Abstract

Hydrogels, the swellable polymeric materials, have been widely investigated as the carrier for drug delivery systems. These biomaterials have gained attention owing to their peculiar characteristics like swelling in aqueous medium, pH and temperature sensitivity or sensitivity towards other stimuli. Hydrogels being biocompatible materials have been recognized to function as drug protectors, especially for peptides and proteins, from in vivo environment. Also these swollen polymers are helpful as targetable carriers for bioactive drugs with tissue specificity. This article presents an overview to the advances in hydrogel based drug delivery that have become the interest of most researchers.

Key words: Hydrogels, pH sensitivity, temperature sensitivity, glucose sensitivity, biodegradable.