Polysaccharide based Copolymers as Supramolecular Systems in Biomedical Applications

Polysaccharides are natural polymers, obtained from a large variety of sources ranging from fungi to more complex organisms such as birds and whales. Their use for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications has been the subject of numerous researches by the world´s academia. Polysaccharide chemical/physical modifications leading to graft copolymers are discussed in this review, focusing on those nanosystems that are potential candidates for drug delivery applications. Therefore, this review focuses on the biomedical application of polysaccharide based copolymers, particularly as nanocarriers. Copolymer of polysaccharides such as alginate, cellulose, chitosan, dextran, guar, hyaluronic acid, pullulan and starch as drug delivery nanocarriers will be discussed.