Abstract

Hydrogel formulations are considered to be promising dosage forms for clinical delivery of antibiotics but suffer from many limitations such as polymers selection and crosslinking methods. Herein, dynamic Schiff base reaction crosslinked hydrogels (denoted as CO) with ‘switchable’ channels were designed based on Chitosan and Salecan. Chitosan maintains the pH sensitive property while providing functional groups for the reversible bond formation. Equilibrium water content, swelling and degradation behavior, dynamic rheology and cytotoxicity assay were investigated to characterize the hydrogels’ properties. By simulating and comparing four classic models, the drug release kinetics and mechanism were studied in detail. HeLa cells were encapsulated to further exploring the feasibility of 3D cell culture. All the results revealed CO hydrogels possessed excellent biological functions to maintain cell growth. Therefore, CO hydrogels can be served as a promising carrier for drug delivery and also expected to apply in many other medical fields.

摘要

水凝胶制剂被认为是临床输送抗生素的有前途的剂型，但存在许多限制，例如聚合物选择和交联方法。在此，基于壳聚糖和 Salecan 设计了具有“可切换”通道的动态席夫碱反应交联水凝胶（表示为 CO）。壳聚糖保持 pH 敏感性，同时为可逆键的形成提供官能团。研究了平衡水含量、溶胀和降解行为、动态流变学和细胞毒性测定以表征水凝胶的特性。通过对四种经典模型的模拟和比较，详细研究了药物释放动力学和机理。HeLa 细胞被封装以进一步探索 3D 细胞培养的可行性。所有结果都表明 CO 水凝胶具有良好的生物功能来维持细胞生长。因此，CO 水凝胶可以作为一种有前景的药物递送载体，也有望应用于许多其他医学领域。