DOI: 10.36347/SAJP.2019.v08i12.001

Pages: 520-526

Nanocarriers deliver drugs to site-specific targets, allowing drugs to be delivered in specific organs or cells without affecting other unwanted one. Nanosponges are porous tiny spherical particles with a size of about a virus with an average diameter below 1µm. The Nanosponges are solid in nature and can be formulated as oral, topical, parenteral, and ocular or inhalation dosage forms. Nanosponges are prepared by solvent method, ultra-sound assisted synthesis method, hyper cross linked β- cyclodextrins method and Emulsion solvent diffusion method. Due to their biocompatibility and versatility, nanosponges have wide applications in the pharmaceutical field. For topical administration they can be effectively incorporated into topical hydrogel. For the parenteral administration the complex may be simply carried in sterile water, saline or other aqueous solutions. Nanosponges have wide clinical application in cancer, diabetes, peptides, protein and macromolecules delivery. NS can also serve as an effective carrier for enzymes, proteins, vaccine & antibodies. Nanosponges have been also used for improving the solubility and dissolution rate of poorly soluble drugs. In this review, an attempt has been made to highlight the advantages, characteristics, methods of preparation of nanosponges along with the recent clinical application of nanosponges.