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Hydrogels as potential drug-delivery systems: network design and applications
Hina Shoukat1, Khuda Buksh2, Sobia Noreen1
1Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur 63100, Punjab, Pakistan.
Therapeutic Delivery
|April 1, 2021
Summary
Hydrogels are versatile, water-absorbing polymer networks. This review covers their design, stimuli-responsive swelling mechanisms, and pharmaceutical applications as intelligent drug delivery carriers.
Area of Science:
- Polymer Science
- Materials Science
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Hydrogels are 3D crosslinked polymer matrices that absorb large amounts of water.
- They are biodegradable, biocompatible, and exhibit stimuli-responsive properties (pH, temperature).
- Their ability to swell in aqueous solutions makes them suitable for biomedical applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advances in hydrogel design.
- To explain the swelling and deswelling mechanisms of hydrogels.
- To discuss the application of hydrogels as intelligent carriers in the pharmaceutical field.
Main Methods:
- Review of fundamental and recent advances in hydrogel design.
- Analysis of swelling and deswelling mechanisms.
- Exploration of various crosslinking methods.
- Discussion of hydrogel applications in drug delivery.
Main Results:
- Hydrogels can be designed with tunable properties for specific applications.
- Stimuli-responsive swelling allows for controlled drug release.
- Various crosslinking methods influence hydrogel characteristics.
- Hydrogels show significant promise in pharmaceutical and biomedical fields.
Conclusions:
- Hydrogels are advanced materials with significant potential in drug delivery.
- Their stimuli-responsive nature enables precise control over drug release kinetics.
- Continued research in hydrogel design and crosslinking will further enhance their therapeutic applications.
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