ABSTRACT:
Recently, there has been a great deal of research activity in the development of stimuli-responsive drug delivery. Many vital functions are regulated by pulsed or triggered release of bioactive substances at a specific site and time. The ability to deliver therapeutic agents to a patient in pulsatile release profile has been a major goal in drug delivery research in order to mimic the function of the living systems to minimize the undesired side effects. This review will cover methods that have been developed to control drug release according to pulsed stimuli. The systems are designed to alter the rate of drug delivery in response to stimuli (internally or externally) such as changes in temperature, chemical, pH, magnetic or electric fields etc. Such systems are suitable for the release of therapeutic agent that benefit from non-constant plasma concentrations. These systems have the potential to improve the quality of life for patients undergoing therapy with a variable dosing regimen. The present article provides a brief introduction and recent developments in the area of stimuli-responsive pulsatile drug delivery systems and their applications in drug delivery.