Published in

MDPI, Pharmaceutics, 5(15), p. 1484, 2023

DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15051484

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Delivery Systems in Ocular Retinopathies: The Promising Future of Intravitreal Hydrogels as Sustained-Release Scaffolds

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Slow-release delivery systems are needed to ensure long-term sustained treatments for retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, which are currently treated with anti-angiogenic agents that require frequent intraocular injections. These can cause serious co-morbidities for the patients and are far from providing the adequate drug/protein release rates and required pharmacokinetics to sustain prolonged efficacy. This review focuses on the use of hydrogels, particularly on temperature-responsive hydrogels as delivery vehicles for the intravitreal injection of retinal therapies, their advantages and disadvantages for intraocular administration, and the current advances in their use to treat retinal diseases.