Drug property improvement release control

Future advances in polymer science will be based on modifying the chemical and physical properties of the polymer, creative combinations of copolymers, and bioresponsive components that can deliver a wide variety of bioactive ingredients. To increase the drug-loading ability of the fibers and improve release control, the filament-forming polymers must be grafted or modified. 

In drug delivery, nanoparticles show great promise by altering the bioavailability, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic properties of drug molecules to improve therapeutic delivery however, clinical translation has been slow with the lack of ideal and established solutions for precise targeting, cell internalization, and controlled drug solubility and release [24]. Polymeric nanomedicine can address these challenges. 

In the fourth chapter, biomedical applications of shape-memory polymers are presented. Vascular, orthopaedic, and neuronal applications are elaborated to illustrate how SMP can improve the standard of treatment. Additionally, the practical challenges of the development of SMP for biomedical devices are described. The fifth chapter deals with multifunctional SMP. The combination of the shape-memory effect with hydrolytic degradability and the capability to release a drug in a controlled way are described as an example of multifunctionality. Drug loading and release, as well as the effects of the drugs on the shape-memory properties are discussed and potential applications in minimally-invasive surgery are outlined. 

A recent trend in the pharmaceutical industry has been to harness the intrinsic tissue-protective properties of NO for improving the gastric tolerance of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NS AIDs). This trend has led to the synthesis of hybrid, chimeric molecules containing an NSAID or aspirin moiety and a NO-donor functionality [153, 154]. One such hybrid is a NO-releasing derivative of aspirin, NCX-4016. In a doubleblind, randomized, placebo-controlled gastrointestinal safety assessment in healthy subjects, NCX-4016 (400 or 800 mg twice daily for 7 days) acted like aspirin as an inhibitor of arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation in vitro [155]. Whether... 

Langoth et al. [86] studied the properties of matrix-based tablets containing the novel pentapeptide leu-enkephalin (Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu) that has been shown to have pain-modulating properties. The matrix-based tablets were made with the thiolated polymer PCP. The covalent attachment of cysteine to the anionic polymer PCP leads to an improvement of the stability of matrix tablets, enhances the mucoadhesive properties, and increases the inhibitory potency of PCP towards buccal enzymes. All these factors lead to stability of the peptide and a controlled drug release for the peptide was obtained for more than 24 h. Also, the tablets based on thiolated PCP remained attached on freshly excised porcine mucosa 1.8 times longer than the corresponding unmodified polymer. 

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