Mucoadhesive drug delivery systems

Abstract

Mucoadhesion is commonly defined as the adhesion between two materials, at least one of which is a mucosal surface. Over the past few decades, mucosal drug delivery has received a great deal of attention. Mucoadhesive dosage forms may be designed to enable prolonged retention at the site of application, providing a controlled rate of drug release for improved therapeutic outcome. Application of dosage forms to mucosal surfaces may be of benefit to drug molecules not amenable to the oral route, such as those that undergo acid degradation or extensive first-pass metabolism. The mucoadhesive ability of a dosage form is dependent upon a variety of factors, including the nature of the mucosal tissue and the physicochemical properties of the polymeric formulation. This review article aims to provide an overview of the various aspects of mucoadhesion, mucoadhesive materials, factors affecting mucoadhesion, evaluating methods, and finally various mucoadhesive drug delivery systems (buccal, nasal, ocular, gastro, vaginal, and rectal).

Development of Floating-Mucoadhesive Microsphere for Site Specific Release of Metronidazole

“…Mucoadhesive drug delivery systems have recently been explored for sustained release at the mucosa and increasing bioavailability of drugs. 12 Indeed, drug delivery systems with floating and mucoadhesive properties may ideally maximize drug release to the specific site, adhering to the mucous layer, in treatment of upper GIT infection. This study was aimed to develop metronidazole loaded floating-mucoadhesive microsphere for drug release at the mucous layer of upper GIT.…”

Alginate microspheres obtained by the spray drying technique as mucoadhesive carriers of ranitidine

“…Swelling ratio (SR) is an important parameter to be studied before considering mucoadhesion and in vitro drug release. Swelling is the fi rst step in the mucoadhesion process and it enables formation of bonds between the polymer and mucous membrane and consequently a spatial network with adhesive properties (17).…”

Chemical Methods for Enhancing Oral Mucosal Delivery

“…There are many examples of a similar use of mucoadhesive polymers, including chitosan which is, possibly, the most extensively described mucoadhesive. This topic has been extensively reviewed previously, for example, the article by Shaikh and coworkers which provides a general description of mucoadhesion, discusses the theories by which this phenomenon occurs, and provides a description of mucoadhesion to various mucosal tissues in the body [48]; and that by Sudhakar and coworkers which is more specific to the oral mucosa [49]. This section will, therefore, focus on more recent, novel applications of the basic mucoadhesive concept for oral mucosal delivery beyond the traditional dosage forms.…”