Table 1.

Examples of nanoparticle application for intraocular drug delivery

Adm. route	DDS	Carrier composition	Cargo	Effect
Topical	Polymeric nanoparticles [40]	PLGA and PEG	Dorzolamide	• 2x increase in therapeutic duration • 35% more effect in intraocular pressure (IOP) decrease
	Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) [41]	Stearic acid, Epikuron™ 200, sodium taurocholate	Trobramycin	• Higher drug conc. in all ocular tissues • Greater bactericidal activity against intracellular Pseudomonas aeruginosa
	Solubilising nanoparticles [23]	γ-Cyclodextrin	Dexamethasone, dorzolamide	• Enhanced residence time on the eye surface • Enhanced solubility in the tear fluid • Up to about tenfold enhancement in bioavailability
	Niosomes [42]	Span 60, cholesterol, ethanol	Prednisolone sodium phosphate	• Ocular bioavailability 1.75x greater • Healing time 2x faster • Significantly less IOP elevation as side effect
	Liposomes [43]	Soybean phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol	Timolol maleate	• Longer retention time on corneal surface • Faster reduction in IOP
Intravitreal	Polymeric nanoparticles [19]	Light-sensitive polymers	Nintedanib (BIBF1120)	• Carrier can release cargo up to 30 weeks post-intravitreal injection • Release can be controlled by irradiation
	SLN [44]	Precirol® ATO5, DOTAP, Tween® 80, protamine, dextran	Human Rs1 gene	• Higher transfection level in photoreceptors • Significant structural improvement in retinal layer
	Niosomes [45]	Cationic lipid, squalene, polysorbate 80	pCMSEGFP plasmid	• Successfully transfected HEK-293 and ARPE-19 cells without affecting viability
	Liposomes [46]	Cholesterol derivatives, PEG, l-α-phosphatidylcholine	Doxorubicin	• Significantly improve drug stability • More drug cargo delivered to retina
Systemic	Polymeric nanoparticles [47]	PLGA, tripeptide adhesion motif Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)	Flt23k plasmids	• RGD modified nanoparticles localised in choroidal neovascularization (CNV) lesions • No secondary CNV lesions in treated mice • Vision function is restored exclusively after treatment
	SLN [41]	Stearic acid, Epikuron™ 200, sodium taurocholate	Trobramycin	• Using SLN, drug concentration after 1–3 h from intravenous administration is 10 x higher than those without SLN
	Liposomes [48]	Soybean phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, glutathione-PEG	Methylprednisolone hemisuccinate	• Improved efficacy in a model of ocular inflammation • Protection from experimental autoimmune uveitis
	Liposomes [9]	Soybean phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol, glutathione-PEG	Cyclic nucleotide analogue CN03	• Neuroprotection of photoreceptors in three different animal models for retinal degeneration • Preservation of cone photoreceptor function