The aim of this review is to summarize the wide range of applications of cyclodextrins (CDs) and their derivatives in different areas of drug delivery and pharmaceutical industry due to their complexation ability and other versatile characteristics. Cyclodextrins were first described by Villiers in 1891. He described Cyclodextrin as enzyme conversion product of starch. Schardinger laid the foundation of the cyclodextrin chemistry in 1903-1911. In the 1930s, Freudenberg suggested that larger

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... odextrins could exist. Freudenberg and co-workers showed that cyclodextrins were cyclic oligosaccharides formed by glucose units. Cramer and co-workers described their ability to form inclusion complexes. By the early 1950s the basic physicochemical characteristics of cyclodextrins had been discovered, including their ability to solubilize and stabilize drugs. The first cyclodextrin-related patent was issued in 1953 to Freudenberg, Cramer and Plieninger. Cyclodextrin also effects on drug solubility and dissolution, bioavailability, safety, stability, and drug release from formulation by forming the Cyclodextrin-drug complex. Various factors are responsible for complex formation. The article highlights important CDs applications in the design of various novel delivery systems like liposomes, microspheres, microcapsules, and nanoparticles. New cyclodextrin-based technologies are constantly being developed and, thus, 100 years after their discovery cyclodextrins are still regarded as novel excipients of unexplored potential.