NATURAL MUCOADHESIVE POLYMERS IN NASAL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM: A REVIEW

Intranasal drug delivery is considered to be a useful and reliable alternative to the oral and parenteral route. Benefits of nasal drug delivery include large surface area, avoiding first pass effect, rapid onset of action, the potential for direct delivery to the brain, etc. There are different barriers to nasal delivery which decrease the drug bioavailability. One of the approaches to increase bioavailability is the mucoadhesive drug delivery system. The mucoadhesive system is the ideal choice of drug delivery system for systemic nasal delivery because it improves the residence time thus prolonging the duration of action as well as the extent of absorption. This article is a review of the natural mucoadhesive polymers used in nasal drug delivery systems. This includes the mechanism of mucoadhesion, advantages, and disadvantages of mucoadhesive polymers, and the different mucoadhesive polymers used.