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Natural and synthetic biomaterials for controlled drug delivery

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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.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean government (2013030789) and the Brain Korea 21 plus (BK21 plus) program (22A20130011095).

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  1. Department of Bioengineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791, Republic of Korea

    Jang Kyoung Kim, Hyung Jin Kim, Jee-Young Chung, Jong-Hwan Lee, Seok-Beom Young & Yong-Hee Kim

  2. Institute for Bioengineering and Biopharmaceutical Research, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791, Republic of Korea

    Yong-Hee Kim

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Kim, J.K., Kim, H.J., Chung, JY. et al. Natural and synthetic biomaterials for controlled drug delivery. Arch. Pharm. Res. 37, 60–68 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12272-013-0280-6

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