title: Advances in lipid-based drug delivery: enhancing efficiency for hydrophobic drugs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many drug candidates with high therapeutic efficacy have low water solubility, which limits the administration and transport across physiological barriers, for example, the tumor tissue barrier. Therefore, strategies are needed to permeabilize the physiological barriers safely so that hydrophobic drugs may be delivered efficiently.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review focuses on prospects for therapeutic application of lipid-based drug delivery carriers that increase hydrophobic drugs to improve their solubility, bioavailability, drug release, targeting and absorption. Moreover, novel techniques to prepare for lipid-based drug delivery to extend pharmaceuticals with poor bioavailability such as surface modifications of lipid-based drug delivery are presented. Industrial developments of several drug candidates employing these strategies are discussed, as well as applications and clinical trials.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, hydrophobic drugs can be encapsulated in the lipid-based drug delivery systems, represent a relatively safe and promising strategy to extend drug retention, lengthen the lifetime in the circulation, and allow active targeting to specific tissues and controllable drug release in the desirable sites. However, there are still noticeable gaps that need to be filled before the theoretical advantage of these formulations may truly be realized such as investigation on the use of lipid-based drug delivery for administration routes. This research may provide further interest within the area of lipid-based systems, both in industry and in the clinic.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Eighth People's Hospital, Department of Pharmaceutics , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: JunJie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Shing Shun
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Tony To
authors.forename: HuaFu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001682:Biological Availability; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D008055:Lipids
keywords: bioavailability; biodegradability; hydrophobic drugs; lipid-based drug delivery; targeting