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Published on: February 13, 2016
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Stimuli-Responsive Capsule Membranes for Controlled Release in Pharmaceutical Applications
Zhuang Liu, Xiao-Jie Ju, Wei Wang
1China; Medical College, China Three Gorges University, Yichang, Hubei, 443002, China.
Current Pharmaceutical Design
|October 28, 2016
Summary
Stimuli-responsive capsules offer controlled drug release, improving efficacy and reducing side effects. Future research aims to enhance biocompatibility and scalability for wider biomedical applications.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Biomedical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Conventional drug delivery exhibits fluctuating blood concentrations, impacting therapeutic efficacy and safety.
- Maintaining optimal drug levels requires strict patient adherence to dosing schedules.
- Drug toxicity and ineffectiveness are linked to concentration variability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review advancements in stimuli-responsive capsule membranes for controlled pharmaceutical release.
- To highlight capsule designs enabling on/off and burst release functionalities.
- To discuss the potential of smart drug delivery systems in pharmaceutical applications.
Main Methods:
- Exploration of stimuli-responsive capsule membranes with smart gating or hydrogel-based shells.
- Utilizing environmental triggers (temperature, pH, glucose, light, etc.) for drug release.
- Reviewing capsule architectures designed for specific release profiles (on/off, burst).
Main Results:
- Stimuli-responsive capsules provide controllable inner volumes for precise drug dosing.
- Smart membranes enable drug release triggered by specific environmental stimuli.
- Two main types of stimuli-responsive capsule membranes with distinct release behaviors were identified.
Conclusions:
- Smart capsules offer precise control over drug release timing and location.
- Challenges remain in biocompatibility, biodegradability, and scalable fabrication.
- Future work should focus on improving these aspects and developing multi-stimuli-responsive systems for advanced in vivo applications.
Keywords:
Stimuli-responsive membranescapsule membranescontrolled releasedrug deliverysensing membranessmart membranesMore Related Videos
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