title: Alginate based hydrogel as a potential biopolymeric carrier for drug delivery and cell delivery systems: present status and applications.
abstract: Alginate is a non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable natural polymer with a number of peculiar physicochemical properties for which it has wide applications in drug delivery and cell delivery systems. Hydrogel formation can be obtained by interactions of anionic alginates with multivalent inorganic cations by simple ionotropic gelation method. Hydrophilic polymeric network of three dimensional cross linked structures of hydrogels absorb substantial amount of water or biological fluids. Among the numerous biomaterials used for hydrogel formation alginate has been and will continue to be one of the most important biomaterial. Therefore, in view of the vast literature support, we focus in this review on alginate - based hydrogel as drug delivery and cell delivery carriers for biomedical applications. Various properties of alginates, their hydrogels and also various techniques used for preparing alginate hydrogels have been reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Rungta College of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research, Kohka Road, Kurud, Bhilai-491024, India. tapan_ju01@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Tapan Kumar
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Giri
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Thakur
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.lastname: Ajazuddin
authors.forename: Hemant
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Badwaik
authors.forename: Dulal Krishna
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Tripathi
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D017690:Cell Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D004337:Drug Carriers; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D004337:Drug Carriers; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D020723:Glucuronic Acid