Abstract
Chronic and debilitating diseases can be marginally cured by anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and antibiotic drugs, there is still need for more efficacious delivery approaches. Biodegradable and biocompatible polymeric hydrogels are essential requirements for drug release systems due to sustained or targeted drug delivery. Irradiation crosslinking of polymers is considered a safe route for the fabrication of hydrogels because crosslinking takes place without addition of unnecessary toxic reagents such as initiators or crosslinkers. This technology is a useful way to induce sterilization and crosslinking in a single step. Several natural and synthetic polymers in different combinations are crosslinked through high energy ionizing radiation such as electron beam and gamma ray irradiation. Polymeric hydrogels prepared using these techniques exhibit good gel fraction, swelling ratio, and mechanical properties. In addition, hydrogels possess drug loading and release characteristics, antimicrobial characteristics, and in-vivo/in-vitro cytocompatibility. The advantage of biodegradable and biocompatible drug release systems is the controlled release of drugs without deleterious effects on targeted sites. This mini review about irradiation crosslinked hydrogels will provide sufficient guidelines for new researchers to proceed further in this field.
Highlights
The term “hydrogel” was first introduced and illustrated in 1894 with inorganic salt-based colloidal gels (Buwalda et al, 2014)
Our focus is on discussing the fabrication of natural and synthetic polymers base hydrogels for drug release systems
We explicitly describe the utilization of gamma ray and electron beam irradiation techniques for hydrogel development, the mechanism of crosslinking, the impact of crosslinking, and applications of these methods in drug release systems
Summary
The term “hydrogel” was first introduced and illustrated in 1894 with inorganic salt-based colloidal gels (Buwalda et al, 2014). Convenient and simplified dosage are attributed to the wellbeing of the patient because they reduce the necessity of potentially uncomfortable repeated dosing and shorten the chances of inappropriate dispensing (Ražem and Katušin-Ražem, 2008). In this mini review, our focus is on discussing the fabrication of natural and synthetic polymers base hydrogels for drug release systems. We explicitly describe the utilization of gamma ray and electron beam irradiation techniques for hydrogel development, the mechanism of crosslinking, the impact of crosslinking, and applications of these methods in drug release systems
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