A novel pH-sensitive hydrogels for potential colon-specific drug delivery: Characterization and in vitro release studies

摘要

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels are extensively investigated to implement new biomedical and pharmaceutical approaches. In this work, novel pH-sensitive semi-interpenetrating polymer network (semi-IPN) hydrogels based on starch and poly(aspartic acid) (PAsp) with potential applicability in the field of pharmaceutics were prepared and characterized. The goal was to obtain a colon specific drug delivery system and to exploit the pH-sensitive behavior of the hydrogels. The obtained hydrogels were characterized by FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), DSC, and SEM. The swelling behavior of the hydrogels with a suitable ratio of starch and poly(aspartic acid) was investigated in gastrointestinal simulated conditions. Moreover, the drug release studies were carried out using 5-Flurouracil as amodel of anticancer drug in enzyme free simulated gastrointestinal conditions and simulated intestinal conditions containing a-amylase, respectively. The obtained hydrogels, due to their excellent pH-sensitive release property, could be potentially used as drug delivery systems for the oral treatment of colonic cancer.