Hydroxypropylcellulose in oral drug delivery

Peroral drug administraion is by far the most common and most convenient route of drug delivery. The need of polymeric carriers permitting controlled release of a desired drug following oral administration has led to the screening of a large variety of synthetic and natural polymers. In oral solid dosage forms, hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) is widely used as binder due to its excellent physico-chemical characteristics combined with mucoadhesive properties. Graft copolymers of HPC, decorated at random with short amphiphilic chains, form nanoparticles in water, consisting of a hydrophobic core surrounded by a hydrophilic, mucoadhesive shell. Such HPC-based assemblies can act as carrier of highly lipophilic drugs. The molecular design and characterization of HPC-based drug delivery systems are discussed, together with their ability to entrap cyclosporin A (CsA), and to carry it through model intestinal membrane. (c) 2006 American Chemical Society