Abstract
Different polymeric materials have been used as drug delivery vehicles for decades. Natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic polymers each have their own specific characteristics and, due to the physicochemical limitations of each polymer, tuning the release rate and targeting the active ingredient to a specific organ or site of action is a complicated task for pharmaceutical scientists. In this regard, polymer blending has been considered as an attractive approach to fabricate novel and unique drug delivery systems with modified physical and/or chemical characteristics. There are three major polymer blending approaches that are used for drug delivery purposes: physical mixtures, core-shell model, and block copolymer model. Each of these types of polymer blends could significantly affect the loading capacities and the kinetics of drug release from the relevant formulations. Drug release from these blended polymers can be tuned through the changes in temperature and pH of the environment, and physiochemical properties of the target organs. Furthermore, the possible molecular interactions among polymers and drug molecules can significantly affect the drug release profile from these blended polymeric micro- and nanocarriers. In this review, first of all, different types of polymers and their various applications in biomedical sciences have been discussed and smart or stimuli responsive polymers are introduced and categorized based on their nature. Then, the purpose of polymer blending in drug delivery systems has been discussed. Different types of polymer blends including physical mixtures, core-shell polymeric carriers, and block copolymers have been summarized with focus on the effect of polymer blending on encapsulated drug release profiles. Finally, the consequence of each blending approach on drug release profile and kinetics of drug release have been mentioned in tabular format.
Highlights
Controlled drug delivery systems have been considered as novel strategies in pharmaceutical sciences in order to minimize unwanted adverse drug reactions and achieve optimum efficacy by minimizing the concentration fluctuations and increasing the interval of drug administration and drug delivery to the site of action
The viscosity of Metolose® would be reduced after temperature enhancement, while further increment in temperature can form solidified hydrogels Addition of either ß-glycerophosphate or ß-tricalcium phosphate (ß-TCP) can result in the formation of thermo-response hydrogel for controlled drug delivery purposes Xyloglucan showed thermally-responsive properties through the cleavage of galactose residues in their structure
This polymer blend can result in a novel pH- and thermoresponsive hydrogel that would be promising for drug delivery purposes Copolymerization of NIPAAm with biodegradable monomers such as benzomethylene dioxepane can reduce the critical solution temperature of the blended polymer This copolymer has been designed for protein-delivery purposes
Summary
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Polymeric and Composite Materials, a section of the journal Frontiers in Materials. Semisynthetic, and synthetic polymers each have their own specific characteristics and, due to the physicochemical limitations of each polymer, tuning the release rate and targeting the active ingredient to a specific organ or site of action is a complicated task for pharmaceutical scientists In this regard, polymer blending has been considered as an attractive approach to fabricate novel and unique drug delivery systems with modified physical and/or chemical characteristics. There are three major polymer blending approaches that are used for drug delivery purposes: physical mixtures, coreshell model, and block copolymer model Each of these types of polymer blends could significantly affect the loading capacities and the kinetics of drug release from the relevant formulations.
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