title: Liposomal corticosteroids for the treatment of inflammatory disorders and cancer.
abstract: Glucocorticoids (GC) are known for their potent immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties. As a consequence, they have been extensively used for the treatment of many different diseases. Prolonged and/or high-dose GC therapy, however, generally comes with severe side effects, resulting not only from their very diverse mechanism(s) of action, but also from their relatively poor biodistribution. Drug delivery systems, and in particular liposomes, have been extensively used to enhance the biodistribution and the target site accumulation of GC, and to thereby improve the balance between their efficacy and their toxicity. Many different types of liposomes have been employed, and both local and systemic treatments have been evaluated. We here summarize the progress made in the use of liposomal GC formulations for the treatment of asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer, and we show that the targeted delivery of GC to pathological sites holds significant clinical potential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Burcin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ozbakir
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Pediatrics-Hematology/Oncology, Weill Cornell Medical College, 515 E71st Street, 10021 NY, USA.
authors.forename: Bart J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Crielaard
authors.affiliation: Department of Controlled Drug Delivery, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Josbert M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Metselaar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Controlled Drug Delivery, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. Electronic address: g.storm@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Storm
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutics, Utrecht Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Utrecht University, Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Experimental Molecular Imaging, RWTH - Aachen University, Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Department of Controlled Drug Delivery, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Engineering and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. Electronic address: tlammers@ukaachen.de.
authors.forename: Twan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lammers
mesh_terms: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D008081:Liposomes; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D053758:Nanoparticles; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D008081:Liposomes
keywords: Cancer; Corticosteroids; Inflammation; Liposomes; Nanomedicine