Abstract
There are various routes of drug delivery, the vaginal route of drug delivery have many advantages due to large permeation area of vagina, having rich vascularization, no first pass metabolism, prolongation of drug action, even distribution of drug and relatively low enzymatic activity. Several studies have shown that the vaginal cavity is an effective pathway for drug administration rather than other conventional system for vaginal infection treatments. It has the potential to deliver the drugs for systemic effects and uterine treatment. The commercial preparations like creams, foams, gels, irrigations and tablets, are inserted in the vaginal cavity for a relatively short period of time and required to ensure the desired therapeutic effect. The vaginal route appears is highly appropriate for bioadhesive drug delivery systems in order to retain drugs in vagina for treating largely local conditions, or for use in contraception. Boiadhesives are mainly used for sexually-transmitted diseases. Bioadhesive therapeutic systems have been developed in the form of semi-solid and solid dosage forms to prolong the residence time of in vaginal cavity. Mucoadhesive polymers such as chitoson, pectin,synthetic polyacrylates, polycarbophil, cellulose derivatives, carrageenan, hyaluronic acid derivatives, pectin, sodiumalginate, and tragacanth, are responsible for forming hydrogels. The present article is a comprehensive review of the mucoadhesive vaginal drug delivery systems.
