Polymeric Materials for the Development of Dual↓Working Gastroretentive Drug Delivery Systems. A Breakthrough Approach

Abstract

Oral route is the most convenient and widely used method of drug administration, representing about 90% of all therapies used. It displays great advantages, such as being non-invasive, easy to administer (with the consequent high patient compliance) and cost-effective. However, serious drawbacks to conventional oral dosage forms are imposed by the gastrointestinal tract. Large fluctuations in drug bioavailability are found due to the influence of physiological factors such as variations in pH, high enzymatic activity and gastric emptying. This is the reason why frequent drug administrations are required to maintain the therapeutic plasma level of the drug. Gastroretentive Drug Delivery Systems (GRDDS) have emerged as an ideal approach to overcome these drawbacks. They are designed to prolong the gastric residence time (GRT) of the dosage forms in the stomach so that the time between dose administration is lengthened. Although their development has partially overcome the drawbacks associated with conventional dosage form, further work is needed on its shortcomings. The overall objective of this minireview is to highlight the opportunities from the development of dual-working polymeric materials, suitable for their use as GRDDS with improved GRT and capable of overcoming common drawbacks associated with conventional GRDDS. This could be achieved by a combination of properties such as buoyancy, swelling, porosity, and bioadhesion of the synthesized materials.