Mucoadhesive Gastroretentive Drug Delivery Systems: Challenges And Opportunities In Pharmaceutical Development

Abstract

Mucoadhesive gastroretentive drug delivery systems (MGDDSs) represent new vehicles that are used for enhancing gastric residence of the drug, thereby increasing its bioavailability and therapeutic response. These drug delivery systems exploit the adhesive interaction between the dosage form and gastrointestinal mucosa to prolong the drug's residence in the stomach. Despite the great promise associated with this system, formulation difficulties, scaling-up challenges, and inter- and intra-patient variability may represent some of the challenges facing the practical application of MGDDSs. The present review gives an overview of the mechanism, formulation strategies, and techniques of evaluation of MGDDS. In addition, the review discusses the challenges and opportunities regarding their pharmaceutical development and has pointed out their relevance to modern therapeutics.