Abstract
Local drug delivery directly to the source of a given pathology using retrodialysis is a promising approach to treating otherwise untreatable diseases. As the primary material component in retrodialysis, the semipermeable membrane represents a critical point for innovation. This work presents a new ionic hydrogel based on polyethylene glycol and acrylate with dopamine counterions. The ionic hydrogel membrane is shown to be a promising material for controlled diffusive delivery of dopamine. The ionic nature of the membrane accelerates uptake of cationic species compared to a nonionic membrane of otherwise similar composition. It is demonstrated that the increased uptake of cations can be exploited to confer an accelerated transport of cationic species between reservoirs as is desired in retrodialysis applications. This effect is shown to enable nearly 10-fold increases in drug delivery rates from low concentration solutions. The processability of the membrane is found to allow for integration with microfabricated devices which will in turn accelerate adaptation into both existing and emerging device modalities. It is anticipated that a similar materials design approach may be broadly applied to a variety of cationic and anionic compounds for drug delivery applications ranging from neurological disorders to cancer.
Highlights
Local drug delivery directly to the source of a given pathology using implantable materials and devices is a promising approach to treating otherwise untreatable diseases
As the primary material component in retrodialysis, the semipermeable membrane represents a critical point for innovation
It is anticipated that a similar materials design approach may be broadly applied to a variety of cationic and anionic compounds for drug delivery applications ranging from neurological disorders to cancer
Summary
Article membranes are known to have tunable swelling ratios and to be semipermeable allowing a variety of compounds to diffuse through.[14,19] The combination of biocompatibility, processability, and permeability makes PEGDA a suitable candidate for retrodialysis applications. The absorbed concentration of phenol red was found to be greatest in the uncharged PEGDA-MA membrane with decreasing uptake as the concentration of iDAA increased This can be understood by considering that the fixed acrylate(−) groups in the PEGDA-iDAA membrane act as an electrostatic barrier to the diffusion/uptake of anionic compounds as is typical for polyanions.[22] In contrast, the opposite trend was observed when membranes were soaked in the cationic methylene blue solution with increasing uptake of methylene blue as the iDAA content increased. The higher concentration of fixed ions and counterions in the membrane compared to concentration of the dye solution drives a higher uptake of the cationic methylene blue within the membrane than would be expected in the absence of fixed charge Together these results indicate the charged PEGDA-iDAA membrane is well suited to preferentially transport cationic species. Author Contributions All authors have given approval to the final version of the manuscript
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