The use of electrospinning in the development of systems for buccal drug delivery: a review

Abstract

Electrospinning is a simple, low cost and versatile technology used for the manufacture of nanomaterials. The electrospun nanofibers produced are characterized by high porosity and large specific surface area, factors that make the membranes potentially useful in the development of systems for drug release. When it comes to drug release in the oral cavity, the nanofibers are highlighted due to the advantage of easy modulation of the drug release profile, by monitoring the morphology, porosity, chemical composition of the fibers and the electrospinning technique. In this sense, this study developed a literature review on the use of the electrospinning technique to obtain buccal drug delivery systems. Scientific articles published in the databases Science Direct and Embase were used, with the following descriptors and their combinations: [electrospinning] and [buccal drug delivery]. Articles published between 2013 and 2023 were considered. For the inclusion of the studies, the following criteria were used: articles published in English, experimental studies, and the descriptors should appear in the title, abstract, or keywords. Fourteen articles were included in the final analysis and from them it was verified the wide use of the electrospinning technique for the development of buccal drug delivery systems and the employment of active substances of various pharmacological classes. The analyzed studies conclude that the use of electro-spinning of drugs associated with other pharmaceutical excipients are promising tools in the development of drug delivery systems in the oral cavity, since they avoid first-pass hepatic metabolism, enzymatic degradation of the drug, present ease of administration and allow easy removal of the system in case of adverse events.