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Updated: Feb 28, 2026

Manufacture and Drug Delivery Applications of Silk Nanoparticles
Published on: October 8, 2016
High drug-loading nanomedicines: progress, current status, and prospects.
Shihong Shen1, Youshen Wu1, Yongchun Liu1
1Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Education Ministry, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, People's Republic of China.
High drug-loading nanomedicines, with over 10% drug content, reduce carrier material use and potential toxicity. This review explores fabrication strategies for these advanced drug delivery systems.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Materials Science
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Nanomedicines offer advantages over free drugs, improving solubility and half-life.
- Current nanomedicines often have low drug-loading (<10%), requiring extensive carrier materials.
- Excessive carriers in intravenous nanomedicines can cause toxicity and metabolic burdens.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current research status of high drug-loading nanomedicines (>10%).
- To discuss fabrication strategies and propose optimal approaches for high drug-loading nanomedicines.
- To identify deficiencies and future directions in high drug-loading nanomedicine development.
Main Methods:
- Categorization of high drug-loading nanomedicines into four classes based on fabrication.
- Analysis of existing research on nanomedicine fabrication strategies.
- Discussion of the features and potential of different high drug-loading nanomedicine classes.
Main Results:
- High drug-loading nanomedicines are emerging as a promising alternative to conventional nanomedicines.
- Most current high drug-loading nanomedicines utilize inert porous materials as carriers.
- Carrier-free and drug-as-carrier strategies represent less explored but potentially impactful avenues.
Conclusions:
- Reducing or eliminating carrier materials in nanomedicines is crucial for improving safety and efficacy.
- Further research into diverse fabrication strategies is needed to advance high drug-loading nanomedicines.
- High drug-loading nanomedicines are poised to become significant in drug delivery systems.
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