Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Vehicles for People with Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a life-shortening, genetic disease that affects approximately 145,000 people worldwide. CF causes a dehydrated mucus layer in the lungs, leading to damaging infection and inflammation that eventually result in death. Nanoparticles (NPs), drug delivery vehicles intended for inhalation, have become a recent source of interest for treating CF and CF-related conditions, and many formulations have been created thus far. This paper is intended to provide an overview of CF and the effect it has on the lungs, the barriers in using NP drug delivery vehicles for treatment, and three common material class choices for these NP formulations: metals, polymers, and lipids. The materials to be discussed include gold, silver, and iron oxide metallic NPs; polyethylene glycol, chitosan, poly lactic-co-glycolic acid, and alginate polymeric NPs; and lipid-based NPs. The novelty of this review comes from a less specific focus on nanoparticle examples, with the focus instead being on the general theory behind material function, why or how a material might be used, and how it may be preferable to other materials used in treating CF. Finally, this paper ends with a short discussion of the two FDA-approved NPs for treatment of CF-related conditions and a recommendation for the future usage of NPs in people with Cystic Fibrosis (pwCF).