Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Mar 19;11(3):129.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics11030129.

Challenges and Recent Progress in Oral Drug Delivery Systems for Biopharmaceuticals

Bahman Homayun  1 , Xueting Lin  2 , Hyo-Jick Choi  3
Affiliations
Review

Challenges and Recent Progress in Oral Drug Delivery Systems for Biopharmaceuticals

Bahman Homayun et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

Routes of drug administration and the corresponding physicochemical characteristics of a given route play significant roles in therapeutic efficacy and short term/long term biological effects. Each delivery method has favorable aspects and limitations, each requiring a specific delivery vehicles design. Among various routes, oral delivery has been recognized as the most attractive method, mainly due to its potential for solid formulations with long shelf life, sustained delivery, ease of administration and intensified immune response. At the same time, a few challenges exist in oral delivery, which have been the main research focus in the field in the past few years. The present work concisely reviews different administration routes as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each method, highlighting why oral delivery is currently the most promising approach. Subsequently, the present work discusses the main obstacles for oral systems and explains the most recent solutions proposed to deal with each issue.

Keywords: biological barriers; co-delivery; oral delivery; sustained delivery; throughput.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The structure and function of the mucus. The schematic shows the gastric mucus layer, the attachment of particles to the outer and inner mucus, and the drug delivery vehicle on the outer mucus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Absorption mechanisms through the mucosal layer. Paracellular route to lamina propia and transcellular route (enterocytes, M-cells, transfection of the epithelial cells, direct absorption through dendritic cells and active transport).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic illustration of the principle oral vehicles designs.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The schematic sequence of polymeric pored microencapsulation/release behavior.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Oral delivery devices based on silica. (A) Fabrication of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) (adapted with permission from [202]), (B) halloysite nanotube (HNT) microstructure ((i) schematic representation of a HNT, (ii) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image and (iii) scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Different types of sealing strategies used for stimuli-responsive MSNs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Siafaka P.I., Titopoulou A., Koukaras E.N., Kostoglou M., Koutris E., Karavas E., Bikiaris D.N. Chitosan derivatives as effective nanocarriers for ocular release of timolol drug. Int. J. Pharm. 2015;495:249–264. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2015.08.100. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ferraiolo B.L., Mohler M.A., Gloff C.A. Volume 1: Protein pharmacokinetics and metabolism. In: Borchard R.T., editor. Pharmaeutical Biotechnology. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC; New York, NY, USA: 1992. pp. 78–150.
    1. Römgens A.M., Rem-bronneberg D., Kassies R., Hijlkema M., Bader D.L., Oomens C.W.J., Bruggen M.P.B. Penetration and delivery characteristics of repetitive microjet injection into the skin. J. Control. Release. 2016;234:98–103. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2016.05.019. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rodger M.A., King L. Drawing up and administering intramuscular injections: A review of the literature. J. Adv. Nurs. 2000;31:574–582. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2000.01312.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mishra P., Stringer M.D. Sciatic nerve injury from intramuscular injection: A persistent and global problem. Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2010;64:1573–1579. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-1241.2009.02177.x. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources