Design of self-assembling materials for challenging drug formulations and implant devices

本研究提出的概念核心是某些自组装聚合物赋形剂特征的“微小修改可以产生重大变化”。一些多羟基材料在氢缔合作用下表现出很强的链间自组装。淀粉是一种具有不同形态的天然多糖——双螺旋（B型）或单螺旋（V型）与无序区域共存。v型结构呈现出相对疏水的内表面，可以容纳碘甚至一些脂肪分子。在现有的药物中，许多是非常低溶的（即非甾体抗炎药，如布洛芬），因此难以配制以控制给药。其他药物具有非常高的溶解度（如抗糖尿病的二甲双胍），并且也难以配制成缓释剂型。因此，它们的效率很低，并且由于在不适当的位置释放而产生不良的副作用。

The conceptual core of the proposed research is that “Minor modifications can generate Major changes” in certain self-assembling polymeric excipient features. Several polyhydroxylic materials may present strong interchain self-assembling stabilized by hydrogen association. Starch is a natural polysaccharide exhibiting different morphological forms - double helix (B type) or single helix (V type) that coexist with disordered regions. The V-type structures present a relatively hydrophobic inner surface that can hold iodine or even some fatty molecules. Among the current drugs, many of them are very low soluble (i.e. non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as ibuprofen) and consequently difficult to formulate for controlled delivery. Other drugs present a very high solubility (such as the antidiabetic metformin) and are also difficult to formulate for sustained release. Thus, their efficiency is low and they can produce undesirable side effects due to their liberation at improper sites.