Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Expert Opin Drug Deliv. 2011 Aug;8(8):1085-104. doi: 10.1517/17425247.2011.586334. Epub 2011 May 21.
The benefits of mucoadhesive systems are related to the increased in situ residence and intimate contact of the delivery vehicle with the mucosa. The recent emergence of nanomedicine and the properties of nanoparticulate systems have created new challenges in understanding the nature and mechanisms of nanoscale mucoadhesion and in the development of methodologies for measuring its mucoadhesive potential. Even when usually regarded as an advantageous property, mucoadhesion can be an inconvenience for nanosystems, and strategies have been developed for minimizing interactions with the mucosal tissues/fluids.
This article summarizes the basic concepts of mucoadhesion at the nanoscale, different techniques used for measuring the mucoadhesive potential of nanosystems and strategies for increasing/decreasing mucoadhesive interactions.
The mucoadhesion behavior of materials in bulk and at the nanoscale can significantly differ. Advances in the methodology used for studying the mucoadhesion phenomenon have contributed to its better understanding and, more importantly, the development of strategies to increase/decrease mucoadhesion. However, development of new methodologies for studying mucoadhesion at the nanoscale and the refinement of existing methodologies are still required. Also, a substantial amount of information is still lacking, particularly related to formulation issues, on how to translate lessons learnt at the bench top to the bed side.
黏附系统的益处与递药系统与黏膜的原位滞留时间延长和密切接触有关。纳米医学的新出现以及纳米颗粒系统的特性给理解纳米级黏附的性质和机制以及开发测量其黏附潜力的方法学带来了新的挑战。即使黏附通常被认为是有利的性质，它也可能给纳米系统带来不便，因此已经开发了各种策略来最小化与黏膜组织/流体的相互作用。
本文总结了纳米级黏附的基本概念、用于测量纳米系统黏附潜力的不同技术以及增加/减少黏附相互作用的策略。
材料在大块和纳米级的黏附行为可能有显著差异。用于研究黏附现象的方法学的进步有助于更好地理解它，更重要的是，开发了增加/减少黏附的策略。然而，仍需要开发新的方法学来研究纳米级黏附，并改进现有的方法学。此外，关于如何将在台面上学到的知识转化为床边实践，仍存在大量信息缺失，特别是与制剂问题相关的信息。
