Colon-Targeted Drug Delivery using Prodrug Approach

Dear Colleagues,

Colon-targeted drug delivery (CTDD) implies transport of a drug to the large intestine with no significant loss in the upper gastrointestinal tract upon oral administration of the drug. This increases drug availability at the target site and decreases drug absorption into blood, thus improving therapeutic and toxicological properties. For this reason, CTDD is applied to drugs for the treatment of colonic diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and constipation. A prodrug, an inactive derivative of a drug, is designed to circumvent pharmacokinetic issues and be subsequently activated to the drug through biochemical processes within the body. Adoption of prodrug concept to CTDD gives a birth to colon-targeted prodrug (CTP). To date, a number of hydrophilic or polymeric carrier-linked CTPs, activated by microbial enzymes in the large intestine, have been developed, largely aiming at IBD treatment. Any contributions to add knowledge and insights on CTP design and application are welcome in this Special Issue.

Prof. Yunjin Jung
Guest Editor

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• Colon-targeted drug delivery
• Prodrug approach
• Colon-targeted prodrug
• Carrier-linked prodrug
• Oral drug delivery
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Microbial enzyme