Polyacrylic acid-based drug delivery systems: A comprehensive review on the state-of-art

Polyacrylic acid (PAA)-based drug carrier systems have garnered much significance towards the delivery of various therapeutic agents via different administration routes for the accomplishment of a controlled and sustained release profile. PAA renders a safe and effectual system for drug delivery owing to its nontoxicity and mucoadhesiveness. Furthermore, the versatility of PAA is paramount towards the fabrication of varied architectures namely hydrogels (including injectable hydrogels), microparticles, nanoparticles and the like. The possibility of delivery of therapeutics using various routes such as oral, buccal, transdermal, nasal, vaginal and gene/vitamin/growth factors delivery further diversify the prospects of PAA in the biomedical field. This review presents an elaboration on the recent advances on PAA-based drug carrier systems along with their delivery routes. The growing emergence of PAA-based systems as smart injectables in drug delivery is also discussed.