Anti-HIV-1 nanotherapeutics: promises and challenges for the future

Supriya D Mahajan,¹ Ravikumar Aalinkeel,¹ Wing-Cheung Law,² Jessica L Reynolds,¹ Bindukumar B Nair,¹ Donald E Sykes,¹ Ken-Tye Yong,⁴ Indrajit Roy,³ Paras N Prasad,² Stanley A Schwartz<sup>1

1</sup>Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology, ²Institute for Lasers Photonics and Biophotonics, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Buffalo, NY, USA; ³Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, Delhi, India; ⁴School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

Abstract: The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly improved the prognosis for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, however the adverse side effects associated with prolonged HAART therapy use continue. Although systemic viral load can be undetectable, the virus remains sequestered in anatomically privileged sites within the body. Nanotechnology-based delivery systems are being developed to target the virus within different tissue compartments and are being evaluated for their safety and efficacy. The current review outlines the various nanomaterials that are becoming increasingly used in biomedical applications by virtue of their robustness, safety, multimodality, and multifunctionality. Nanotechnology can revolutionize the field of HIV medicine by not only improving diagnosis, but also by improving delivery of antiretrovirals to targeted regions in the body and by significantly enhancing the efficacy of the currently available antiretroviral medications.

Keywords: nanotherapeutics, HAART, HIV, nano, nanomedicine, drug delivery