Diffusion drug delivery

Dendrimer micelles of this type have been formulated as drug delivery vehicles. Dendrimers with a hydrophobic interior have been used to entrap a hydrophobic drug such as indomethacin. This is retained because of the hydrophilic periphery containing ethylene glycol functional groups, and is released slowly because of the collapsed configuration of the interior, through which molecular diffusion is obstructed. 

The high permeability of PCL and its copolymers coupled with a controllable induction period prior to polymer weight loss (vide infra) lends itself to the development of delivery devices that are based on diffusion-controlled delivery of the drug during the induction period prior to weight loss. The subsequent biodegradation of the polymer serves the purpose of eliminating the need to recover the spent device. 

Ethylene vinyl acetate has also found major applications in drug delivery. These copolymers used in drug release normally contain 30-50 wt% of vinyl acetate. They have been commercialized by the Alza Corporation for the delivery of pilocarpine over a one-week period (Ocusert) and the delivery of progesterone for over one year in the form of an intrauterine device (Progestasert). Ethylene vinyl acetate has also been evaluated for the release of macromolecules such as proteins. The release of proteins form these polymers is by a porous diffusion and the pore structure can be used to control the rate of release (3). Similar nonbiodegradable polymers such as the polyurethanes, polyethylenes, polytetrafluoroethylene and poly(methyl methacrylate) have also been used to deliver a variety of different pharmaceutical agents usually as implants or removal devices. 

In the pharmaceutical sciences, diffusion processes are central to drug delivery. They are particularly important in the release of drugs from controlled-... 

Several investigators have used the two-chamber diffusion cell configuration. This experimental method has been found useful to determine diffusion coefficients [11] and to study drug transport from drug delivery devices [12],... 

The side-by-side diffusion cell has also been calibrated for drug delivery mass transport studies using polymeric membranes [12], The mass transport coefficient, D/h, was evaluated with diffusion data for benzoic acid in aqueous solutions of polyethylene glycol 400 at 37°C. By varying the polyethylene glycol 400 content incrementally from 0 to 40%, the kinematic viscosity of the diffusion medium, saturation solubility for benzoic acid, and diffusivity of benzoic acid could be varied. The resulting mass transport coefficients, D/h, were correlated with the Sherwood number (Sh), Reynolds number (Re), and Schmidt number (Sc) according to the relationships... 

Thus, the side-by-side device, when properly calibrated, is a versatile and useful method to determine diffusion coefficients, to evaluate mass transport mechanisms, and to evaluate up-to-date drug delivery systems. 

Srinivasan et al. [17] have described a four-electrode potentiostat system which is suited to maintaining a constant voltage drop across a membrane in a two-chamber diffusion cell. This system was evaluated in connection with trans-dermal iontophoretic drug delivery of polypeptides. 

R Alhaique, M Marchetti, FM Riccieri, E Santucci. A polymeric film responding in diffusion properties to environmental pH stimuli A model for a self-regulating drug delivery system. J Pharmacol 33 413-418, 1981. 

Diffusion-controlled drug delivery, 9 77 Diffusion Deborah number, 23 101 Diffusion flames... 

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