Prof. Bikiaris and Dr. Stavroula Nanaki are the guest editors of the special issue "Polymeric Materials for Drug Delivery Application" in Polymers (IF 3.164). This special issue belongs to the section "Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2020.
Special Issue Information
Drug delivery systems are one of the main issues of interest for the scientific community. Polymers are directly related with these systems, since they are extensively used in their formulations either as excipients, used to increase the solubility of the drugs, control their release or stabilize their solutions, or as polymeric matrices, i.e., macro/nanoparticles, matrices for melt mixing procedures. Natural polymers, such as chitosan, carrageenan, cellulose, starch, hyaluronic acid, alginic acid, and their modified analogs, or synthetic polymers, such as poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), polyacrylates, poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid (PGA) and their PLGA copolymers, poly(ortho esters), polycaprolactone (PCL), polyanhydrides, polyphosphazenes, Poloxamer, Soluplus, etc., have been used and extensively studied in drug delivery systems. Today, it is recognized that polymers are of high importance in the pharmaceutical field due to their advantages: the ability to deliver either hydrophilic or hydrophobic drugs, the convenience of getting administered through different pathways to patients (oral, nasal, by inhalation, parenteral), and the maintenance of the therapeutic concentration of drugs (shorter half-life) in plasma for longer periods of time by controlling their release. However, in order to be used as drug delivery systems, polymers should possess the following requirements: drug vehicles should be bio-degradable, biocompatible, nontoxic, non-immunogenic, physically and chemically stable in vivo and in vitro conditions, and readily eliminated from the body without any problems (low accumulation in organs).
The present Special Issue aims at covering all the aspects of innovative polymeric drug delivery systems. Special emphasis will be given to novel polymeric matrices used for this objective without excluding already studied polymers, copolymers, and blends with novel formulations and applications. We also intend to include in this Special Issue, apart from classic techniques, liposomes, dendrimers, composites, macro- or prodrugs, thermosensitive and pH sensitive polymers, electrospinning prepared matrices, melt mixing, solid dispersions, hydrogels, spray and freeze drying, etc., novel techniques such as 3D printing, contact lenses, microneedles, long acting injectables (LAI) or others used for drug delivery applications. During the past few decades, there has been an increasing interest in the development of polymeric biodegradable micro/nanoparticles for effective drug, peptide, protein, and DNA delivery. Incorporation of the drug into a particulate nanocarrier can protect the active substance from in vivo and in vitro degradation. Such drug delivery nanosystems constitute a significant section or part of nanomedicine. It also offers possibilities such as targeting, improving therapeutic effect, prolonging biological activity, controlling drug release rate and decreasing the frequency of administration, in other words delivering a certain amount of a therapeutic agent for a prolonged period of time to a targeted diseased area within the body (ideal drug loading). All these issues will be included in the suggested Special Issue.
In vivo experiments concerning innovative polymeric drug delivery systems will also be accepted.
Dr. Stavroula Nanaki Prof. Dimitrios Bikiaris Guest Editors