Table 1.

Ligands for orally targeted drug delivery in inflammatory bowel disease

Ligand	Delivery system	Effect	Ref.
Lectin	PLGA	Exhibited a much higher binding and selectivity to inflamed tissue compared to plain NPs	[54]
TfR antibodies	Liposomes	Exhibited mucopenetration and a 4-fold increase in uptake by inflamed colon tissues	[58]
CD98 antibodies	PEG–urocanic acid-chitosan	Approximately 24% of colonic macrophages were found to have taken up the targeted NPs within 12 h of administration	[66]
Mannose	Branched polyethylenimine	29.5% of the NPs were internalized by colon macrophages	[26]
Galactose	Trimethyl chitosan-cysteine	Cellular uptake in activated macrophages was significantly higher for Galactose trimethyl chitosan-cysteine/TPP NPs compared to trimethyl chitosan-cysteine/TPP NPs	[75]
F4/80 Ab Fab'	Poly(lactic acid)-poly(ethylene glycol) block copolymer	Improved DSS-induced colitis in vivo, and higher therapeutic efficacy was obtained using Fab'-bearing NPs compared to non-conjugated NPs	[77]
Amphiphilic hyaluronic acid	Decylamine	Budesonide loaded HANPs demonstrated higher anti-inflammatory effect on IL-8 and TNF-α secretion in inflamed cell model compared to the same dose of free drug	[78]

TfR: Transferrin receptor; PLGA: Polylactic-co-glycolic acid.