Hydrogels, Oleogels and Bigels Used for Drug Delivery

Dear Colleagues,

Semisolid preparations have always been preferred by patients due to their decreased risk of side effects and ease of administration. The selected semisolid formulations in this Special Issue are hydrogels, oleogels, and a combination of these two called bigels (a semisolid form that can provide the same or better properties than the latter two; they are also named viscous emulsions). All three of them can incorporate many active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from different biopharmaceutical classes (BCS I-IV), resulting in homogenous (dissolved in the gel base) or heterogenous dispersions (dispersed as an emulsion or suspended in the gel base) that imply distinctive behaviors regarding permeation through different membranes (natural or synthetic). The size of the dispersed API and the application area can influence permeation through the biological membranes. The way the API remains as a dispersion in the gelled matrix also influences the gel’s structure and its behavior regarding consistency, extensometry, cohesiveness, adhesivity, extrudability, etc. This Special Issue aims to outline the current research on semisolid pharmaceutical formulations, focusing on hydrogels, oleogels, and bigels, and welcomes original and review papers on all the aspects of their design, development, manufacturing, characterization, administration, and use for patient-centered therapy.

Dr. Robert-Alexandru Vlad
Prof. Dr. Adriana Ciurba
Dr. Paula Antonoaea
Prof. Dr. Aline F. Miller
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• hydrogels, oleogels, and bigels
• semisolid pharmaceuticals and semisolid dispersions
• pharmaceutical technology
• industrial pharmaceutical processes
• semisolid formulations development
• topical and in situ gelling systems
• gelled system formers and gel-forming polymers
• pharmacotechnical analysis
• semi-solid control diagram (SSCD)
• texture and consistency analysis
• rheology and mathematical modeling
• in vitro penetration tests, membrane permeation, and mathematical modeling
• franz and diffusion cells, static permeation flux, and dynamic permeation flux
• membranes, natural membranes, synthetic membranes
• transdermal drug delivery
• quality via the design of experiments