Muco-adhesion Evaluation of Polysaccharides in Simulated Physiological Fluids

Gellan gum is a microbial exopolysaccharide, water-soluble polymers secreted by microorganisms during fermentation. The biopolymer gellan gum is a relatively recent addition to the family of microbial polysaccharides that is gaining much importance in food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries due to its novel properties. The purpose of this work is to investigate the impact of physiological fluids on both the physical and chemical properties of gellan gum, and to understand the role of polymers gel in muco-adhesion and drug delivery to prolong the residence time of the drug inside the body. Muco-adhesion measurements of retention time were performed using bespoke retention apparatus to determine the retention of labelled gellan gum dose. The physiological fluids used in this work are artificial gastric juice, artificial saliva fluid, and artificial tears fluid. Results of this work show that in general the viscosity of gellan increased with high concentration and the gel formation is strong with artificial gastric juice (HCL) and weak gel formation with artificial saliva and tears but the retention time is longer with saliva and tears than with artificial gastric juice.