A Review: Nasopulmonary Drug Delivery System

Nasal drug delivery has gained significant attention as a convenient, effective, and promising route for systemic drug administration. This approach is favored because of the nasal cavity’s rich blood supply, large surface area, and its ability to bypass hepatic first-pass metabolism, intestinal metabolism, and degradation in the gastrointestinal tract. The present review aims to present an overview of the naso-pulmonary drug delivery system, including its advantages and disadvantages, mechanisms of drug absorption, anatomical features of the nasal cavity and respiratory tract, factors influencing nasal absorption, various dosage forms, innovative formulations, and recent developments in nasal drug delivery technologies. The intranasal route has emerged as one of the most extensively explored areas in pharmaceutical research for the delivery of polar compounds, hormones, vaccines, proteins, and peptides. Owing to the favorable properties of the nasal mucosa for targeted delivery, various therapeutic agents can be administered intranasally to achieve local, systemic, and central nervous system (CNS) effects. Currently, naso-pulmonary drug delivery systems (NPDS) are being widely studied for direct drug transport to the brain and CNS to achieve rapid therapeutic responses.