Abstract
The long term in vivo biocompatibility is an essential feature for the design and development of sustained drug release carriers. In the recent intraocular drug delivery studies, hydrogels were suggested as sustained release carriers. The biocompatibility test for these hydrogels, however, was commonly performed only through in vitro cell culture examination, which is insufficient before the clinical applications. We compared three thermosensitive hydrogels that have been suggested as the carriers for drugs by their gel-solution phase-change properties. A new block terpolymer (PEOz-PCL-PEOz, ECE) and two commercial products (Matrigel® and Pluronic F127) were studied. The results demonstrated that the ocular media remained translucent for ECE and Pluronic F127 in the first 2 weeks, but cataract formation for Matrigel occurred in 2 weeks and for Pluronic F127 in 1 month, while turbid media was observed for both Matrigel and Pluronic F127 in 2 months. The electrophysiology examinations showed significant neuroretinal toxicity of Matrigel and Pluronic F127 but good biocompatibility of ECE. The neuroretinal toxicity of Matrigel and Pluronic F127 and superior biocompatibility of ECE hydrogel suggests ECE as more appropriate biomaterial for use in research and potentially in intraocular application.
Highlights
In recent years, great interest has arisen on the applications of in situ hydrogels in drug delivery systems and tissue engineering [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
Perilimbal ciliary injection was observed in two months in Matrigel and Pluronic F127 eyes, but not in the ECE and control eyes (Figure 1)
The Pluronic F127 is a synthetic polymer that composed of PEG-PPG-PEG triblock copolymer
Summary
Great interest has arisen on the applications of in situ hydrogels in drug delivery systems and tissue engineering [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. The major advantages of hydrogels are easy mixing with drugs, in situ gel formation with drug encapsulation after injection into the organ, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. In situ gel formation can protect the drugs from enzymatic biodegradation. It is usable for a variety of drugs, including proteins [3], genes [8], and growth factors [2], which are the biologics that attract much attention in the modern pharma sector. The thermosensitive hydrogels have been used as the sustained drug release carriers [3,7] and the scaffolds for 3D cell culture/delivery in tissue engineering [9]
Published Version (Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have