Research of oral prodrugs: opportunities and challenges.
- Author:
Feng CAO
1
;
Qi-Neng PING
;
Jun CHEN
Author Information
1. Department of Pharmaceutics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210038, China.
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Administration, Oral;
Animals;
Biological Transport;
Drug Delivery Systems;
Drug Design;
Humans;
Intestinal Absorption;
Prodrugs;
administration & dosage;
pharmacokinetics;
Solubility
- From:
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica
2008;43(4):343-349
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Prodrug is an effective way to improve the oral absorption of the drugs which belong to Biopharmaceuticals Classification System (BCS) class III and IV. This review addresses the progress of the oral prodrugs in recent years, mainly including classical prodrug design and targeted prodrug design. Classical prodrug design is focused on modification of oil-water partition coefficient or decrease the metabolism of parent drugs. Targeted prodrug design is actively concerned with the physiological characteristics of the gastrointestinal tract to target tissues, enzymes and influx transporters. Intestinal influx transporter, the peptide transporter-targeted prodrug design is a growing field of the research of oral prodrugs recently. Challenges of prodrug strategy, design and investigation in vivo are also discussed.
