Abstract
The development of drug delivery systems with microencapsulated therapeutic agents is a promising approach to the sustained and controlled delivery of various drug molecules. The incorporation of dual release kinetics to such delivery devices further adds to their applicability. Herein, novel core–shell scaffolds composed of sodium deoxycholate and trishydroxymethylaminomethane (NaDC–Tris) have been developed with the aim of delivering two different drugs with variable release rates using the same delivery vehicle. Data obtained from XRD studies, sol–gel transition temperature measurement, rheology and fluorescence studies of the core–shell systems indicate a significant alteration in the core and the shell microstructural properties in a given system as compared to the pure hydrogels of identical compositions. The release of the model drugs Fluorescein (FL) and Rhodamine B (RhB) from the shell and the core, respectively, of the two core–shell designs studied exhibited distinctly different release kinetics. In the 25@250 core–shell system, 100% release of FL from the shell and 19% release of RhB from the core was observed within the first 5 hours, while 24.5 hours was required for the complete release of RhB from the core. For the 100@250 system, similar behaviour was observed with varied release rates and a sigmoidal increase in the core release rate upon disappearance from the shell. Cell viability studies suggested the minimal toxicity of the developed delivery vehicles towards NMuMG and WI-38 cells in the concentration range investigated. The reported core–shell systems composed of a single low molecular weight gelator with dual release kinetics may be designed as per the desired application for the consecutive release of therapeutic agents as required, as well as combination therapy commonly used to treat diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
Highlights
We report the fabrication of a core–shell hydrogel scaffold based on a single low molecular weight gelator, sodium deoxycholate (NaDC)
The Tris molecules are believed to enhance the hydrogen bonding interactions within the NaDC hydrogels as they act as bridges between the NaDC molecules, thereby increasing the size of the hydrophilic pockets within the gel network.[19]. This has been evidenced by the larger size of reprecipitated nanoparticles formed within the hydrophilic NaDC hydrogel pockets.[19]. Inspired by these studies[19,20] and using the concept of core–shell hydrogels, in the present study we developed two core–shell hydrogel systems based on sodium deoxycholate (NaDC); the hydrogen bonding interactions were further enhanced with increasing Tris concentration
This work presents the fabrication of core–shell hydrogel systems composed of the same LMW gelator NaDC, possessing identical concentrations of the gelator and variable concentration of Tris in the core and the shell
Summary
Drug delivery systems with controlled release characteristics enable the sustained release of bioactive materials with the desired release rate, prolonged release times and increased bioavailability.[1,2,3,4,5] Hydrogels represent a class of so materials that are of particular interest for drug delivery due to their porous structure and capability to protect the drug from hostile environmental conditions.[1,2,4] Researchers have recently been attracted towards engineering hydrogels with organizedPaper nano ber yarn as the core and photocurable hydrogels as the shell composed of poly(carprolactone), silk broin, and polyaniline was reported by Wang et al.[11]. A signi cant increase in the Tsgs was observed for the core and the shell individually for both 25@250 and 100@250 core–shell hydrogel systems in comparison to the pure gels (Tables 1 & 2).
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