Alginate-based sustained release drug delivery systems for tuberculosis.

Drug delivery systems have wide biomedical applications owing to their distinct therapeutic advantages, such as controlled release of drugs over prolonged periods, protection against premature drug degradation, reduction in drug toxicity and drug-drug interactions. All these factors are important considerations in the treatment of chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. In tuberculosis, patient non-compliance is a vexing problem which is responsible not only for treatment failure, but also for the emergence of multi-drug resistant cases. Alginate, a natural polymer, has attracted researchers owing to its ease of availability, compatibility with hydrophobic as well as hydrophilic molecules, biodegradability under physiological conditions, lack of toxicity and the ability to confer sustained release potential. It is not therefore surprising that the controlled release phenomenon of this polymer has been documented for a vast array of drugs. In particular, the ability of alginate to co-encapsulate multiple antitubercular drugs and offer a controlled release profile is likely to have a major impact in enhancing patient compliance for better management of tuberculosis.