Abstract
Abstract Composited electrospun nanofibers made of temperature-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) and biodegradable poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) can be utilized for ‘on-demand’ and controlled drug release of ibuprofen without burst effect for potential pharmaceutical applications. Three types of nanofibers, PCL, pNIPAM and pNIPAM/PCL composite NFs containing ibuprofen were fabricated using electrospinning techniques. Ibuprofen release rates from PCL NFs are not affected by the temperature in the range of 22–34°C (less than 10%). In contrast, the ibuprofen release rates from pNIPAM NFs are very sensitive to the change in temperature, which is five times higher at 22°C compared to 34°C. However, there is a serious burst effect at 22°C. Compared to other two types of NFs, pNIPAM/PCL composite NFs prepared demonstrated a variable and controlled release at both room and higher temperature, due to the extra protection from the hydrophobic poly (ε-caprolactone). The rate at 22°C is 75% faster compared to that at 34°C. This kind of composite design can provide a novel approach to suppress the burst effect in drug delivery systems for potential pharmaceutical applications.
Highlights
Drug delivery systems are playing an important role in the fields of medical and pharmaceutical sciences [1]
Fabrication of pNIPAM/IP/PCL composite NFs: 50 mg IP and 1.0 g pNIPAM powders were dissolved in 5.0 mL ethanol under magnetic stirring and used as the solution for the core needle. 0.6 g PCL pellets were dissolved in 10 mL acetone under magnetic stirring and sonication, and used as the solution for the shell needle
If the concentration of PCL solution was reduced from 10% to 6% (w/v), the diameters of PCL/ibuprofen fibers can be significantly reduced to below 300 nm on average
Summary
Drug delivery systems are playing an important role in the fields of medical and pharmaceutical sciences [1]. A sustained and controlled release of drug molecules is critically important to tissue engineering and effective treatment of many diseases, ranging from arthritis to cancer therapies [2,3]. In the past decade, advanced nanotechnology and nanoscience have been extensively applied to the fabrication of smart materials which can controllably release drug molecules [4,5,6,7]. A common problem in drug delivery system is known as burst effect, which is most likely due to the rapid release of surface-associated drug molecules [8]. Another challenge is to realize a programmable drug delivery with variable dosing rates [9]
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