Intranasal Drug Delivery: Challenges and Opportunities

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About this Research Topic

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Background

For a long time intranasal administration is ascribed as an effective route to deliver drugs into the systemic circulation, resulting in rapid onset and higher drug bioavailability than classical extravascular administration routes. More recently, intranasal administration started to gain attention as a potential delivery route to the brain due to the unique connection between the central nervous system and the exterior environment, which is made by the olfactory nasal neuroepithelium. Both therapeutic uses have been (and remain) challenging, not only due to anatomic and physiological characteristics of the nasal cavity and the underlying mechanisms of drug absorption and drug delivery, but also because of the in vitro models. Currently available models to predict nasal permeation remain poorly predictive of nose-to-brain delivery and of drug absorption in humans.

The scope of this Research Topic includes the recent advances in intranasal drug delivery systems, technologies and devices that have been developed to promote nose-to-blood, nose to-lung and nose-to-brain delivery of drugs, peptides, proteins and biologics.

Clarification and updates on the mechanisms that underlie and compromise these types of transport in a nose that is in healthy or pathological state, are of particular interest to attempt to increase the success of novel intranasal strategies.

We also welcome publications focusing on in vitro models that can be accurately used for drug/formulation screening regarding the potential added value of intranasal drug administration. Preferably, they should be related to in vivo drug targeting efficacy and direct transport percentages observed in distinct animal species.

Translational investigations of direct nose-to-brain and nose-to-lung transport from cell models to animals and animals to humans would be of great significance for the development of intranasal delivered therapeutics.

We welcome reviews, mini-reviews, original research, methods, and opinions in this special issue, particularly if focusing on areas related but not limited to the following:

• Intranasal administration for brain targeting of neurotherapeutics
• Intranasal administration of biologics
• Emerging Insights for the mechanisms, applications and challenges of nose-to-brain drug delivery
• Intranasal administration for lung diseases
• Development and characterization of novel intranasal drug delivery systems/devices (in vivo studies are encouraged but not mandatory)
• Development of experimental in vitro, ex vivo or in vivo methodologies to predict nasal drug absorption and/or nose-to-brain delivery
• Current applications, adverse reactions, and future considerations of intranasal drug delivery in the management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• Clinical quantitative data confirming nose-to-brain or nose-to-lung transport in humans

Quality assurance and the regulatory environment related to these research topics should be guaranteed.

We look forward to receiving your publications, hoping that this Research Topic improves the knowledge underlying intranasal administration and increase its future clinical success.

Keywords: Intranasal, nose-to-brain, nose-to-lung, development of experimental methods, specialized drug delivery systems, nasal devices, transport mechanisms

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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