Abstract
The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of hydrogel mesh size, a conductive polymer, and electric field strength on controlled drug delivery phenomena using drug-loaded polyacrylamide hydrogels prepared at various crosslinking ratios both with and without a conductive polymer system. Poly(p-phenylene vinylene), PPV, as the model conductive polymer, was used to study its ability to control aloin released from aloin-doped poly(p-phenylene vinylene)/polyacrylamide hydrogel (aloin-doped PPV/PAAM). In the passive release, the diffusion of aloin from five aloin-doped PPV/PAAM hydrogel systems each was delayed ranging from during the first three hours to during the first 14 h due to the ionic interaction between the anionic drug and PPV. After the delayed periods, aloin could diffuse continuously into the buffer solution through the PAAM matrix. The amount of aloin released from the aloin-doped PPV/PAAM rose with increasing electric field strength as a result of the three mechanisms: the expansion of PPV chains inside the hydrogel, iontophoresis, and the electroporation of the matrix pore size, combined. Furthermore, the conductive polymer and the electric field could be used in combination to regulate the amount of release drug to a desired level, to control the release rate, and to switch the drug delivery on/off.
Highlights
Aloe vera has been in use for centuries because of its curative and therapeutic properties and there are extensive research studies covering at least 75 active ingredients found inside the inner gel of the plant, each of which has its own unique therapeutic effects
The requirement for a highly effective transdermal delivery system has been broadened from merely having high drug permeability through the human skin at a therapeutic level to encompassing ability to control the rate of drug delivery and to switch on/off the release profiles
The amount of aloin released from aloin-doped PPV/PAAM (PAAM_03) was selected to study the release characteristic under applied electric field
Summary
Aloe vera has been in use for centuries because of its curative and therapeutic properties and there are extensive research studies covering at least 75 active ingredients found inside the inner gel of the plant, each of which has its own unique therapeutic effects. A transdermal drug delivery system is a system that delivers drugs to the circulatory system through human skin, by which the amount of drug released into the blood can be regulated to the desired therapeutic levels [2]. Even though the transdermal route is ideal for the drug delivery, its effectiveness is weakened by the natural blocking ability of human skin, especially by the stratum corneum layer, the top layer of the epidermis [3]. The requirement for a highly effective transdermal delivery system has been broadened from merely having high drug permeability through the human skin at a therapeutic level to encompassing ability to control the rate of drug delivery and to switch on/off the release profiles. Conductive polymer can offer the possibility of controllable drug delivery through electrical stimulation [6]. Conductive polymer is suitable for an on/off switchable controlled drug delivery system
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