The incidence of many diseases like tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, bacterial infections, and cardiovascular diseases have increased over the last decade. Despite the progress in invasive treatment paradigms including surgery and radiotherapy, drug mediated minimal/non-invasive therapies are still in the main stage. However, owing to the physiological and pathological barriers, medicines always show limited accumulation and retention in disease tissue, nonnegligible side effects, and even multiple drug resistance, leading to minimized therapeutic outcomes. Increasing attention has been devoted to investigating advanced drug delivery systems and technologies to across the barriers, increase targeting capability, and improve pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD). To achieve efficient drug delivery, the key is to customize drug delivery technology to specific diseases and even individual patients for precision treatment.In this Research Topic, we focus on state-of-the-art drug delivery technologies, aiming to overcome the physiological and pathological barriers, mitigate drug accumulation and retention in disease tissue, and optimize the treatment outcomes. These technologies include decoration of biomimetic membranes on drug carriers, chemical modification of active targeting ligands, adjusting particle size of the nanocarriers, localized drug delivery with hydrogels, and ultrasound/photothermal/magnetic energy-assisted enhancement of drug penetration locally in the disease areas. We welcome researchers in this field to contribute Original Research, Review, and Mini Review papers to this Research Topic. Potential topics are described as follows:• Image-guided drug delivery;• Theranostic nanomedicines; • Microneedles for drug delivery;• Surface modification of drug delivery systems to overcome biological and pathological barriers;• Microparticles for drug delivery;• Combinatory therapeutics;• Drug delivery systems for targeted therapy;• Hydrogels for drug delivery;• Responsive materials for drug delivery;• Prodrugs.
The incidence of many diseases like tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, bacterial infections, and cardiovascular diseases have increased over the last decade. Despite the progress in invasive treatment paradigms including surgery and radiotherapy, drug mediated minimal/non-invasive therapies are still in the main stage. However, owing to the physiological and pathological barriers, medicines always show limited accumulation and retention in disease tissue, nonnegligible side effects, and even multiple drug resistance, leading to minimized therapeutic outcomes. Increasing attention has been devoted to investigating advanced drug delivery systems and technologies to across the barriers, increase targeting capability, and improve pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD). To achieve efficient drug delivery, the key is to customize drug delivery technology to specific diseases and even individual patients for precision treatment.In this Research Topic, we focus on state-of-the-art drug delivery technologies, aiming to overcome the physiological and pathological barriers, mitigate drug accumulation and retention in disease tissue, and optimize the treatment outcomes. These technologies include decoration of biomimetic membranes on drug carriers, chemical modification of active targeting ligands, adjusting particle size of the nanocarriers, localized drug delivery with hydrogels, and ultrasound/photothermal/magnetic energy-assisted enhancement of drug penetration locally in the disease areas. We welcome researchers in this field to contribute Original Research, Review, and Mini Review papers to this Research Topic. Potential topics are described as follows:• Image-guided drug delivery;• Theranostic nanomedicines; • Microneedles for drug delivery;• Surface modification of drug delivery systems to overcome biological and pathological barriers;• Microparticles for drug delivery;• Combinatory therapeutics;• Drug delivery systems for targeted therapy;• Hydrogels for drug delivery;• Responsive materials for drug delivery;• Prodrugs.