Acrylated Polymers

One of the approaches of drug delivery that has been extensively studied in the last decade explores mucoadhesive polymers as a potential carrier for transmucosal drug release. The main focus of this chapter is a new family of mucoadhesive materials, termed acrylated polymers. A thorough description of acrylated polymers is presented in the chapter following two short introductory sections, the first of which deals with mucoadhesion phenomenon and the second with various types of interactions involved in the mucoadhesion process. The adhesion of acrylated mucoadhesive polymers relies mostly on their ability to covalently associate with mucin-type glycoproteins through sulfide-acrylate interactions. Alginate-poly(ethylene glycol) acrylate (alginate-PEGAc) combines the strength, simplicity and gelation ability of alginate with the mucoadhesive properties arising from the poly(ethylene glycols) (PEGs) characteristics and the acrylate functionality.