The adhesion of pharmaceutical formulations to the mucosal tissue offers the possibility of creating an intimate and prolonged contact at the site of administration. This prolonged residence time can result in enhanced absorption and, in combination with a controlled release of the drug, also improved patient compliance by reducing the frequency of administration. During the almost 30 years over which mucoadhesion has been studied, a considerable amount of knowledge has been gained, and much has been learned about the different mechanisms occurring at the formulationmucus interface and the properties that affect these mechanisms. The in-vivo performance of a dosage form not only depends on the mechanisms occurring at the interface, but also on the properties of the total mucoadhesive complex: the dosage form, the mucosa and the interface between them. A wide variety of methods are used for studying mucoadhesion; some rather similar to the in-vivo situation and some mimicking the interface alone. In this review, the mucus surface, the methods used for the study of mucoadhesion, the different mechanisms involved in mucoadhesion and theories underpinning them have been described. The complexity of mucoadhesion when trying to systemize the subject will also be discussed. The last part of the review describes the buccal, nasal, ocular, vaginal and rectal routes and provides examples of what can be achieved in-vivo when using mucoadhesive formulations.

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We have developed a new tensile strength method for assessing mucoadhesive properties of polymer gels utilising freshly excised porcine nasal mucosa and a texture analyser. In conjunction with this, we propose a method for interpreting the mucoadhesive properties that is based on reasoning about the locus of the failure of a mucoadhesive joint. This involves measuring the cohesiveness of the gel and the mucus layer, respectively, and comparing these results with those obtained from a mucoadhesion measurement. Linear polymers (sodium carboxymethylcellulose, poly(acrylic acid) and sodium hyaluronate) and a cross-linked polymer (poly(acrylic acid)) were used as model polymers in this study. It was shown that the withdrawal speed of the probe should be low, about 0.1 mm s(-1), and that a contact time of 2 min was sufficient. In the mucoadhesion measurements there was no dependence of the results on the contact time in the interval 2-20 min. The tensile work appeared to be more applicable than the fracture strength for interpreting mucoadhesive properties. Furthermore, it was concluded that the interpretation procedure offers a good basis by which to assess whether the measured tensile work reflects a cohesive failure of the gel or a true interaction of the gel with the mucus layer.

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