Chapter 12
Hydrogel Beads of Natural Polymers as a Potential Vehicle
for Colon-Targeted Drug Delivery
Janarthanan Pushpamalar, Thenapakiam Sathasivam,
and Michelle Claire Gugler
Abstract
Polysaccharides are excellent candidates for drug delivery applications as they are available in abundance
from natural sources. Polysaccharides such as starch, cellulose, lignin, chitosan, alginate, and tragacanth
gum are used to make hydrogels beads. Hydrogels beads are three-dimensional, cross-linked networks of
hydrophilic polymers formed in spherical shape and sized in the range of 0.5–1.0 mm of diameter. Beads are
formed by various cross-linking methods such as chemical and irradiation methods. Natural polymer-based
hydrogels are biocompatible and biodegradable and have inherently low immunogenicity, which makes
them suitable for physiological drug delivery approaches. The cross-linked polysaccharide-based hydrogels
are environment-sensitive polymers that can potentially be used for the development of “smart” delivery
systems, which are capable of control release of the encapsulated drug at a targeted colon site. This topic
focuses on various aspects of fabricating and optimizing the cross-linking of polysaccharides, either by a
single polysaccharide or mixtures and also natural-synthetic hybrids to produce polymer-based hydrogel
vehicles for colon-targeted drug delivery.
Key words Natural polymers, Beads, Drug delivery system, Colonic system
1 Introduction
A drug delivery system is defined as a method or process of introducing and delivering the therapeutic agents into the body and
achieve a therapeutic effect [1]. Conventional drug delivery system
usually results in a wide range of fluctuation in drug concentration
in the bloodstream and immediate release of drug which the
amount and the rate of drug release is difficult to be controlled
[2]. This system will also cause low patient compliance and will
require frequent administration. In order to overcome these problems, sustained drug delivery system has been introduced to give a
breakthrough for drug delivery in the pharmaceutical technology
field.
Kumaran Narayanan (ed.), Bio-Carrier Vectors: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2211,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0943-9_12, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021
171
Hydrogel Beads of Natural Polymers as a Potential Vehicle
for Colon-Targeted Drug Delivery
Janarthanan Pushpamalar, Thenapakiam Sathasivam,
and Michelle Claire Gugler
Abstract
Polysaccharides are excellent candidates for drug delivery applications as they are available in abundance
from natural sources. Polysaccharides such as starch, cellulose, lignin, chitosan, alginate, and tragacanth
gum are used to make hydrogels beads. Hydrogels beads are three-dimensional, cross-linked networks of
hydrophilic polymers formed in spherical shape and sized in the range of 0.5–1.0 mm of diameter. Beads are
formed by various cross-linking methods such as chemical and irradiation methods. Natural polymer-based
hydrogels are biocompatible and biodegradable and have inherently low immunogenicity, which makes
them suitable for physiological drug delivery approaches. The cross-linked polysaccharide-based hydrogels
are environment-sensitive polymers that can potentially be used for the development of “smart” delivery
systems, which are capable of control release of the encapsulated drug at a targeted colon site. This topic
focuses on various aspects of fabricating and optimizing the cross-linking of polysaccharides, either by a
single polysaccharide or mixtures and also natural-synthetic hybrids to produce polymer-based hydrogel
vehicles for colon-targeted drug delivery.
Key words Natural polymers, Beads, Drug delivery system, Colonic system
1 Introduction
A drug delivery system is defined as a method or process of introducing and delivering the therapeutic agents into the body and
achieve a therapeutic effect [1]. Conventional drug delivery system
usually results in a wide range of fluctuation in drug concentration
in the bloodstream and immediate release of drug which the
amount and the rate of drug release is difficult to be controlled
[2]. This system will also cause low patient compliance and will
require frequent administration. In order to overcome these problems, sustained drug delivery system has been introduced to give a
breakthrough for drug delivery in the pharmaceutical technology
field.
Kumaran Narayanan (ed.), Bio-Carrier Vectors: Methods and Protocols, Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2211,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0943-9_12, © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021
171