Nanodrugs to target articular cartilage: An emerging platform for osteoarthritis therapy.
UNLABELLED
Cartilage undergoes drastic structural changes during the development of osteoarthritis and cannot heal itself due to a defective chondrocyte response. Thus, much effort has been invested in the development of disease modifying drugs able to block key mediators within the cartilage matrix and biochemical pathways inside chondrocytes. However, the delivery of therapeutic agents into cartilage is ineffective. This has led to the use of cartilage-targeted nanodrugs to accumulate therapeutic agents into specific cartilage sub-compartments. This review will describe the nanodrugs targeted to specific components of cartilage matrix to generate drug reservoirs within the cartilage. The nanodrugs used as chondrocyte-specific gene delivery systems are also described. Although the use of cartilage-targeted nanodrugs in osteoarthritis is still in its infancy, these studies lay the foundation for the development of novel approaches for preventing the progression of cartilage breakdown and improving the quality of life of patients with osteoarthritis.


FROM THE CLINICAL EDITOR
Osteoarthritis is a degeneration of joint cartilage, which affects a large number of aging people. Current therapy for disease modification is often suboptimal. Recent research in nanomedicine has led to the design and use of nanodrugs with the aim to help reverse the disease process. In this comprehensive review, the authors described and discussed various nanodrugs in the hope that newer drugs could be discovered in the future.
['Bottini|Massimo|M|', 'Bhattacharya|Kunal|K|', 'Fadeel|Bengt|B|', 'Magrini|Andrea|A|', 'Bottini|Nunzio|N|', 'Rosato|Nicola|N|']
D000818:Animals D002358:Cartilage, Articular D019902:Chondrocytes D004337:Drug Carriers D016503:Drug Delivery Systems D006801:Humans D050997:Nanomedicine D053758:Nanoparticles D010003:Osteoarthritis D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
Nanodrugs Cartilage Osteoarthritis Biological identity Targeting agents Therapeutic index