pH-Responsive Polymeric Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Systems

Micelles are excellent devices to be used as controlled drug delivery systems since they exhibit the ability to protect the drug or encapsulated substance from the routes of degradation until they reach the site of action: moreover, they can pass through biological barriers and reach intracellular compartments. In addition, when a drug is administered and released from the dosage form, the kinetic behavior of the drug depends largely on their chemical structure. However, when the drug is immersed at the core of a NP, the physicochemical properties that actually affect the distribution of the drug in the body are those from the latter. As a result, this approach controls drug release, diminishing side effects and increasing therapeutic rates. In the present work novel smart micelles have been prepared and tested as drug delivery systems.