Viral and Nonviral Drug Delivery Systems for Medical Health Care: An Overview

Abstract

The twentieth century had witnessed a significant revolution in the field of therapeutic medicines and drug delivery system. Numerous compounds with physiological significance including hormones, probiotics, provitamins, and other biological molecules were synthesized and discovered through modern tools and techniques. In this phase, special interest was also focused on virus and other pathogenic microbes as potential vector for conveyance of these compounds to their desired destination. Viruses such as retroviral vectors, adenoviral vectors and cationic lipid-based retroviral vectors, and adenoviral vectors and cationic lipid-based upon mutated and when used with appropriate precision have been successful against muscular, cardiovascular, ophthalmologic, hematologic, and infectious diseases. However, incidences of revert mutation and the gain of function by virulent genes have hindered the applications of viruses severely. The introduction of non-viral vector systems was able to overcome this limitation up to a great extent. Non-viral delivery cascades include a wide range of transport mechanisms ranging from micro- and nano-sized particles to complex polymeric structures. While various factors are required to be taken into account for the selection of vectors like compatibility, pathogenicity to humans, and the availability of procedures for large-scale production, recent advances in vector engineering and its delivery, along with its biosafety features and immunotherapeutic roles, raise new hopes for viruses to be used as vector again. In this chapter, we have an elaborate discussion of various viral and non-viral delivery systems, what they are, their applications, as well as the cutting-edge research, which are being conducted on them to augment the current medicinal approaches. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.