Abstract

Most recently, the pulmonary delivery of nanoparticles has been utilized for the treatment of lung disease, and administration of drugs through the pulmonary route is one of the preferred routes. Rapid absorption due to large surface area as well as high vascularization and bypassing of first pass metabolism are some of the advantages of the pulmonary route. Nanotechnology has opened up new horizons for developing novel nanoparticle-based drug formulations to achieve safer delivery of drugs through the pulmonary route in the treatment of chronic diseases. The objective of this chapter is to summarize and provide an insight into the physiological efficacy aspects of the mechanism of a pulmonary drug delivery system with respect to the lung structure and characteristics based on an extensive literature survey. The chapter also focuses on formulation strategies with novel methods of formulating nanoparticles, keeping in mind the different mechanisms of particle deposition in the lungs.