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Nasal mucoadhesive drug delivery: background, applications, trends and future perspectives.

Ugwoke MI, Agu RU, Verbeke N, Kinget R

OctoPlus Development BV, Zernikedreef 12, 2333 CL Leiden, The Netherlands.

Nasal drug delivery has now been recognized as a very promising route for delivery of therapeutic compounds including biopharmaceuticals. It has been demonstrated that low absorption of drugs can be countered by using absorption enhancers or increasing the drug residence time in the nasal cavity, and that some mucoadhesive polymers can serve both functions. This article reviews the background of nasal mucoadhesive drug delivery with special references to the biological and pharmaceutical considerations for nasal mucoadhesive drug administration. Applications of nasal mucoadhesives for the delivery of small organic molecules, antibiotics, proteins, vaccines and DNA are also discussed. Furthermore, new classes of functionalized mucoadhesive polymers, the characterization and safety aspects of nasal drug products as well as the opportunities presented by nasal drug delivery are extensively discussed.

Published 17 October 2005 in Adv Drug Deliv Rev, 57(11): 1640-65.
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