{"title":"Polysaccharides against Viruses: Immunostimulatory Properties and the Delivery of Antiviral Vaccines and Drugs.","authors":"Guy-Alain Junter, Carole Karakasyan","doi":"10.1615/CritRevTherDrugCarrierSyst.2019027229","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Because viruses still represent a significant threat to human and animal health worldwide, the development of effective weapons against viral infections remains a top priority for the biopharmaceutical industry. This article reviews the dietary and pharmaceutical applications of polysaccharides (PS), first of all chitosan, in the prevention and treatment of viral diseases, focusing more particularly on solid or gel micro/nanoparticulate systems. The intrinsic antiviral activity of PS and their immunostimulatory effects, implemented in animal and human diets, are first surveyed. Then the review discusses the potential of PS-based particles as carriers of antiviral drugs and vaccines, with emphasis on the adjuvant potency of PS in solid vaccine formulations. The gap between the abundance of academic studies in this area and the lack of actual antiviral formulations dispensed to human patients is underlined, notwithstanding a number of branded products on the market.</p>","PeriodicalId":50614,"journal":{"name":"Critical Reviews in Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2020-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"7","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Critical Reviews in Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1615/CritRevTherDrugCarrierSyst.2019027229","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 7
Abstract
Because viruses still represent a significant threat to human and animal health worldwide, the development of effective weapons against viral infections remains a top priority for the biopharmaceutical industry. This article reviews the dietary and pharmaceutical applications of polysaccharides (PS), first of all chitosan, in the prevention and treatment of viral diseases, focusing more particularly on solid or gel micro/nanoparticulate systems. The intrinsic antiviral activity of PS and their immunostimulatory effects, implemented in animal and human diets, are first surveyed. Then the review discusses the potential of PS-based particles as carriers of antiviral drugs and vaccines, with emphasis on the adjuvant potency of PS in solid vaccine formulations. The gap between the abundance of academic studies in this area and the lack of actual antiviral formulations dispensed to human patients is underlined, notwithstanding a number of branded products on the market.
期刊介绍:
Therapeutic uses of a variety of drug carrier systems have significant impact on the treatment and potential cure of many chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes mellitus, psoriasis, parkinsons, Alzheimer, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV infection, infectious diseases, asthma, and drug addiction. Scientific efforts in these areas are multidisciplinary, involving the physical, biological, medical, pharmaceutical, biological materials, and engineering fields.
Articles concerning this field appear in a wide variety of journals. With the vast increase in the number of articles and the tendency to fragment science, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep abreast of the literature and to sort out and evaluate the importance and reliability of the data, especially when proprietary considerations are involved. Abstracts and noncritical articles often do not provide a sufficiently reliable basis for proper assessment of a given field without the additional perusal of the original literature. This journal bridges this gap by publishing authoritative, objective, comprehensive multidisciplinary critical review papers with emphasis on formulation and delivery systems. Both invited and contributed articles are subject to peer review.