article · Applied Sciences
Hydrogels are widely applied materials in medicine due to their high capacity for absorbing aqueous solutions and biological fluids, which enhances their compatibility with biological systems. They are commonly utilised to encapsulate diverse biological agents, including biomolecules, viruses, bacteria, and mammalian cells. Formulations involve various cross-linkers, and the polymers themselves can exhibit mucoadhesive, gastro-adhesive, or stimuli-responsive properties based on their interactions with biological environments. These materials can be processed into multiple physical forms, including tablets, patches, gels, ointments, and films. Formulating hydrogels at the nanoscale as nanoparticles expands their potential uses. The focus centres on mucoadhesive hydrogel nanoparticles for biomedical applications, specifically examining the biological and physical mechanisms employed to overcome mucosal resistance in drug delivery.
Delivering medicines effectively often requires overcoming natural biological barriers such as mucosal tissue. Hydrogel materials can encapsulate sensitive biological treatments and adhere to specific tissues. Understanding how mucoadhesive hydrogel nanoparticles overcome mucosal resistance enables the development of more effective targeted delivery systems for delicate drugs, potentially improving patient outcomes and therapeutic performance across various medical conditions.
Mucoadhesive nanoparticles offer potential applications for pharmaceutical developers seeking targeted delivery routes for biomolecules and cells through mucosal surfaces. Formats could include tablets, patches, gels, and ointments. Because this work is an analytical review of formulation methods and mucosal resistance mechanisms rather than experimental testing of a specific formulation, practical deployment remains at an early conceptual stage requiring targeted product development and preclinical validation.
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Hydrogels are widely used materials which have many medical applications. Their ability to absorb aqueous solutions and biological fluids gives them innovative characterizations resulting in increased compatibility with biological activity. In this sense, they are used extensively for encapsulation of several targets such as biomolecules, viruses, bacteria, and mammalian cells. Indeed, many methods have been published which are used in hydrogel formulation and biomedical encapsulations involving several cross-linkers. This system is still rich with the potential of undiscovered features. The physicochemical properties of polymers, distinguished by their interactions with biological systems into mucoadhesive, gastro-adhesive, and stimuli responsive polymers. Hydrogel systems may be assembled as tablets, patches, gels, ointments, and films. Their potential to be co-formulated as nanoparticles extends the limits of their assembly and application. In this review, mucoadhesive nanoparticles and their importance for biomedical applications are highlighted with a focus on mechanisms of overcoming mucosal resistance.
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DOI: 10.3390/app9050825
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