20 - Responsive cyclodextrins as polymeric carriers for drug delivery applications

Abstract

Cyclodextrins are well accepted as pharmaceutical excipients due to their capability of improving the solubility and bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs. Cyclodextrins gained an important role in the pharmaceutical industry because of their amphiphilic nature and excellent biocompatibility. The structural and pharmaceutical properties of native cyclodextrins have been summarized in this chapter. The efficiency and applicability of cyclodextrins can be further improved if they are incorporated into polymeric carrier systems. Stimuli-responsive biopolymers have attracted much research attention for their wide applications in the field of novel drug delivery systems. Stimuli responsive, also termed as “environmental sensitive,” “intelligent,” or “smart,” these carriers are capable of returning to their initial state as soon as the trigger is removed. Cyclodextrins may be functionalized by glycol conjugation, cross-linking, and polymerization for stimuli-responsive properties. Among all the polymeric nanocarriers studied, supramolecular cyclodextrins and their derivatives as nanocarriers for drug delivery applications have shown high potential as smart biomaterials in delivering active agents. This chapter focuses on cyclodextrins and their derivatives as stimuli-responsive polymeric nanocarriers for drug delivery and biomedical applications. The responsive cyclodextrins are able to control drug release in response to either exogenous stimuli such as temperature, light intensity, and magnetic field or endogenous stimuli like pH, enzyme concentration, and oxidation-reduction potential. Dual-stimuli-responsive properties of cyclodextrins are reported by researchers in the field of drug delivery. In this view, the present chapter outlines the dual-responsive cyclodextrin-based various drug delivery systems.