Vaginal mucoadhesive drug delivery systems

The vaginal mucosal cavity is a feasible, safe, very attractive site for drug delivery and highly dynamic with respect to absorption of drugs, their metabolism and their elimination. Compared with other mucosal application sites, the vagina has the following advantages as, a fall in the incidence and severity of gastrointestinal side effects, avoidance of the inconvenience caused by pain, tissue damage and risk of infections which are associated with parenteral routes, ease of self-insertion and removal of the dosage form is possible. In addition, a prolonged contact of a delivery system with the vaginal mucosa may be achieved more easily than at other absorption sites like rectum or intestinal mucosa. Mucoadhesive systems provide intimate contact between a dosage form and the vaginal mucosa, which may result in high concentration in a local area and hence high drug flux through the vaginal mucosa. The efficacy of vaginal mucoadhesive drug delivery systems (DDS) is affected by the biological environment and the properties of the polymer and the drug.

This article reviews systematically some relevant citations regarding the environment, strategies for vaginal drug delivery, evaluation, and utilization of the main polymers.

We provide a review of several vaginal mucoadhesive DDS currently in developmental stages or available in the market, immunization via the vagina and special emphasis on the challenges and difficulties associated with delivery of drugs via the vaginal route.