Preventing preterm birth: New approaches to labour therapeutics using Nanoparticles

Abstract

Preterm birth remains a major obstetric problem with ramifications that extend beyond immediate health and safety concerns for the newborn to include massive societal and economic burden. Although three quarters of preterm birth-related deaths could be prevented with cost-effective interventions, there has been little progress towards achieving sustained tocolysis that translates into improved outcomes for the newborn. With private enterprise reluctant to venture into the sphere of tocolysis, due to potential litigation, advances in the field may fall to new approaches using existing tocolytic resources more effectively. An emerging approach is the utilisation of nanoparticles, which have been established as versatile drug carriers with the power to modify the pharmacokinetics of entrapped therapeutics. In this article, we examine the development of nanoparticle-based drug delivery in pregnancy, with a focus on new approaches to therapeutics for preterm birth and modifying the labour process more generally.

Keywords: Drug delivery; Liposomes; Nanoparticles; Preterm birth; Targeting; Tocolysis.