Functionally Engineered Nanosized Particles in Pharmaceutics: Improved Oral Delivery of Poorly Water-soluble Drugs

The development of drug nanoparticles has attracted substantial attention because of their potential to improve the dissolution rate and oral availability of poorly water-soluble drugs. This review summarizes the recent articles that discussed nanoparticle-based oral drug delivery systems. The preparation methods were categorized as top-down and bottom-up methods, which are common methods for preparing drug nanoparticles. In addition, methods of handling drug nanoparticles (e.g., one-step preparation of nanocomposites which are microparticles containing drug nanoparticles) were introduced for the effective preservation of drug nanoparticles. The carrier-based preparation of drug nanoparticles was also introduced as a potentially promising oral drug delivery system.