Natural polymers have been utilized extensively in food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles, oil drilling and paint industries. Their non-toxic and inexpensive attributes readily enhance their commercial acceptability and make them potent agents in lieu of synthetic polymers. This book explores the opportunistic utility of natural polymers in developing effective drug delivery systems and provides a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of their source, chemical structure and mechanism of action. Covering novel polymers for drug delivery - in particular extracts from plants, microorganisms and proteins, as well as water soluble and water insoluble biodegradable polymers - it presents an encyclopaedic overview of natural polymers': - quintessential roles in binding drugs towards enhancing bioavailability - modification and derivatization for targeted delivery - role as active drugs Natural Polymers for Drug Delivery is an invaluable resource for researchers, students and industrial scientists in the fields of biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacology and food science. ; This book provides an overview of the source, chemical structure and action mechanism of natural polymers. Focusing on their utility in developing effective drug delivery systems, it covers polymers’ role in binding drugs towards enhancing bioavailability, modification and derivatisation for targeted delivery, and modification as active drugs. ;

• 1: Natural Polymers for Drug Delivery: An Introduction
• Section I: Drug Delivery Based on Different Classes of Polymers
• 2: Cellulose-based Polymeric Systems in Drug Delivery
• 3: Hydrocolloids-based Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
• 4: Water Soluble Biodegradable Polymers for Drug Delivery
• 5: Polysaccharide-based Drug Carriers
• 6: Polymer-based Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery Systems and Cancer Therapeutics
• 7: Polymer Nanocomposite-based Biosensors for Drug Delivery Applications
• Section II: Polymeric Interaction and Conjugates
• 8: Polymer-Drug Conjugates: Targeted Drug Delivery
• 9: Protein-Drug Conjugates: A New Class of Biotherapeutics
• 10: Microencapsulation for Controlled Gastrointestinal Delivery of Probiotics and Prebiotics
• Section III: Disease-specific Drug Delivery Systems
• 11: Chitosan in Drug Delivery and Targeting for Cancer Treatment
• 12: Polymers as Biodegradable Matrices in Transdermal Drug Delivery
• 13: Ocular Drug Delivery Systems
• 14: Natural Polymers Targeting Habitual Disease
• 15: Bioengineered Wound and Burn Healing Substitutes: Novel Design for Biomedical and General Applications