Meta-analysis of In Vitro Drug-Release Parameters Reveals Predictable and Robust Kinetics for Redox-Responsive Drug-Conjugated Therapeutic Nanogels

Therapeutic potential and clinical applications of many pharmacologically active compounds are limited by their poor pharmacokinetics upon administration. This challenge has inspired the design of a wide range of nanoscale drug-delivery systems with different physicochemical characteristics and functionalities. Nanogels are a type of polymeric nanoparticle that are composed of dispersed networks of cross-linked polymers, and they have been successfully implemented in the drug delivery of small molecule and macromolecular therapeutics. Nanogels are often modified with stimuli-responsive cross-linkers to enable controlled release at target sites and improve the therapeutic efficiency of the formulation. We conducted a systematic review and subgroup and multivariate analysis of in vitro drug-release parameters of redox-responsive nanogels and discovered that small-molecule drugs conjugated to nanogels demonstrate diminished burst release, which may yield more predictable release profiles. This study demonstrates the potential of integration of computational analysis to deconvolute experimental data in drug delivery to improve the rational design of nanoformulations.