Polymer-drug conjugates: recent progress on administration routes.
BACKGROUND
Polymer-drug conjugates are an important part of polymer therapeutics. Recently, they have been used as an appealing platform for drug delivery. As a delivery vector, the route of administration performs a serious impact on the accessibility of drug molecules to their respective target site and therapeutic index. Furthermore, the physicochemical and biological properties of conjugates also correlate distinctly with the route of administration.


METHODS
This article reviews the recent advances of polymer-drug conjugates as drug delivery systems through parenteral, enteral and topical routes. In particular, it mainly focuses on the classical and emerging routes such as injection, oral, transdermal, pulmonary and ocular routes using polymer-drug conjugates as delivery systems.


CONCLUSIONS
Although polymer-conjugated drug delivery systems reported so far face severe shortcoming of being incomplete methodology and limited routes for administration (mostly concentrated in injection), some polymer carriers like poly(amidoamine) and hyaluronic acid still offer an appealing platform to deliver drug. Acquiring the particular characteristics of each polymer carrier, exploiting novel biodegradable polymer, expanding classical drug administration ways by emerging routes and developing a rational and systematic methodology to design administration routes will be the promising directions.
Shandong University, College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutics , 44 Wenhua Xilu, Jinan 250012 , China.
Xin
X
Pang
Xiaoye
X
Yang
Guangxi
G
Zhai
D000818:Animals; D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D004333:Drug Administration Routes; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D011108:Polymers
intravenous route; ocular administration; oral route; polymer-drug conjugates; pulmonary administration; routes of administration; transdermal route