Nanosystems Applied to HIV Infection: Prevention and Treatments

Abstract

Sexually-transmitted infections (STIs) are a global health concern worldwide as they cause acute diseases, infertility, and significant mortality. Among the bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens that can be sexually transmitted, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has caused one of the most important pandemic diseases, which is acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). 32.7 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic. Moreover, in 2019, 38 million people were living with HIV worldwide. The need to deal with this viral infection becomes more obvious, because it represents not only a problem for public health, but also a substantial economic problem. In this context, it is necessary to focus efforts on developing methods for prevention, detection and treatment of HIV infections that significantly reduce the number of newly infected people and provide a better quality of life for patients. For several decades, biomedical research has been developed allowing quick solutions through the contribution of effective tools. One of them is the use of polymers as vehicles, drug carrier agents, or as macromolecular prodrugs. Moreover, nanosystems (NSs) play an especially important role in the diagnosis, prevention, and therapy against HIV infection. The purpose of this work is to review recent research into diverse NSs as potential candidates for prevention and treatment of HIV infection. Firstly, this review highlights the advantages of using nanosized structures for these medical applications. Furthermore, we provide an overview of different types of NSs used for preventing or combating HIV infection. Then, we briefly evaluate the most recent developments associated with prevention and treatment alternatives. Additionally, the implications of using different NSs are also addressed.

Nano-Drug Delivery Systems Entrapping Natural Bioactive Compounds for Cancer: Recent Progress and Future Challenges

“…BBN can provide the high possibility of transporting bioactive compounds to the site of action, which has attracted more attention from chemists, biologists, and pharmaceutical scientists ( 163 ). The primary goal of BBN is to elevate the drug’s water solubility, stability, reduce destruction, improve bioavailability, bioactivity, biodegradability, lower toxicity, and flexibility of gel formation ( 164 ). Spray drying, electrospray, high–pressure homogenization, supercritical fluid, electrospinning, emulsion–diffusion, reverse micelle, and emulsion – droplet coalescence are just a few of the fabrication methods to engineer BBN ( 165 ).…”

Baseline and time‐updated factors in preclinical development of anionic dendrimers as successful anti‐HIV‐1 vaginal microbicides

“…A decreased drug solubility and stability, reduced drug cellular uptake and internalization, lack of adherence, mucus, and tissue penetration, and lack of protection from biological factors like metabolizing enzymes are other reasons for clinical failure (das Neves et al, 2016; Patel & Rohan, 2017). Recent progress in developing better and more promising novel strategies based on nanotechnology opens a new perspective to overcome these drawbacks and improve current systems for dealing with HIV‐1 infection (Brako et al, 2017; das Neves et al, 2016; Macchione et al, 2020; Notario‐Perez et al, 2017; Sanchez‐Rodriguez, Vacas‐Cordoba, et al, 2015).…”

“…Nanotechnology is considered an emerging, exponential, and cutting‐edge technology with enormous potential in medical applications. Its application to medicine (nanomedicine) takes advantage of that nanomaterials are similar in size to biological structures to open up a wide field of research for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases (Soares et al, 2018), such as cancer (Bahreyni et al, 2020; Khot et al, 2020), Alzheimer (Binda et al, 2020; Zhang et al, 2020) and other neurological disorders (Sim et al, 2020), HIV infection (Macchione et al, 2020; Roy et al, 2015), pulmonary diseases (Doroudian et al, 2020), and currently against COVID‐19 (Heinrich et al, 2020; Witika et al, 2020). Examples of nanomaterials used in medicine include liposomes, polymeric micelles, nanoparticles, quantum dots, nanogels, superparamagnetic iron oxide crystals, dendritic structures, carbon nanotubes, and nanoshells (Marchesan & Prato, 2013).…”

Advances and Perspectives in the Use of Carbon Nanotubes in Vaccine Development

“…36 Nanotechnology has achieved unprecedented advances throughout the history of HIV, allowing the design of functional structures to treat this infection. Several approaches have been developed to obtain an efficient vaccine against HIV, including nanovaccines based on nanocapsules, 8 Nanocrystals, 37 lipid NPs, nanocarriers, liposomes and micelles. 17,22,38 The use of biomimetic nanovaccines, can be designed with properties that directly modulate the immune system to defend against viral infections.…”