Inulin and Its Application in Drug Delivery.

Franklin Afinjuomo,Souha H Youssef,Sanjay Garg,Sadikalmahdi Abdella,Yunmei Song

doi:10.3390/ph14090855

Franklin Afinjuomo, Souha H Youssef + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ph14090855

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Journal: Pharmaceuticals	Publication Date: Aug 26, 2021
Citations: 33	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of South Australia

Abstract

Inulin’s unique and flexible structure, stabilization/protective effects, and organ targeting ability make it an excellent drug delivery carrier compared to other biodegradable polysaccharides. The three hydroxyl groups attached to each fructose unit serve as an anchor for chemical modification. This, in turn, helps in increasing bioavailability, improving cellular uptake, and achieving targeted, sustained, and controlled release of drugs and biomolecules. This review focuses on the various types of inulin drug delivery systems such as hydrogel, conjugates, nanoparticles, microparticles, micelles, liposomes, complexes, prodrugs, and solid dispersion. The preparation and applications of the different inulin drug delivery systems are further discussed. This work highlights the fact that modification of inulin allows the use of this polymer as multifunctional scaffolds for different drug delivery systems.

Highlights

The use of natural polysaccharides for controlled drug delivery systems is drawing significant attention, as synthetics polymers used for this purpose are associated with drawbacks such as instability, expensive chemical modification [1] weak mechanical properties, poor receptor targeting properties [2], biodegradation, and excretion [3]
The scope of its use can be increased via modification of its chemical structure
The hydroxyl group serves as an anchor and active site for the modification of inulin

Summary

Introduction

The use of natural polysaccharides for controlled drug delivery systems is drawing significant attention, as synthetics polymers used for this purpose are associated with drawbacks such as instability, expensive chemical modification [1] weak mechanical properties, poor receptor targeting properties [2], biodegradation, and excretion [3]. The molecular structure of inulin allows the polymers chain greater freedom to move as well as the ability to reassemble into a different range of structures [10,13]. This translates into structural flexibility and makes inulin an appealing and versatile material for use in different applications

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