Xanthan Gum in Medical Field Applications

xanthan gum pharmaceutical uses/applications are as follows:

Pharmaceutical Excipient

Xanthan gum was included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia as a pharmaceutical excipient in 2010. Compared with other gums and suspending agents, pharmaceutical grade xanthan gum has high viscosity (especially significant at low concentrations), strong rheology and pseudoplastic, excellent stability, acid and alkali resistance, enzyme resistance, good compatibility and adaptability with various solvents, and safe and non-toxic characteristics. As a result, xanthan gum has very good pharmaceutical applications.

Xanthan gum is a functional component that is popular among microcapsule drugs in the international sections, which plays an important role in controlling the sustainable release of drugs. Due to its own strong hydrophilicity and water retention, there are many specific medical operations and applications, such as forming a dense water film to avoid skin infections; reducing the thirst of patients after radiotherapy. Xanthan gum itself can significantly enhance humoral immune function. The application in medicine is as a stabilizer, which can be used in various suspension concentrations and emulsifiers, such as vitamin emulsifiers to avoid delamination caused by temperature rise. Xanthan gum is easily soluble in cold water, making it is easier to make solution preparation. As a thickener, xanthan gum can be used to make tablets that can extend the contact time with other additives.

Deosen recommended type: PM80/200

Recommended dosage: 0.01%---0.05%

Preparation of Liquid and semi-solid medicine

Xanthan gum can be used as an effective thickener, suspending agent, emulsifier, and stabilizer in the multiphase system of liquid and semi-solid preparations. The pseudo-plasticity of xanthan gum makes it easier to apply in external medicine preparations. The drug is not easy to fall off from the skin after water volatilization, thereby improving the bioavailability of the drug and the comfort of medication.

Taking calamine lotion bifonazole eye drops and bifonazole ointment as models, we compare the effects of xanthan gum, Arabic gum, and guar gum in heterogeneous liquid and semi-solid preparations. The results show that the thixotropic suspension and thickening properties of xanthan gum are better than the other two gums, xanthan gum is an excellent suspending and thickening agent.

In eye drops, the long contact time between the drug and the body can better play the medicine effects. Xanthan gum is effective when it is used as an auxiliary for eye drops, which can prevent and treat various ophthalmic diseases such as retinitis and choroiditis. The rapid blinking of the eye makes the viscosity of eye drops decrease, the drug quickly disperses and fully contacts with the affected area. When the blinking is stopped, the viscosity increases to make the eye drops difficult to flow and prolong the action time of the drug. The eye drops which are prepared by mixing xanthan gum and sodium hyaluronate can protect corneal epithelial cells and accelerate cell regeneration.

Degradation and products

Xanthan gum oligosaccharides have the ability to scavenge hydroxyl free radicals and activate the plant defense system to resist the infection of pathogenic bacteria. At the same time, it also has antibacterial activity against Xanthomonas campestris. Xanthan gum oligosaccharides also have strong antiviral activity, plant inducing activity, and strong antioxidant activity.

Derivatives and applications

Xanthan gum derivatives have the characteristics of xanthan gum and other substances, they have higher economic values. Among them, the graft copolymerization method in chemical modification occupies an important position in the production of derivatives. Xanthan gum also plays a certain role in the immobilization and controlled release of antibiotic drugs. Xanthan gum is mainly used as a slow-release agent and a controlled release agent for binder disintegrants. When it is used as a binder, the tablet has strong adhesion and it will not be too hard. At the same time, it can also add starch, gum arabic, guar gum, locust bean gum, and other auxiliary materials to adjust to the required hardness. During tablet compression and storage, splinters are not easy to appear. This product has good swelling, wetting, and capillary action. Therefore, it is also a good disintegrant. It is suitable for both highly water-soluble drugs and poorly water-soluble drugs. At present, xanthan gum is a component of microencapsulated drug capsules in the world and plays an important role in controlling drug release.

Lipid-lowering drugs*

In terms of lipid-lowering drugs, xanthan gum and its compounds have suitable viscosity and swelling coefficient which can prolong the gastric retention time of food to reduce blood lipids. Attachment: Safety assessment of xanthan gum-In 1969, xanthan gum was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was included in the National Formulary (NF) in 1975; In 1983, the United Nations Food and Drug Administration and The World Health Organization (FAO/WHO) approved and announced xanthan gum as a food additive at the Food Additives Conference which was held in Rome. There are no restrictions on its addition and no special regulations on allowable daily intake (ADI); In 1988, approved by the Ministry of Health of China, xanthan gum was included in the list of food additives. The "GB 2760-2014 Standard for the Use of Food Additives" stipulated that xanthan gum can be used in various foods in appropriate amounts according to production needs. In 2010, it is included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (ChP) as a pharmaceutical excipient.

Because of the excellent physical and chemical properties, xanthan gum will continue to attract the attention of scientific researchers at home and abroad. As a pharmaceutical excipient, it will be widely used in the field of pharmacy, more and better xanthan gum preparations will be developed. According to the characteristics of xanthan gum, it has a great potentiality in the application of the biomedical engineering field. The degradation products of xanthan gum have a variety of biological activities. Deosen will continue to make researches on the biological activity of xanthan gum degradation products and look for more strains and enzymes that degrade xanthan gum to obtain more degradation products under various conditions. The effective xanthan gum products will be explored to meet the demands of domestic and international xanthan gum markets.