Advances in Xanthan Gum-Based Systems for the Delivery of Therapeutic Agents

Abstract

In the last three decades, polymers have contributed significantly to the improvement of drug delivery technologies by enabling the controlled and sustained release of therapeutic agents, versatility in designing different delivery systems, and feasibility of encapsulation of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules. Both natural and synthetic polymers have been explored for the delivery of various therapeutic agents. However, due to the disadvantages of synthetic polymers, such as lack of intrinsic biocompatibility and bioactivity, hydrophobicity, and expensive and complex procedure of synthesis, there is a move toward the use of naturally occurring polymers. The biopolymers are generally derived from either plants or microorganisms and have shown a wide range of applications in drug administration due to their hydrophilic nature, biodegradability, biocompatibility, no or low toxicity, abundance, and readily available, ease of chemical modification, etc. This review describes the applications of a biopolymer, xanthan gum (XG), in the delivery of various therapeutic agents such as drugs, genetic materials, proteins, and peptides. XG is a high molecular weight, microbial heteropolysaccharide and is produced as a fermented product of Gram-negative bacteria, Xanthomonas campestris. Traditionally, it has been used as a thickener in liquid formulations and an emulsion stabiliser. XG has several favourable properties for designing various forms of drug delivery systems. Furthermore, the structure of XG can be easily modified using different temperature and pH conditions. Therefore, XG and its derivatives have been explored for various applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.

Exopolysaccharides Producing Bacteria: A Review

“…Xanthomonas genomes comprise different mobile genetic elements, such as transposons, insertion sequence, plasmids, and genomic islands associated with virulence factors, genetic variations, and genome structure [311]. Xanthan is synthesized through a Wzy-dependent pathway, which comprises several steps including the synthesis of exopolysaccharide precursors (nucleotide sugars GDP-mannose, UDP-glucose, and UDP-glucuronic acid), repeat-unit assembly on a lipid Xanthan is a biopolymer that has found application in food, petroleum, pharmaceutical, mining, textile, cosmetics, and other industries [3,[294][295][296][297][298][315][316][317][318][319]. This polymer is environmentally friendly and non-toxic and, therefore, used in the food industry for the last 50 years as a stabilizer and thickener.…”

Diversity of Bioinspired Hydrogels: From Structure to Applications

“…In aqueous solutions, XG displays high viscosity even at low concentrations [57], making this polysaccharide a valuable thickening or stabilizing agent of high interest in food, agriculture, drilling fluids (coil industry), paint, detergents, cosmetic and pharmaceutic products (creams, pastes), etc. [168,181,182].…”

Colon Delivery of Nutraceutical Ingredients by Food-Grade Polymeric Systems: An Overview of Technological Characterization and Biological Evaluation

“…They exhibit high structural heterogeneity, so molecules have significant differences in their properties, including linear chain length, branching characteristics and molecular weight, etc. [67][68][69][70][71].…”

“…The natural form of this polymer has an L-glyceryl substituent on the third carbon of the 3-linked D-Glc residue and, in some repeated units, an acetyl group on the anomeric carbon of the same residue. By heat treatment with alkali, these residues are removed and the commercial form is obtained [68,70,71].…”

“…The natural form of this polymer has an L-glyceryl substituent on the third carbon of the 3-linked D-Glc residue and, in some repeated units, an acetyl group on the anomeric carbon of the same residue. By heat treatment with alkali, these residues are removed and the commercial form is obtained [68,70,71]. Bhosale et al developed a pH-sensitive drug delivery system using gellan gum conjugated to polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA-g-GG) by a radical process.…”