Pharmaceutical research and development aims to design products with ensured safety, quality, and efficacy to treat disease. To\nmake the process more rational, coherent, efficient, and cost-effective, the field of PharmaceuticalMaterials Science has emerged as\nthe systematic study of the physicochemical properties and behavior of materials of pharmaceutical interest in relation to product\nperformance.The oral route is the most patient preferred for drug administration.The presence of a mucus layer that covers the\nentire gastrointestinal tract has been exploited to expand the use of the oral route by developing a mucoadhesive drug delivery\nsystem that showed a prolonged residence time. Alginic acid and sodiumand potassium alginates have emerged as one of the most\nextensively explored mucoadhesive biomaterials owing to very good cytocompatibility and biocompatibility, biodegradation, solgel\ntransition properties, and chemical versatility that make possible further modifications to tailor their properties. The present\nreview overviews the most relevant applications of alginate microparticles and nanoparticles for drug administration by the oral\nroute and discusses the perspectives of this biomaterial in the future
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