Synthesis and characterization of pH responsive alginate based-hydrogels as oral drug delivery carrier

Abstract

As pharmaceutical carrier materials having antibacterial and pH-sensitive properties, hydrogels have great potential for clinical applications. Alginate based hydrogels were designed as an oral drug carrier and investigated for the drug release study in biomedical fields especially the colon-targeted system. Structural changes of synthesized hydrogel have been characterized using Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) devices. Hydrogels have been studied for their water absorption behavior under the influence of various monomer compositions and changing ambient conditions such as salt, pH and temperature. In this study, diclofenac sodium was used as a model drug to investigate the in vitro release behavior at simulated intestinal (pH 7.0) and gastric fluid (pH 1.2). Lastly, the antibacterial effect of hydrogels and drug-loaded hydrogels was characterized using a disc diffusion method against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The suitability of controlled drug release for the use of these new hydrogels in the pharmaceutical and biomedical field has been investigated and our results have shown that the produced hydrogels are promising materials for developing pH-controlled drug delivery devices like capsules for oral use.