Drug carrier

Drug carriers are substances that serve as mechanisms to improve the delivery and the effectiveness of drugs. Drug carriers are used in sundry drug delivery systems such as:

• controlled-release technology to prolong in vivo drug actions;
• decrease drug metabolism, and
• reduce drug toxicity.

Additional recommended knowledge

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

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Carriers are also used in designs to increase the effectiveness of drug delivery to the target sites of pharmacological actions.

Examples

Carriers which are able to biodegrade include:

• Liposomes;
• Microspheres made of the biodegradable polymer poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid
• albumin microspheres;
• synthetic polymers (soluble);
• Protein-DNA complexes;
• protein conjugates; and
• erythrocytes.

See also

• Bioavailability
• Drug design
• Nanoparticle

Resources

The following research papers from IUPAC are in pdf format:

• Biodegradable hydrogels for bone regeneration through growth factor release
• Development of acid-sensitive copolymer micelles for drug delivery