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Anti-HIV-1 nanotherapeutics: promises and challenges for the future
Authors Mahajan S, Aalinkeel, Law W, Reynolds, Nair, Sykes, Yong, Roy, Prasad PN, Schwartz S
Received 7 July 2012
Accepted for publication 28 August 2012
Published 5 October 2012 Volume 2012:7 Pages 5301—5314
DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S25871
Checked for plagiarism Yes
Review by Single anonymous peer review
Peer reviewer comments 3
Supriya D Mahajan,1 Ravikumar Aalinkeel,1 Wing-Cheung Law,2 Jessica L Reynolds,1 Bindukumar B Nair,1 Donald E Sykes,1 Ken-Tye Yong,4 Indrajit Roy,3 Paras N Prasad,2 Stanley A Schwartz1
1Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology, 2Institute for Lasers Photonics and Biophotonics, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Buffalo, NY, USA; 3Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi, India; 4School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
Abstract: The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly improved the prognosis for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, however the adverse side effects associated with prolonged HAART therapy use continue. Although systemic viral load can be undetectable, the virus remains sequestered in anatomically privileged sites within the body. Nanotechnology-based delivery systems are being developed to target the virus within different tissue compartments and are being evaluated for their safety and efficacy. The current review outlines the various nanomaterials that are becoming increasingly used in biomedical applications by virtue of their robustness, safety, multimodality, and multifunctionality. Nanotechnology can revolutionize the field of HIV medicine by not only improving diagnosis, but also by improving delivery of antiretrovirals to targeted regions in the body and by significantly enhancing the efficacy of the currently available antiretroviral medications.
Keywords: nanotherapeutics, HAART, HIV, nano, nanomedicine, drug delivery
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