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Polysaccharides in Drug Delivery

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2020) | Viewed by 4896

Special Issue Editors

Department of Pharmacy-Drug Sciences, Università degli Studi di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Department of Pharmacy—Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
Interests: cyclodextrin; polymer and lipid based micro-nanoparticles; oral drug delivery systems; mucoadhesive drug delivery systems; vesical drug delivery systems; SLN by microfluidics; 3D printing; pediatric formulations

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polysaccharides embrace a wide class of substances that have attracted considerable attention owing to their desirable physicochemical and biological properties, such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity, as well as non-antigenicity in the fields of nanotechnology, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. Moreover, they possess unique features that can facilitate mucoadhesion, enhanced targeting, and reduced inflammatory response. Polysaccharides are versatile excipients for controlled drug delivery systems. Polymers based on chitosan, alginate, dextran, hyaluronic acid, their derivates, and, moreover, oligosaccharides as cyclodextrins, have been successfully used as biomaterials for the production of nanosystems, surface coating agents, hydrogels, bioconjugates or complexes, and improvement of the toxicity profile and biopharmaceutical properties of drugs. In addition, some polysaccharides are bioactive (i.e., plasma expander dextran, glycosaminiglycans, vaccines). This Special Issue aims to explore the more recent advances in the design of oligo- and poly-saccharides, drug-polymer conjugates, and micro- and nano-carriers dealing with the topics of for drug delivery.

Dr. Valentino Laquintana
Prof. Angela Assunta Lopedota
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Polysaccharides
  • Drug delivery systems
  • Micro- and nano-particles
  • Mucoadhesive polymers
  • Polymeric pro-drugs
  • Cyclodextrins
  • Bioconjugates
  • Hydrogels

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 8866 KiB  
Article
Non-Cytotoxic Agarose/Hydroxyapatite Composite Scaffolds for Drug Release
by Markus Witzler, Patrick Frank Ottensmeyer, Martin Gericke, Thomas Heinze, Edda Tobiasch and Margit Schulze
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(14), 3565; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20143565 - 21 Jul 2019
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4520
Abstract
Healing of large bone defects requires implants or scaffolds that provide structural guidance for cell growth, differentiation, and vascularization. In the present work, an agarose-hydroxyapatite composite scaffold was developed that acts not only as a 3D matrix, but also as a release system. [...] Read more.
Healing of large bone defects requires implants or scaffolds that provide structural guidance for cell growth, differentiation, and vascularization. In the present work, an agarose-hydroxyapatite composite scaffold was developed that acts not only as a 3D matrix, but also as a release system. Hydroxyapatite (HA) was incorporated into the agarose gels in situ in various ratios by a simple procedure consisting of precipitation, cooling, washing, and drying. The resulting gels were characterized regarding composition, porosity, mechanical properties, and biocompatibility. A pure phase of carbonated HA was identified in the scaffolds, which had pore sizes of up to several hundred micrometers. Mechanical testing revealed elastic moduli of up to 2.8 MPa for lyophilized composites. MTT testing on Lw35human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) and osteosarcoma MG-63 cells proved the biocompatibility of the scaffolds. Furthermore, scaffolds were loaded with model drug compounds for guided hMSC differentiation. Different release kinetic models were evaluated for adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) and suramin, and data showed a sustained release behavior over four days. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polysaccharides in Drug Delivery)
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