Nanotechnology approaches for Antiretroviral drugs delivery

The development of effective drug delivery approaches for the treatment of AIDS and HIV infection is a global challenge. The advent of multidrug, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), have increased the life span of HIV-infected patients. However, it has not eradicated HIV infections, particularly in anatomically privileged sites, such as the brain, testes, gut, liver, kidney, and secondary lymphoid tissue. Several nanocarriers have been investigated in order to enhance the effective delivery of antiretroviral drugs for HIV prevention and therapy. This review focuses on the most recent and significant examples of nanotechnology-based approaches for the delivery of antiretroviral agents belonging to the classes of nucleoside-analog reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). Nanocarriers such as natural and synthetic polymeric nanoparticles, dendrimers, liposomes, and various drug conjugates have been discussed. These nanotechnology carriers are able to deliver the antiretroviral agents in a controlled and/or targeted manner thereby increasing the drug bioavailability and residence time at target sites with a considerable improvement in quality of HIV patients.