摘要：

While microgels and nanogels aremost commonly used for the deliveryof hydrophilic therapeutics, the water-swollen structure, size, deformability,colloidal stability, functionality, and physicochemical tunabilityof microgels can also offer benefits for addressing many of the barriersof conventional vehicles for the delivery of hydrophobic therapeutics.In this review, we describe approaches for designing microgels withthe potential to load and subsequently deliver hydrophobic drugs bycreating compartmentalized microgels (e.g., core–shell structures),introducing hydrophobic domains in microgels, leveraging host–guestinteractions, and/or applying "smart" environmentallyresponsive materials with switchable hydrophobicity. In particular,the challenge of promoting hydrophobic drug loading without compromisingthe inherent advantages of microgels as delivery vehicles and ensuringpractically relevant release kinetics from such structures is highlighted,with an eye toward the practical translation of such vehicles to theclinic.

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