Injectable and Mucosal Routes of Drug Administration

The properties of oral mucosa (its accessibility, excellent blood supply and good permeability) make it an attractive and promising site for local and systemic drug delivery. The development of mucoadhesives, sustained drug release, permeability enhancers and drug delivery vectors supported with the novel technologies of molecular biology and nanotechnology enhances efficient drug delivery across the oral mucosa. Trabsmucosal drug delivery has many advantages in the treatment of oral and systemic diseases and for the patient himself ; it eases drug administration, improves patient compliance as compared to parenteral route, enables rapid onset of action and better systemic bioavailability of drug, bypasses first pass metabolism, enables sustained and protected drug delivery and lower dosage with higher efficacy. Therefore, oral mucosa provides exceptional treatment options for many local and systemic diseases allowing the use of a broad spectrum of drugs, even those the systemic use of which by other routes is associated with limitations.