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European Pharmaceutical Students’ Association
Recent Advances in the Excipients Used for Modified Ocular Drug Delivery Authors: Melitini Koutsoviti Scientific coordinator: Marilena Vlachou, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology Institution: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
INTRODUCTION: In ocular drug delivery, maintaining an efficient concentration of the drug in the target area for a sufficient period of time is a challenging task. There is a pressing need for the development of effective strategies for drug delivery to the eye using recent advances in material sciences and novel approaches to drug delivery. AIM: This review summarizes the important aspects of ocular drug delivery and the factors affecting drug absorption in the eye including encapsulating excipients (chitosan, hyaluronic acid, poloxamer, PLGA, PVCL-PVA-PEG, cetalkonium chloride, and gelatin) for modified drug delivery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Information was gathered in March and April of 2021 from google scholars. We used in our review the most recent published papers, starting from 2018, and the keywords used were eye, drug delivery, anatomy, physiology, Chitosan, Hyaluronic acid, Poloxamer, PLGA, PVCL– PVA–PEG, Cetalkonium Chloride and Gelatin. RESULTS: The most important advantage of the excipients studied was the fact that they are biocompatible and biodegradable, while they can be used in nanotechnology. In specific, chitosan can deliver the API to the mucosa and hyaluronic acid improves tissue hydration and resistance. Poloxamer is thermo-activate while PLGA encapsulates molecules of virtually any size and PVCL – PVA – PEG increases the solubility of poorly soluble drugs. However, there are also disadvantages, including the non-stability of poloxamer in 20-25°C and the marginal effects of hyaluronic acid.
CONCLUSION: Ocular drug delivery is a truly challenging field. However, great strides have been made in this field to improve available treatments. Future research should focus on improving the stability and the availability of the API, improving the sterilization methods, and decreasing the toxicity.
