Hemijska Industrija (Jan 2023)

Poly(methacrylic acid) hydrogels crosslinked by poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate as pH-responsive systems for drug delivery applications

  • Ugrinović Vukašin,
  • Marković Maja,
  • Božić Bojan,
  • Panić Vesna,
  • Veljović Đorđe

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2298/HEMIND221228018U
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 77, no. 4
pp. 235 – 249

Abstract

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Hydrogels are attractive materials for drug delivery applications due to biocompatible, porous structure with the possibility to load and deliver drugs in a controllable manner. In this paper, poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) hydrogels are described, which are synthesized by free-radical polymerization, using poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) as a crosslinker. Influence of the PEGDA content on hydrogel properties was investigated and compared to commonly used crosslinker - N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA). The increasing concentration of crosslinkers led to a higher degree of crosslinking, which was demonstrated by a higher degree of conversion, lower swelling capacity, and improved thermal stability and mechanical properties. Also, the PEGDA-crosslinked hydrogels demonstrated a higher degree of crosslinking than the corresponding MBA-crosslinked hydrogels. Potential application of the synthesized hydrogels for controlled drug delivery was investigated by using two model drugs - oxaprozin and ciprofloxacin. In vitro drug release tests indicated that the interactions between drug, polymer and medium have a key influence on the drug release behavior, rather than the swelling rate. Drug release tests in simulated gastrointestinal conditions indicated that PEGDA-crosslinked PMAA hydrogels are suitable for colon-targeted delivery of oxaprozin.

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