Diffusion, dissolution, and release mechanisms for dosage forms delivering drugs to the colon: Importance of colonic mucus as a barrier to drug absorption
Contributing to our understanding of mucus in the human colon and its role as barrier to drug delivery.
Details
- Funder: Vinnova
Research Scientist: Marco Tjakra, MEng
Principal Investigator: Professor Christel Bergström, Department of Pharmacy, Uppsala University
Scientific and industrial context: The unique structure of the mucus enables it to act as a barrier of drug absorption, but it can also be utilized as a reservoir by making use of mucoadhesive drug carrier. However, there are still some problem regarding specificity and release, in combination with properties such as low drug solubility and microbial interference. Currently, characteristics of the mucus together with drug interaction is still less explored.
Aim: To improve the understanding of drug dissolution, diffusion, and absorption from the human colon with a focus on the role of the colonic mucus layer. The obtained results will be used to design drug delivery decision trees for colonic drug delivery as well as improved in silico models for drug absorption from the colon.
Outcome: This project will contribute to the understanding of mucus in the human colon and its role as barrier to drug delivery. It will result in the improvement of human biosimilar mucus and methods useful to study drug and particle diffusion, dissolution and release in this complex hydrogel.
Further, it will contribute to more efficient in silico models to predict dosage form design as well as performance in vivo for complex controlled and sustained release formulations. Other than the field of pharmaceutics, the information will also be of importance to the field of nutrition science and food science, since the mucus also serves as a barrier for nutrition uptake process (Project is performed within COLOTAN).