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Abstract
The oral route is considered to be the most preferred route for administration of drugs for systemic effect, but the oral route is not suitable to the administration of drug for lower gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, this happened due to their release at upper GI tract (stomach, small intestine), which further minimizes the accessibility of drugs at the lower GI tract. To overcome this difficulty, colon-specific drug delivery systems have been broadly analyzed during the last two decades. The colon is a site where both local and systemic delivery of drugs can take place. To achieve successful colon targeted drug delivery, a drug need to be protected from degradation, release and absorption in the upper portion of the gastric intestinal tract (GIT) and then to be ensured controlled release in the proximal colon. This review is focused on the merits and demerits, in brief, introduction of colon, factor effecting colonic transition, approaches in the colon targeted drug delivery, and novel emerging technologies for colon targeting.