Title:Nanomedicine “New Food for an Old Mouth”: Novel Approaches for the
Treatment of COVID-19
Volume: 13
Issue: 2
Author(s): Somayeh Handali, Ismaeil Haririan, Mohammad Vaziri and Farid Abedin Dorkoosh*
Affiliation:
- Medical Biomaterials Research Center (MBRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Keywords:
COVID-19, coronavirus, nanomedicine, nanocarrier, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp).
Abstract: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by coronavirus. Developing
specific drugs for inhibiting replication and viral entry is crucial. Several clinical trial studies
are underway to evaluate the efficacy of anti-viral drugs for COVID-19 patients. Nanomedicine
formulations can present a novel strategy for targeting the virus life cycle. Nano-drug delivery systems
can modify the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics properties of anti-viral drugs and reduce
their adverse effects. Moreover, nanocarriers can directly exhibit anti-viral effects. A number
of nanocarriers have been studied for this purpose, including liposomes, dendrimers, exosomes and
decoy nanoparticles (NPs). Among them, decoy NPs have been considered more as nanodecoys can
efficiently protect host cells from the infection of SARS-CoV-2. The aim of this review article is to
highlight the probable nanomedicine therapeutic strategies to develop anti-viral drug delivery systems
for the treatment of COVID-19.