Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, novel drug delivery systems have proven very adept at delivering therapeutic molecules with site-specific and localized effects. Novel gels are capable of controlled and sustained release of loaded therapeutic molecules.  This Special Issue will cover all the latest research and develop new ideas and research directions. The issue will cover all types of gels with their drug release potentials and applications. Smart gels and biodegradable,and erodable, hydrogels can be developed which respond to biological and external stimuli, such as temperature, pH, chemical, enzymes, electrical, light, antigens, etc. Technically all the routes can be exploited for the bioactive delivery via gel-based drug delivery system viz. hydrogels and emulgels as vaginal drug delivery systems, in situ gels as nasal drug delivery systems, cubic phase gels drug delivery systems, ocular, topical. The bioadhesive films formed from organic–inorganic hybrid gels possessed very good qualities for application on the skin and may provide a promising formulation for TDDS, especially when the patient acceptability from an aesthetic perspective of the dosage form is a prime consideration. Furthermore, the possibility of using various routes such as oral, buccal, transdermal, intravenous, and gene delivery further diversify their applications in the biomedical field. The use of natural gums/polymers to possess floating or mucoadhesive properties in the gastric system for the benefit of increasing gastric resident time and to improve therapeutic efficacy, particularly those drugs are having narrow therapeutic index. Bigel system usually result from mixing a hydrogel and an organogel are exploited for their composition and unique structure which confer promising drug delivery attributes, such as mucoadhesion, the ability to control drug release, and the possibility of including both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs in the same system. Research in other fields, such as cosmetics and food technology, has also served as useful tools for the manufacture of, and insight into, drug delivery bigels. Buccal and vaginal bigels have emerged as alternative options, thus increasing the potential applications of these dosage forms as drug delivery systems. Oleogels are another gel-based drug delivery system that are oil-structured that are made from a gelling agent added to an edible oil. Fluid gel is a suspension of gel particles and widely used in food industry but a comprehensive analysis of fluid gel applications as drug delivery systems and formulations with specific functions will provide insight into their potential pharmaceutical applications and, provide new strategies for developing feasible pharmaceuticals for specific needs. Aerogel, as a typical porous material, has the characteristics of extremely low density, low thermal conductivity, high specific surface area and high porosity. aerogel can be used as a drug carrier and has great development potential in the field of biomedicine. novel organogel based lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC) were prepared and investigated as controlled release matrices.

Prof. Dr. Suresh P. Vyas
Prof. Dr. Jean-Michel Guenet
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biodegradable
• bioadhesive
• organogel
• smart gel
• modified release