Frontispiece: Polysaccharide Chemistry in Drug Delivery, Endocrinology, and Vaccines

Abstract

Polysaccharides are an important element in several fields such as endocrinology, drug delivery, and vaccine. This Importance comes from their biocompatibility, safety, and cost efficiency. Moreover, the ability to chemically modify and functionalize polysaccharides with a large spectrum of functional groups expands their usability. In addition, chemical modifications of polysaccharide can alter their physicochemical properties. For these reasons, researchers have studied distinct features of modified polysaccharides to perfect their properties and better their pharmacological actions. For more details see the Review by A. Elaissar et al. on 8437 ff.

Glycopolymers for Drug Delivery: Opportunities and Challenges

“…The resulting nanoparticles are usually spherical and between 100 and 200 nm in size. 10,13 Opportunities and Limitations of Polysaccharides. While polysaccharides can be easily isolated from natural sources, which provides an element of sustainability, there are often disadvantages of using these natural materials, such as the low solubility of some polysaccharides.…”

“…As polysaccharides are water-soluble or water-swellable, the structure is frequently stabilized by noncovalent cross-linking using various cations such as Ca 2+ , Ba 2+ , and Zn 2+ or by covalent crosslinking using dihydrazides or diamines, which make use of the abundance of functional groups . To address some solubility issues, surface modification is often performed to enable processing into spherical nanoparticles. , In general, this field is now relatively mature, and many polysaccharide-based drug carriers have been prepared. The resulting nanoparticles are usually spherical and between 100 and 200 nm in size. , …”

“…To address some solubility issues, surface modification is often performed to enable processing into spherical nanoparticles. , In general, this field is now relatively mature, and many polysaccharide-based drug carriers have been prepared. The resulting nanoparticles are usually spherical and between 100 and 200 nm in size. , …”