Alginate Based Carriers for Topical Drug Delivery

Abstract

Topical drug delivery is a promising approach for drug susceptible to degradation on oral administration or drug undergoing first pass effect. Topical delivery allows the drug to reach target site in effective concentration without drug lose, minimizing drug dose, frequency and cost load. In addition, topical delivery also offers localized drug delivery for treatment of various health disorders like skin infections, chronic wound, skin carcinoma etc. Biopolymers use in topical formulation is a promising strategy for design of safe and efficient drug delivery systems (DDS). Alginate is such a potent biopolymer with diverse advantages over synthetic polymers, including natural abundance, economic cost, biodegradability, biocompatibility, cyto-compatibility, no toxicity, and hydrophilicity. Alginate also has intrinsic bioactivity like anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties that may give synergistic effect with drug. Furthermore, due to its structural diversity, alginate allows for surface functionalization to give versatility in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Alginate can be effectively employed for the formulation of various DDS such as gels, dermal patches, films, microneedles, nanofibrous scaffolds, nanoparticles, and microparticles, for topical applications. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.