Title:pH-Sensitive Polymer-Based Carriers as a Useful Approach for Oral Delivery of Therapeutic Protein: A Review
Volume: 28
Issue: 11
Author(s): Maryam Shamseddini Lori, Mandana Ohadi, Mohammad Amin Raeisi Estabragh, Sepehr Afsharipour, Ibrahim Mohamed Banat and Gholamreza Dehghannoudeh*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman,Iran
Keywords:
Bioavailability, gastrointestinal degradation, oral administration, pH-sensitive, protein delivery, stability.
Abstract: There are many proteins and enzymes in the human body, and their dysfunction can lead
to the emergence of a disease. The use of proteins as a drug is common in various diseases such as
diabetes. Proteins are hydrophilic molecules whose spatial structure is critical to their correct function.
There are different ways for the administration of proteins. Protein structures are degraded by
gastric acid and enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract and have a slight ability to permeate from the
gastrointestinal epithelium due to their large hydrophilic nature. Therefore, their oral use has limitations.
Since the oral route for the administration of drugs is one of the best and easiest routes for patients,
many studies have been done to increase the stability, penetration, and ultimately, the bioavailability
of proteins through oral administration. One of the studied strategies for oral delivery of
protein is the use of pH-sensitive polymer-based carriers. These carriers use different pH-sensitive
polymers, such as eudragit®, chitosan, dextran, and alginate. The use of pH-sensitive polymer-
based carriers by protecting the protein from stomach acid (low pH) and degrading enzymes,
increasing permeability and maintaining the spatial structure of the protein, leads to increased bioavailability.
In this review, we focus on the various polymers used to prepare pH-sensitive polymer-
based carriers for the oral delivery of proteins.
