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Abstract
Electrospun nanofibers have been widely studied for many medical applications. They can be designed with specific features, including mucoadhesive properties. This review summarizes the polymeric scaffolds obtained by the electrospinning process that has been applied for drug release in different mucosal sites such as oral, ocular, gastroenteric, vaginal, and nasal. We analyzed the electrospinning parameters that have to be optimized to create reproducible and efficient mucoadhesive nanofibers, among them are: electrical field, polymer concentration, viscosity, flow rate, needle-collector distance, solution conductivity, solvent, environmental parameters, and electrospinning setup. We also revised the mucoadhesive theories as well as the mucoadhesive properties of the polymers used. This review shows that the most studied mucosal site is the oral cavity, because it is accessible and easy to evaluate, while the rest are uncomfortable for the patient and difficult to assess in vivo. We found problems that need to be solved for mucoadhesive electrospun nanofibers, such as improving adhesion strength and mucosal permanence time, and the design of unidirectional release, multilayer systems for the treatment of several pathologies, to ensure the drug concentration in the tissue or target organ.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr Ricardo Vera Graziano, Instituto de Investigaciones en Materiales, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ciudad de México, for help in acquiring SEM micrographies ( and ). This work was supported by “Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT)” grant known as “Fondo de Cooperación Internacional en Ciencia y Tecnología del Conacyt (FONCICYT)” and grant named “Convocatoria Conjunta de Movilidad 2015 CONACYT-DST México-India” with CONACYT project number 266380 and SICASPI-UABC number 351/375/E. The work was also supported by the 20th Internal Call for Research Projects UABC and Grant for the Strengthening of Academic Bodies SEP-PRODES. The authors thank Mrs Yadira Sepulveda for proofreading the manuscript.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.