Abstract

ADVANCES IN SMART AND STIMULI-RESPONSIVE GASTRORETENTIVE DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS: DESIGN APPROACHES, EVALUATION CHALLENGES, AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

Madhumitha AN*, J. Padmapreetha, C. Sankar

ABSTRACT

Gastroretentive drug delivery systems (GRDDS) are designed to increase the length of time a medication remains in the stomach before moving to the intestines. GRDDS can also help to increase the amount of medicine that is absorbed by the body through the oral route, especially for drugs with a narrow range of absorption, are dependent on pH for solubility or have a local therapeutic effect in the gastro-intestinal tract. Traditional GRDDS designs Floating, Expanding and Bioadhesive devices have had limited success in providing prolonged gastric retention and currently face challenges of a more variable physiology between patients, inconsistent retention times, and non-uniform release patterns. However, researchers have used new Polymers, Nanotechnology, Additive Manufacturing, and Artificial Intelligence to develop Adaptive GRDDS which can respond to external stimuli such as pH, ionic strength, and stress. Therefore, these systems provide the ability to dynamically modulate retention time and release pattern while maximizing therapeutic effectiveness and predictability. This review Contains a thorough critical discussion of the classification of GRDDS, the mechanisms of action of stimuli responsive polymers, the incorporation of Nanotechnology, design strategies for mechanistic GRDDS development, recent trends in development, the different types of therapeutic applications, advanced evaluation systems, and regulatory and translational considerations of GRDDS providing the reader with comprehensive guidance for the upcoming direction of GRDDS research.

Keywords: Gastroretentive drug delivery; stimuli-responsive systems; smart polymers; pHresponsive; 3D printing; artificial intelligence; nanotechnology.