Why is the rate of drug delivery often proportional to the surface area for a surface-degrading polymeric drug delivery device? Why is the rate of drug delivery often proportional... Why is the rate of drug delivery often proportional to the surface area for a surface-degrading polymeric drug delivery device? Why is the rate of drug delivery often proportional to the number of remaining intact bonds in a bulk-degrading polymeric drug delivery device? Which device (A, B or C) is associated with the plotted curve with circles? Which device (A, B or C) is associated with the plotted curve with triangles? Which device (A, B or C) is associated with the plotted curve with X's? Briefly justify your answers.
Understand the Problem
The question is asking about the relationship between drug delivery rates and the characteristics of two types of polymeric drug delivery devices: surface-degrading and bulk-degrading. It requires an explanation of why the drug release rate is related to surface area for surface-degrading devices and to the number of remaining bonds for bulk-degrading devices. The user also needs to determine which plotted curves correspond to which devices based on the provided reasoning.
Answer
Surface area influences drug release in surface-degrading polymers; intact bonds influence bulk-degrading ones. Curve association needs more details.
The rate of drug delivery for surface-degrading polymeric devices is proportional to the surface area because the drug is released as the polymer surface erodes. For bulk-degrading devices, it is proportional to the number of remaining intact bonds because the drug release occurs uniformly throughout the material. Unfortunately, without additional context or data on the plotted curves, it is not possible to definitively associate the devices (A, B, or C) with specific curves. To do so, one would need specific characteristics of each curve that correlate with the known behaviors of surface vs. bulk degradation.
Answer for screen readers
The rate of drug delivery for surface-degrading polymeric devices is proportional to the surface area because the drug is released as the polymer surface erodes. For bulk-degrading devices, it is proportional to the number of remaining intact bonds because the drug release occurs uniformly throughout the material. Unfortunately, without additional context or data on the plotted curves, it is not possible to definitively associate the devices (A, B, or C) with specific curves. To do so, one would need specific characteristics of each curve that correlate with the known behaviors of surface vs. bulk degradation.
More Information
Surface-degrading polymers release drugs as their surfaces erode, providing controlled delivery. Bulk-degrading polymers degrade throughout the material and release drugs based on internal bond hydrolysis.
Tips
A common mistake is confusing the mechanisms of surface and bulk decomposition, leading to incorrect predictions of drug release behavior.
Sources
- Bulk Erosion - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics - sciencedirect.com
- Surface Chemistry of Biodegradable Polymers for Drug Delivery - pubs.acs.org
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