ABSTRACT:
An ideal drug delivery system should deliver a measurable and reproducible amount of drug when and where it is required. Studies show that many behavioural, physiological and biochemical processes of human body along with pathophysiology of certain diseases and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of many drugs as well undergo rhythmic changes with time by following circadian rhythms. So, a drug delivery system should be developed to provide the drug in synchrony with the human circadian rhythms. It allows for dosing of lower active agents with higher amount at specific time when greatest need and lower amount when lees need with the potential to reduce side effects, improve efficacy and thus real optimization of therapy. Conventional dosage forms, sustained release or even constant release delivery systems fail to provide such release pattern that matches to the body’s circadian rhythms. This problem can be overcome by chronotherapeutic drug delivery system that includes various devices and dosage forms fabricated by using a number of novel technologies. A variety of products based upon these technologies are in market and many others are very near to be arrived. The objective of this review is to explore the current status of the technologies claiming as chronotherapeutic drug delivery system. The article also tends to provide a bird’s eye view on the rudimentary aspects, technical description and other salient features of several technological variants of chronotherapeutic drug delivery system.