ALGINATE : THE BIOPOLYMER OF FUTURE FOR THE OCULAR DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM
Ab stract One of the most susceptible and vital organs in our body is the eye, but due to various ocular barriers like tear turnover, nasolacrimal drainage, blood retinal barriers etc. possess a great challenge for the ocular delivery of drugs. Alginate, a natural polysaccharide obtained from marine brown seaweeds and various bacterial sources carries a great potential for the novel ocular drug delivery formulations. Alginate which is already a renowned excipient in other fields of drug delivery and due to its various advantages like mucoadhesive behaviour, biodegradable and non-toxic nature makes it a perfect candidate for this delivery route. The ability of instant gelation results into higher ocular residence time and enhanced ocular drug bioavailability which means lower frequency of ocular drug administration. The various alginate based ocular drug delivery formulations include in situ gels, microparticles, nanoparticles, ocular films, ocular inserts, ocular gels and biodegra...