Natural and synthetic biomaterials for controlled drug delivery

Abstract

A wide variety of delivery systems have been developed and many products based on the drug delivery technology are commercially available. The development of controlled-release technologies accelerated new dosage form design by altering pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics profiles of given drugs, resulting in improved efficacy and safety. Various natural or synthetic polymers have been applied to make matrix, reservoir or implant forms due to the characteristics of polymers, especially ease of control for modifications of biocompatibility, biodegradation, porosity, charge, mechanical strength and hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity. Hydrogel is a hydrophilic, polymeric network capable of imbibing large amount of water and biological fluids. This review article introduces various applications of natural and synthetic polymer-based hydrogels from pharmaceutical, biomedical and bioengineering points of view.

Photothermal-modulated drug delivery and magnetic relaxation based on collagen/poly(γ-glutamic acid) hydrogel

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] By modulating the chemical or physical interactions between natural and/or synthetic polymeric materials, various types of hydrogels have been developed. [10][11][12][13][14][15] Although the chemical gelation strategy using synthetic polymers shows advantages, such as the systematic control of molecular structure and resultant hydrogel properties, toxicity issues still limit their wide adoption in clinical fields. 10,12,13 In contrast, physical hydrogels based on natural polymers exhibit excellent biocompatibility and have been used in humans for many years.…”

“…[10][11][12][13][14][15] Although the chemical gelation strategy using synthetic polymers shows advantages, such as the systematic control of molecular structure and resultant hydrogel properties, toxicity issues still limit their wide adoption in clinical fields. 10,12,13 In contrast, physical hydrogels based on natural polymers exhibit excellent biocompatibility and have been used in humans for many years. 11,12,14,15 However, few resources are available for modulation of the physicochemical properties of natural polymer-based hydrogels adapted to their target applications.…”

“…10,12,13 In contrast, physical hydrogels based on natural polymers exhibit excellent biocompatibility and have been used in humans for many years. 11,12,14,15 However, few resources are available for modulation of the physicochemical properties of natural polymer-based hydrogels adapted to their target applications. 11,14,15 Collagens are one of the major hydrogel component materials studied as drug delivery carriers and scaffolds for cell therapy.…”

Biodegradable system for drug delivery of hydrolytically labile azanucleoside drugs

“…Drug release may be driven either by diffusion of the drug from the polymeric depot, cleavage of the chemical bond between polymeric carrier and the drug, degradation of the polymeric implant, or by combination of these mechanisms [6][7][8] . Besides, controlled chemical degradation of the implant forming polymer (desirable for many in vivo applications) may proceed in whole volume, e.g., hydrazone based hydrogels 9 , from the surface only, e.g., polyanhydrides [10][11][12] , or by combination of both, e.g., polylactides 8,13 .…”

Nanobiomaterials for pharmaceutical and medical applications

“…Kim et al (2014a) provides a full review of natural and synthetic polymer-based hydrogels for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Various hydrogel forming natural polymers including fibrin, hyaluronic acid, alginate and synthetic polymers such as poly(ethylene oxide), poly (acrylic acid), poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) are well described and their medical applications are discussed.…”