title: Novel pectin-based carriers for colonic drug delivery.
abstract: Pectin-based hydrogel carriers have been studied and shown to have promising applications for drug delivery to the lower GI tract, especially to the colonic region. However, making sure these hydrogel carriers can pass through the upper GI tract and reach the targeted regions, after oral administration, still remains a challenge to overcome. A solution to this problem is to promote stronger cross-linking interactions within the pectin-based hydrogel network. The combined usage of a divalent cation (Ca(2+)) and the cationic biopolymer oligochitosan has shown to improve the stability of pectin-based hydrogel systems - suggesting that these two cross-linkers may be used to eventually help improve pectin-based hydrogel systems for colonic drug delivery methods.
authors.affiliation: a Biomolecular Engineering Program, Department of Physics & Chemistry .
authors.forename: Wujie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: a Biomolecular Engineering Program, Department of Physics & Chemistry .
authors.forename: Kirsten Mary
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Mahuta
authors.affiliation: a Biomolecular Engineering Program, Department of Physics & Chemistry .
authors.forename: Brandon Anthony
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Mikulski
authors.affiliation: a Biomolecular Engineering Program, Department of Physics & Chemistry .
authors.forename: Jenna Nicole
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Harvestine
authors.affiliation: a Biomolecular Engineering Program, Department of Physics & Chemistry .
authors.forename: James Zachary
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Crouse
authors.affiliation: a Biomolecular Engineering Program, Department of Physics & Chemistry .
authors.forename: Jung Chull
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: a Biomolecular Engineering Program, Department of Physics & Chemistry .
authors.forename: Matey Georgiev
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Kaltchev
authors.affiliation: b Biomedical Engineering Program, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science , Milwaukee School of Engineering , Milwaukee , WI , USA.
authors.forename: Charles Samuel
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Tritt
mesh_terms: D003106:Colon / Q000187:drug effects; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D010368:Pectins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D010368:Pectins
keywords: Colonic drug-delivery; hydrogel; microcapsule; microsphere; pectin