Chronopharmaceutics as a Novel Approach for Clinically Relevant Drug Delivery System

Chronopharmaceutics has been described as a branch of pharmaceutics devoted to the design and evaluation of drug delivery system that release a bioactive agent at a rhythm that ideally matches the biological requirement of a given drug therapy. The circadian clock acts like a multifunction timer to regulate homeostatic systems such as sleep and activity, hormone levels, appetite, and other bodily functions with 24h cycles. Diseases such as hypertension, asthma, peptic ulcer, arthritis, etc, follow the body's circadian rhythm. The goal in drug delivery research is to develop formulations to meet therapeutic needs relating to particular pathological conditions. Research in the chronopharmacological field has demonstrated the importance of biological rhythm in drug therapy, and this has brought a new approach to the drug delivery systems. The application of biological rhythm to pharmacotherapy may be correlated by the appropriate timing of dosing of these drug delivery systems to synchronize drug concentrations to rhythms in disease state.