Mucoadhesion

Mucoadhesion describes the attractive forces between a biological material and mucus or mucous membrane.[1] Mucous membranes adhere to epithelial surfaces such as the gastrointestinal tract (GI-tract), the vagina, the lung, the eye, etc. They are generally hydrophilic as they contain many hydrogen macromolecules due to the large amount of water (approximately 95%) within its composition. However, mucin also contains glycoproteins that enable the formation of a gel-like substance.[1] Understanding the hydrophilic bonding and adhesion mechanisms of mucus to biological material is of utmost importance in order to produce the most efficient applications. For example, in drug delivery systems, the mucus layer must be penetrated in order to effectively transport micro- or nanosized drug particles into the body.[2] Bioadhesion is the mechanism by which two biological materials are held together by interfacial forces. The mucoadhesive properties of polymers can be evaluated via rheological synergism studies with freshly isolated mucus, tensile studies and mucosal residence time studies. Results obtained with these in vitro methods show a high correlation with results obtained in humans.[3][4]

  1. ^ a b Smart, John D. (3 November 2005). "The basics and underlying mechanisms of mucoadhesion". Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 57 (11): 1556–1568. doi:10.1016/j.addr.2005.07.001. PMID 16198441.
  2. ^ Grießinger, Julia; Dünnhaupt, Sarah; Cattoz, Beatrice; Griffiths, Peter; Oh, Sejin; Gómez, Salvador Borrós i; Wilcox, Matthew; Pearson, Jeffrey; Gumbleton, Mark; Abdulkarim, Muthanna; Pereira de Sousa, Irene; Bernkop-Schnürch, Andreas (29 January 2015). "Methods to determine the interactions of micro- and nanoparticles with mucus" (PDF). European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. 96: 464–76. doi:10.1016/j.ejpb.2015.01.005. PMID 25641005.
  3. ^ Baus, RA; Zahir-Jouzdani, F; Dünnhaupt, S; Atyab, F; Bernkop-Schnürch, A (2019). "Mucoadhesive hydrogels for buccal drug delivery: In vitro-in vivo correlation study". Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm. 142: 498–505. doi:10.1016/j.ejpb.2019.07.019. PMID 31330258. S2CID 198172145.
  4. ^ Baus, RA; Haug, MF; Leichner, C; Jelkmann, M; Bernkop-Schnürch, A (2019). "In Vitro-in Vivo Correlation of Mucoadhesion Studies on Buccal Mucosa". Mol. Pharm. 16 (6): 2719–2727. doi:10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.9b00254. PMID 31038970. S2CID 141445704.