Zeolitas como sistemas de liberación y adsorción de principios activos en la industria farmacéutica

Abstract

Abstract: Zeolites, microporous aluminosilicate minerals, and their synthetic analogues, including zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), have emerged as an alternative to conventional polymeric systems for improving solubility and controlling the release of drugs with biopharmaceutical limitations. This study evaluated the potential of zeolites as drug adsorption and release systems through a systematic review conducted under the PRISMA 2020 statement, applied to a verified corpus of 45 references published between 2020 and 2025, of which 18 corresponded to primary studies with quantifiable data. The results showed differentiated drug-zeolite interaction mechanisms depending on structural type and degree of functionalization, with loading capacities of up to 95% w/w and sustained release profiles of up to 48 hours, reinforced by DFT computational modeling. The main limitation identified was the limited clinical evidence (11%) compared with the predominance of in vitro studies (78%), together with the absence of official pharmacopeial monographs. The study also provides a systematization of the potential of Ecuadorian zeolites (UTPL, ESPOL) for developing low-cost therapeutic systems.