A Review on Nanosystem-Based Delivery of Tofacitinib for Enhanced Treatment of Autoimmune Diseases and Inflammation

Tofacitinib is the first Janus kinase inhibitor approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to manage rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It also exhibits favorable efficacy in treating other autoimmune diseases, such as alopecia areata, atopic dermatitis, vitiligo, dermatomyositis, and inflammatory skin conditions. Oral dosage forms of tofacitinib are associated with many systemic adverse effects, which can be overcome by loading tofacitinib into different nanosystems. These tofacitinib-loaded nanosystems can be developed for injections to target the desired tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis lesions and inflamed joints. They can also be formulated as topical formulations to avoid systemic adverse effects and improve patient compliance. Due to the increasing interest in tofacitinib-loaded nanosystem development in recent years, this review summarizes and evaluates the advantages, limitations, and potential applications of various nanosystems of tofacitinib, including liposomes, nanoemulsions, solid lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, polymeric micelles, and hybrid systems. We also discuss the future strategy of tofacitinib formulation development to enhance the treatment of different autoimmune diseases and inflammation.