ABSTRACT
Imprinting technology involves the creation of specific binding sites in the polymeric network during polymerization in the presence of the template molecule. The major advantage of molecularly imprinted polymers formed after final template removal is high selectivity of material. The incorporation of imprinting technology into the synthesis of hydrophilic and biocompatible hydrogels can provide highly sophisticated carriers for drugs with prolonged release profiles. Moreover, molecularly imprinted hydrogels have attracted attention as the versatile biomaterials for the stereoselective release of chiral therapeutics. This extremely important property can maximize the delivery of eutomer, the pharmacologically active isomer of interest and reduce or even eliminate the delivery of the distomer, the undesirable isomer. Nowadays, the application of molecularly imprinted hydrogels in this field is still at the development stage. In this chapter, the principles of imprinting technology, the synthetic aspects and the drug-release behaviour of molecularly imprinted hydrogels are discussed. A brief survey of recent published studies 65emphasizes the possible utility of molecularly imprinted hydrogels as the drug delivery devices in various administering routes. Finally, some current limitations and future prospects for the molecularly imprinted hydrogels are outlined.
