Pharmaceutical applications of biocompatible polymer blends containing sodium alginate

Abstract

Biocompatible polymer blends, such as alginate blends, have a\ud widespread use in pharmaceutical and medical applications due to their specific\ud features, such as biodegradation, adhesiveness, and thermo- and pH sensitivity\ud and that can be obtained from the mixture composition. In this work, the use of\ud alginate blends was tested in a novel production methodology of therapeutic\ud dosage forms based on polymeric chain reticulation phenomena induced by\ud exposure to bivalent ions. Two kinds of sodium alginate were used to obtain gel\ud films (structured films) in blends with Pluronic F127®. The blends were\ud considered for applications in gel paving of drug-eluting stents. Sodium alginate\ud was also used in shell–core particle production (structured particles) to obtain\ud shell-barrier reducing drug release in the preparative steps (see wash operations).\ud Both structures, films and particles, were obtained using Cu2+ and Ca2+ ions,\ud respectively. Film/shell barrier properties were tested in dissolution experiments\ud using vitamin B12 as an active molecule model. Experimental work demonstrated\ud that the alginate composition is a crucial point in defining reticulated structures

Direct Determination of Chitosan–Mucin Interactions Using a Single-Molecule Strategy: Comparison to Alginate–Mucin Interactions

“…Alginate is a linear copolymer composed of (1-4)-linked β-D-mannuronate (M) and α-L-guluronate (G) residues arranged either as M, G or MG blocks. Alginate is negatively charged at physiological pH and whilst it is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations [47,48] it generally performs relatively poorly in terms of mucoadhesion when compared to chitosan [26]. However, alginates are clearly capable of interacting with mucins [49] and have the potential to modify the functional properties of mucus systems [50][51][52].…”

Reactive Inkjet Printing of Nylon Materials for Additive Manufacturing Applications

“…15 Alternatively, one of the most popular approaches to obtain functional soft structures takes advantage of the combination of different materials by using hydrogel blends. 16 In this manner, tunable mechanical and degradation properties can be achieved through the integration of multiple solidification/gelling mechanisms and multi-step crosslinking systems. [17][18][19] A notable application is represented by the work of Xu et al, 20,21 who developed a gel system using gelatin, sodium alginate, and fibrinogen, characterized by a double crosslinking mechanism (alginate with bivalent ions and fibrinogen with thrombin).…”

Liposoluble vitamin encapsulation in shell–core microparticles produced by ultrasonic atomization and microwave stabilization

“…Plain beads, coated beads, and microcapsules based on alginate have been used to entrap molecules such as melatonin, heparin, hemoglobin, vaccines, and vitamins. Moreover its bioadhesive properties are useful when formulating potential delivery vehicles for drugs to mucosal tissues, such as the GI tract (Dalmoro, Barba, Lamberti, Grassi, & d'Amore, 2012).…”