Mesoporous silica particles as drug delivery systems—the state of the art in loading methods and the recent progress in analytical techniques for monitoring these processes

Conventional administration of drugs is limited by poor water solubility, low permeabil-ity, and mediocre targeting. Safe and effective delivery of drugs and therapeutic agents remains a challenge, especially for complex therapies, such as cancer treatment, pain management, heart fail-ure medication, among several others. Thus, delivery systems designed to improve the pharmaco-kinetics of loaded molecules, and allowing controlled release and target specific delivery, have re-ceived considerable attention in recent years. The last two decades have seen a growing interest among scientists and the pharmaceutical industry in mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) as drug delivery systems (DDS). This interest is due to the unique physicochemical properties, includ-ing high loading capacity, excellent biocompatibility, and easy functionalization. In this review, we discuss the current state of the art related to the preparation of drug‐loaded MSNs and their analy-sis, focusing on the newest advancements, and highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of different methods. Finally, we provide a concise outlook for the remaining challenges in the field.