Delivery Systems in Ocular Retinopathies: The Promising Future of Intravitreal Hydrogels as Sustained-Release Scaffolds
Diana Rafael,
Marcelo Guerrero,
Adolfo Marican,
Diego Arango,
Bruno Sarmento,
Roser Ferrer,
Esteban F. Durán-Lara,
Simon J. Clark,
Simo Schwartz
Affiliations
Diana Rafael
Drug Delivery & Targeting, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Marcelo Guerrero
Bio & Nano Materials Lab, Drug Delivery and Controlled Release, Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Talca, Talca 3460000, Chile
Adolfo Marican
Bio & Nano Materials Lab, Drug Delivery and Controlled Release, Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Talca, Talca 3460000, Chile
Diego Arango
Group of Biomedical Research in Digestive Tract Tumors, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital Research Institute (VHIR), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Bruno Sarmento
i3S-Instituto de Investigação e Inovação, Saúde Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
Bio & Nano Materials Lab, Drug Delivery and Controlled Release, Departamento de Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Talca, Talca 3460000, Chile
Simon J. Clark
Department for Ophthalmology, University Eye Clinic, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
Simo Schwartz
Drug Delivery & Targeting, Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08035 Barcelona, Spain
Slow-release delivery systems are needed to ensure long-term sustained treatments for retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, which are currently treated with anti-angiogenic agents that require frequent intraocular injections. These can cause serious co-morbidities for the patients and are far from providing the adequate drug/protein release rates and required pharmacokinetics to sustain prolonged efficacy. This review focuses on the use of hydrogels, particularly on temperature-responsive hydrogels as delivery vehicles for the intravitreal injection of retinal therapies, their advantages and disadvantages for intraocular administration, and the current advances in their use to treat retinal diseases.
