetration of drugs across the BBB in an attempt to target the central reservoirs hosting viral population. Numerous efforts have been undertaken for making the drug more bioavailable and therapeutically effective by moulding them into various nanostructures. Polymeric nanocarriers, solid lipid nanoparticles, nanostructured lipid carriers, nanoemulsions, nanodiamonds, vesicle-based drug carriers, metal-based nanoparticles, and nano vaccines have been reported for their advancing role as a smart alternative for drug delivery to central nervous system. The high drug loading capacity of nanocarriers and their small size effectuating increased surface to volume ratio is accountable for improved efficacy of ARV drugs when formulated as nanotherapeutics. This review highlights the advancing role of nanotherapeutics in mediating a successful delivery of ARV drugs to eradicate viral loads in treating NeuroAIDS.
Keywords: Antiretrovirals; Blood–brain barrier; Nanotherapeutics; NeuroAIDS; Sanctuaries.
© 2021. Controlled Release Society.