Critical Reviews™ in Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems, 30(1), 1-49 (2013) 0743-4863/13/$35.00 ©2013 Begell House, Inc. www.begellhouse.com 1 Nanomedicines for Treatment of Viral Diseases Rujuta Mehendale 1 , Medha Joshi 2 , & Vandana Patravale 1* 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology, Institute of Chemical Technol- ogy, Nathalal Parekh Marg, Matunga, Mumbai-400019, Maharashtra, India; 2 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chicago College of Pharmacy, Midwestern University, 555 31 st Street, Downers Grove, IL, USA, 60515 *Corresponding author: Vandana B. Patravale , Professor of Pharmaceutics, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, Nathalal Parekh Marg, Matunga, Mumbai-400019, Maharashtra, India, Phone: +91-22-3361 2217, Fax: +91-22-3361 1020; e-mail: vb.patravale@ictmumbai.edu.in; vbp_muict@yahoo.co.in ABSTRACT Viral diseases affect millions of people worldwide, with a high impact on hu- man health and socioeconomic development. More than 40 million people are affected with human immunodeiciency virus (HIV) alone. This review discusses the various nanocarriers (e.g., liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles, inorganic nanoparticles, etc.) based on approaches that have been applied in the literature and in the clinic to com- bat the different challenges faced by the antiviral therapy. The recent developments in smart delivery technologies (e.g., immunoliposomes) targeting delivery to the lectin receptors and cell-penetrating peptides for site-speciic delivery of antiviral agents at the viral reservoirs are also been discussed. KEY WORDS: nanocarriers, viral diseases, nanoparticles, targated drug delivery I. INTRODUCTION Viral diseases have a huge impact, not only on global healthcare but also on socio- economic development. 1 Many serious diseases, such as acquired immunodeiciency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis B and C, H1N1 inluenza, H5N1 inluenza, avian in- luenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are caused by viruses. An overview of various viral infections affecting humans is summarized in Table 1. An economic and effective way of combating the viral diseases is through vaccination. The vaccines against major viral diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are still in their infancy and have a limited prospect for success: millions are already chronically infected with these viruses. Because of the challenges faced on the vac- cination front, rational use of drugs in management of viral diseases seems to be the ideal strategy. Viral infections pose signiicant global health challenges, especially in view of the fact that the emergence of resistant viral strains and the adverse side ef- fects associated with prolonged use of antivirals continue to slow the application of