High adhesive nanofibers membrane to oral delivery of drugs

Abstract

Mucosas (nasal, rectal, ocular, vaginal and buccal) are considered potential sites for administration of drugs with several advantages over oral administration; however, they present great challenges for the administration of drugs. One of these challenges, which require great efforts from the scientific community, is the low efficiency of adhesive systems, the low efficiency of the controlled drug release and the undesirable "burst release" effect. Many allegedly mucoadhesive polymers were tested in adhesive systems for drug release in order to increase interaction and duration of contact between the polymer containing the drug and the mucosa´s surface. The use of electrospinning nanofiber membranes as carriers for pharmaceutical agents, has shown potential applications. In these systems, the drug can be conveniently incorporated into the polymer and the profile of drug release can be projected by modulation of the morphology, porosity and the membrane composition of nanofibers. Currently new drugs to treat various diseases could be incorporated, such as drugs for in situ treatment of dental diseases, as well as antibiotics, hormones, proteins and peptides that would be degraded in the gastrointestinal tract, bringing a more efficient treatment with less side effects to patients. In this project it is proposed to develop a system for oral delivery of drugs, based on the electrospinning nanofiber membranes from solutions of highly mucoadhesive polymers. It is believed that the structure formed by three-dimensional network of nanofibers, with its high surface area, will increase the interactions between the adhesive membrane and mucosa improving its performance as a device for controlled release. (AU)