Intestinal retentive delivery system for improved disease therapy

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Pharmaceutics
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Oral drug delivery systems (DDSs) offer patient compliance but face challenges with gastric transit.
• Prolonging DDS residence time in the gastrointestinal tract is crucial for targeted delivery and therapeutic efficacy.
• The hostile gastric environment limits the retention of sensitive drugs, necessitating advanced delivery strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review engineering strategies for prolonging intestinal retention of oral DDSs.
• To discuss the mechanisms and influencing factors of intestinal transit time.
• To explore the modulation of intestinal environment and systemic immunity by prolonged DDS retention.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of recent advances in DDS engineering for intestinal retention.
• Analysis of nano-, micro-, and macro-scale engineering strategies.
• Discussion of theories and evidence for intestinal retention mechanisms.

Main Results:

• Various engineering strategies at different scales can prolong intestinal retention of oral DDSs.
• Understanding intestinal transit time and its influencing factors is key to DDS design.
• Prolonged DDS retention offers potential for regulating mucosal immunity and gut microbiota.

Conclusions:

• Intestinal retentive DDSs are promising for oral delivery of susceptible drugs.
• Further research into retention mechanisms can optimize DDS performance.
• Modulating the intestinal environment via DDS offers therapeutic opportunities for gut health and immunity.