Abstract
Hydrogels have become popular as drug carriers. Controlled release of the drugs from hydrogels can reduce dosage, inducing prevention of side effects. However, the hydrophilicity of hydrogels interferes with controlled release of hydrophobic drugs such as anticancer agents or antibiotics. In this study, we developed hydrophobically-modified gelatin (HMG) hydrogel, which was cross-linked only by hydrophobic interaction. HMG does not require toxic chemical cross-linkers to form hydrogel. In addition, the HMG hydrogel has hydrophobic chambers in its structure which hydrophobic drugs can adsorb to and desorb from. In order to control the amount of hydrophobic drugs adsorbed into the hydrogel, hydrophobic alkyl chains with different lengths (C4-C12) were incorporated into gelatin molecules. Uranine was used as a model for hydrophobic drugs. The adsorption test exhibited that the amount of uranine adsorbed in HMG hydrogels could be controlled by varying hydrophobic alkyl chain length and that the drug could be released in a controlled manner. These results show that HMG hydrogels are promising carriers of hydrophobic drugs.
Highlights
Many compounds have been developed as candidates of practical drugs, but they are rarely used in medical practice
Our purpose is to develop a toxic chemical crosslinker-free gelatin hydrogel that can be delivered in the bodies by surgical implantation and have an ability to control the release of hydrophobic drug
These results suggest that the hydrophobically-modified gelatin (HMG) hydrogel can control the adsorption amount of hydrophobic drug by changing the alkyl chain length
Summary
Many compounds have been developed as candidates of practical drugs, but they are rarely used in medical practice. The advantages of DDS induce reduction of the dose and frequency of administration of the drug, resulting in decrease in side effects at non-target sites. Our purpose is to develop a toxic chemical crosslinker-free gelatin hydrogel that can be delivered in the bodies by surgical implantation and have an ability to control the release of hydrophobic drug. The hydrogel can be prepared without using toxic chemical cross-linkers because hydrophobic interaction exerted between hydrophobic segment of each molecules acts as cross-linking sites This hydrogel has hydrophobic chambers in its structure which hydrophobic drugs can adsorb to and desorb from. We investigated the effect of alkyl chain length on the swelling ratio of hydrogels, the amount of hydrophobic drugs adsorbed and their release behaviour
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