Drug Delivery Systems for Intervertebral Disc

Intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration is one of the most common degenerative joint diseases that cause pain and disability in adults. It is also a major cause of chronic lower back pain. Early-stage intervention generally focuses on therapies for pain relief while surgical interventions are indicated when non-operative therapies do not achieve a desirable outcome. Since the nature of the disease is localised, nanosystems in drug delivery have a significant potential to improve therapeutic outcomes due to their ability to modify drug retention time or target specific areas due to their smaller size, facilitating penetration and diffusion within the IVD matrix. In addition, different parameters such as material formulation, production techniques, size and surface properties can be augmented to load a wide range of drugs and bioactive. The release profile of therapeutic agents is affected by conditions such as pH, temperature, degradation, drug diffusion and binding interactions. Having prolonged, controlled and targeted releases of bioactive can minimise the number of drug concentrations and injection frequencies at the affected area. This section highlights the drug delivery systems for intervertebral disc application, including nanoparticles, nanofibres, liposomes, dendrimers and micelles, which can optimally carry such bioactivity for enhanced therapeutic results.