Topical Advances in Mucoadhesive Ocular Drug Delivery System

Abstract

The current article mainly highlights mucoadhesive drug delivery with merits like the prolonged holding time at the action site and also provides a controlled rate of drug release for improved therapeutic outcomes. Moreover, mucosal delivery can eliminate problems of the conventional oral route, such as first pass metabolism as well as acid degradation. However, the eye has unique anatomy and physiology that can cause hindrance and challenges in comparison to the other organs of the body. Additionally, conventional delivery vehicles like solutions, suspensions, and ointments have many demerits such as rapid precorneal clearance, subject variability, drainage, and uncontrolled release from the dosage form. Therefore, novel pharmaceutical ophthalmic formulations like gels, nanosuspensions, nano-particles, liposomes, microemulsions, iontophoretic dosage forms, and ocuserts were tried and tested in the past few years for ophthalmic delivery. These novel delivery products provide enhanced solubility and bioavailability in a controlled manner to overcome conventional demerits. Here in this review, we have summarized the improvement of drug studies that are currently underway for eye drug carriers, along with stages and important aspects of novel drug delivery to the eye.

Keywords: Mucoadhesive; bioavailability; in-situ gel; iontophoresis; liposome; microemulsion; nanoparticle; nanosuspension; ocular insert.