RESEALED ERYTHROCYTES: A NOVEL AND PROMISING DRUG CARRIER

Targeted drug delivery, known as smart drug delivery focuses on targeting the medicaments by increasing the residence time and the concentration of drug at the target site of the body (organs, cells, tissues) thus improving the efficacy of treatment and reducing the side effects. Various carriers that can be used in this type of delivery are liposomes, nanoshells, erythrosomes and resealed erythrocytes. In this Innovation era, resealed erythrocytes have become the choice of drug delivery system because of its excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and ability to entrap several molecules.  The promising aspect of resealed erythrocytes makes them useful as a drug carrier. They have reduced toxicity, improved pharmacokinetic properties that help in transport of active ingredient to the targeted site. This property makes them superior as compared to the conventional drug delivery system. The method of isolation involves collection of sample from the interest, then separating the plasma and finally resealing it. Erythrocytes are prepared by using methods like hypotonic dilution, hypotonic dialysis, pre-swelling, osmotic lysis, endocytosis and chemical penetration. The tremendous potential to achieve site specific drug delivery makes them as first choice of drugs in areas like enzyme therapy, cancer, hepatic tumours and antiviral. The present article includes methods, applications, evaluation, future aspects of resealed erythrocytes and highlights its applications with particular stress in areas of cancer, hepatic tumours and enzyme therapy.