ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:To discuss the preparation methods of polyaspartate derivatives as drug delivery systems. DATA SOURCES:An online search of Elselvier,ACS publications and Springerlink between January 1990 and January 2006 was undertaken by using the keywords of "polyaspart*,hydrogels,micelles,complexes" to identify the relevant articles published in English.Meanwhile,Chinese journals full-text database were scanned with computer to search relevant articles published from January 1995 to October 2005,and the keywords were"asparmide,complexes,hydrogels,release" with language limited to Chinese.STUDY SELECTION:All the related data were analyzed to select those were aimed directly at the criteria.As for the arti cles in the same field,those published recently or published in the authority journals were preferred. DATA EXTRACTION:A total of 56 articles about the preparation methods of polyaspartate derivatives as drug delivery systems were collected, and 29 of them were in accordance with the inclusion criteria. DATA SYNTHESIS:Polyaspartate derivatives are new biodegradable and biocompatible materials.Covalent complexes, hydrogels and micelles,three main drug delivery systems of polyaspartate derivatives,exhibit good biocompatibility and conspicuous effect of control-release.CONCLUSION:With the help of the short synthesis route,simple manipulation,high production rate, the excellent biocompatibility as well as the better hydrophile,the polyaspartate derivatives are prone to reacting with other compounds for the modification.It is noted that the controllability of the control-release systems will be well improved through the researches of the influence factors of the degrading velocity and the new modifying method,additionally,the polyaspartate derivatives will be applied in the drug delivery field widely.