Abstract

COLON TARGETED DRUG DELIVERY – A REVIEW ON PRIMARY AND NOVEL APPROACHES

Nehal M. Bhatt* and Rakesh P. Patel

Abstract

Drug targeting through various delivery systems to the colon of the gastrointestinal tract has been topic of research and interest since many years. Need for better treatment of local disorders of colonic region such as inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and cancer has driven the scientific research. The colon has also been explored for direct entry of drugs in systemic circulation and avoid first pass metabolism. Several different delivery systems have been explored and researched for colon targeting which mostly depend on exploiting at least one of the gastrointestinal features: difference in pH, transit time, intestinal pressure and intestinal microflora. Evaluation of colonic drug delivery is a major task and involves different approaches such in vitro dissolution test, fermentation studies, in vitro enzymatic test, in vivo evaluation test with appropriate animal models.

Keywords: Drug targeting with appropriate animal models.