Mucoadhesive Marine Polysaccharides

Mucoadhesive polymers are of growing interest in the field of drug delivery due to their ability to interact with the body’s mucosa and increase the effectiveness of the drug. Excellent mucoadhesive performance is typically observed for polymers possessing charged groups or non-ionic functional groups capable of forming hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions with mucosal surfaces. Among mucoadhesive polymers, marine carbohydrate biopolymers have been attracting attention due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability, sample functional groups, strong water absorption and favorable physiochemical properties. Despite the large number of works devoted to mucoadhesive polymers, there are very few systematic studies on the influence of structural features of marine polysaccharides on mucoadhesive interactions. The purpose of this review is to characterize the mucoadhesive properties of marine carbohydrates with a focus on chitosan, carrageenan, alginate and their use in designing drug delivery systems. A wide variety of methods which have been used to characterize mucoadhesive properties of marine polysaccharides are presented in this review. Mucoadhesive drug delivery systems based on such polysaccharides are characterized by simplicity and ease of use in the form of tablets, gels and films through oral, buccal, transbuccal and local routes of administration.