Nanotechnology in preclinical pharmacokinetics

Abstract

The complex physiological and biochemical processes and intrinsic nature of being hostile against foreign biogenic along with non-biogenic components in higher organisms have made the therapeutic development a time-inefficient cascade with respect to quality, efficiency, and safety. This many a time costs lots of lives due to unavailability of potent medicines. In the initial phase of development, a therapeutic drug involves the finding a hypothesized potential drug candidate which could physicochemically modify the preexisting drug. Failure of it could be compensated by traditionally used herbal sources and food components as a foundation of a novel and effective therapeutic agent. As documented in some traditional Ayurvedic text, 85% of specific disease can be cured by an individualized proper food pattern, but identification and validation of therapeutic agent from traditional source and making a therapeutic formulation effective against a wide array of diseases with high efficacy are difficult. And further, limited mode of intake, low bioavailability, biodistribution and high dosage regimen, etc., are some of the major challenges which need to be acknowledged. The beauty of traditional medication includes formulations that are complete with nutraceutical, and hence there are restricted chances of any side effects with comparison to modern or allopathic formulations. The incomplete modern formulations need an amalgamation of heterogeneous chemicals supplementations which further may lead to sudden/delayed complications. Thus, the scientific associations currently are more interested in combating these challenges by integrating nanotechnology with pharmacology giving a new branch of pharmacological study called nanopharmacology. Therefore, presently, synthesis of biocompatible nano-platforms conjugated with drug formulations with higher efficacy and promising safety is more experimented at the clinical stage. These efficiencies of nano-based formulations are determined at the laboratory level or preclinical stage by determining pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) parameters of the targeted drugs. Moreover, the PK and PD reports of these nanoformulations are reasonably safe enough to pass the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‘s Investigational New Drug (IND) test and are considered for initial application on humans, and further steps of the drug development are carried out to ensure an impending application of it in the future. In this chapter, a brief discussion about the drawbacks of conventional medicine and the role of nanoformulation in enhancing PK parameter is portrayed with a slight touch on thousand years old traditional medicines.