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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Models and Methods to Evaluate Transport of Drug Delivery Systems Across Cellular Barriers
Published on: October 17, 2013
Starch/microcrystalline cellulose hybrid gels as gastric-floating drug delivery systems
Jinchuan Xu1, Xiaoyan Tan2, Ling Chen1
1Ministry of Education Engineering Research Center of Starch & Protein Processing, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory for Green Processing of Natural Products and Product Safety, School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510640, China.
Abstract:
We report hybrid gels based on a high-amylose starch and microcrystalline cellulose with demonstrated properties for gastric-floating drug delivery purposes. The starch/cellulose gels were prepared by ionic liquid dissolution and regeneration, resulting in a continuous surface and a porous interior and a type-II crystalline structure of cellulose. These polysaccharide gels displayed satisfactory elasticity (0.88), recovery (0.26-0.36) and equilibrium swelling (1013-1369%). The hybrid gels were loaded with ranitidine hydrochloride as a model drug and subsequently, low-density starch/cellulose tablets were fabricated by vacuum-freeze-drying. In vitro tests in a simulated gastric fluid indicate that the 3:7 (wt./wt.) starch/cellulose system could maintain the buoyancy for up to 24 h with a release of 45.87% for the first 1 h and a sustained release for up to 10 h. Therefore, our results have demonstrated the excellent gastric-floating ability and sustainable drug release behavior of the starch/cellulose hybrid gels.
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