Natural Polymers and Their Delivery Applications (Essay Sample)

Natural polymers and their delivery applications
Author:
Institution:
Natural Polymers and their delivery applications
In recent years there have been vital developments in pharmaceutics of designed drugs. Mucilage and gums are widely used natural materials for novel and conventional dosage forms. Their advantages over synthetic ones being that, they are chemically stable, safe, cheaper, widely available and biodegradable. They can also be modified in different ways to obtain tailor-made materials for drug delivery systems. (Reis, Neves & Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining 2008).
Various polymers are useful as drug retarding agents. Characteristically, hydrophilic polymers are the most suitable for retarding drug release and there is great possibility of using these polymers in sustained drug delivery. This paper mentions some plant-derived polymers, used as release retardant in sustained or controlled release drug delivery systems. (Reis, Neves & Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining 2008).
The common natural polymers include carrageenan 2, chitosan 1, acacia; ispaghula, gelatin, agar, guar gum, shellac gum and karaya 3.These are widely applied as adjuvant, adhesives, emulsifying agents, in matrix controlled system. They are also used as film coating agents, vehicles in viscous liquid preparations like oral solutions, viscosity modifiers, tablet disintegrants, surfactants, gelling agents, suspending agents, bio-adhesives, binders, stabilizers as well as solubilizers.
Sustained drug delivery systems have adequately improved the drug delivery in terms of efficacy. Drug-release-retarding polymers are vital in the sustained release drug delivery system. Besides, some polymers are used in novel drug delivery systems design like the region-specific ones, which can target the gastrointestinal system. (Jenkins & Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining, 2007).
In conclusion, we see natural polymers like gelatin, being applied widely as therapeutic drug carriers. The efficiency of delivery as well as release of active ingredient is influenced by, drug loading, polymer type, particle size, molecular weight, drug-polymer int...