Swelling of ionic and neutral polymer networks in ionic solutions

Hybrid polymeric hydrogels for ocular drug delivery: nanoparticulate systems from copolymers of acrylic acid-functionalized chitosan and N-isopropylacrylamide or 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate

Nanoparticulate hybrid polymeric hydrogels (10-70 nm) have been obtained via the radical-induced co-polymerization of acrylic acid-functionalized chitosan with either N-isopropylacrylamide or 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and the materials have been investigated for their ability to act as controlled release vehicles in ophthalmic drug delivery. Studies on the effects of network structure upon swelling properties, adhesiveness to substrates that mimic mucosal surfaces and biodegradability, coupled with in vitro drug release investigations employing ophthalmic drugs with differing aqueous solubilities, have identified nanoparticle compositions for each of the candidate drug molecules. The hybrid nanoparticles combine the temperature sensitivity of N-isopropylacrylamide or the good swelling characteristics of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate with the susceptibility of chitosan to lysozyme-induced biodegradation.

Mechanical and Transport Properties of the Poly(ethylene oxide)−Poly(acrylic acid) Double Network Hydrogel from Molecular Dynamic Simulations

We used atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the mechanical and transport properties of the PEO-PAA double network (DN) hydrogel with 76 wt % water content. By analyzing the pair correlation functions for polymer-water pairs and for ion-water pairs and the solvent accessible surface area, we found that the solvation of polymer and ion in the DN hydrogel is enhanced in comparison with both PEO and PAA single network (SN) hydrogels. The effective mesh size of this DN hydrogel is smaller than that of the SN hydrogels with the same water content and the same molecular weight between the cross-linking points (Mc). Applying uniaxial extensions, we obtained the stress-strain curves for the hydrogels. This shows that the DN hydrogel has a sudden increase of stress above approximately 100% strain, much higher than the sum of the stresses of the two SN hydrogels at the same strain. This arises because PEO has a smaller Mc value than PAA, so that the PEO in the DN reaches fully stretched out at 100% strain that corresponds to 260% strain in the PEO SN (beyond this point, the bond stretching and the angle bending increase dramatically). We also calculated the diffusion coefficients of solutes such as D-glucose and ascorbic acid in the hydrogels, where we find that the diffusion coefficients of those solutes in the DN hydrogel are 60% of that in the PEO SN and 40% of that in the PAA SN due to its smaller effective mesh size.

Hydrogels in controlled release formulations: network design and mathematical modeling

Over the past few decades, advances in hydrogel technologies have spurred development in many biomedical applications including controlled drug delivery. Many novel hydrogel-based delivery matrices have been designed and fabricated to fulfill the ever-increasing needs of the pharmaceutical and medical fields. Mathematical modeling plays an important role in facilitating hydrogel network design by identifying key parameters and molecule release mechanisms. The objective of this article is to review the fundamentals and recent advances in hydrogel network design as well as mathematical modeling approaches related to controlled molecule release from hydrogels. In the first section, the niche roles of hydrogels in controlled release, molecule release mechanisms, and hydrogel design criteria for controlled release applications are discussed. Novel hydrogel systems for drug delivery including biodegradable, smart, and biomimetic hydrogels are reviewed in the second section. Several mechanisms have been elucidated to describe molecule release from polymer hydrogel systems including diffusion, swelling, and chemically-controlled release. The focus of the final part of this article is discussion of emerging hydrogel delivery systems and challenges associated with modeling the performance of these devices.

Correlation of characteristics of gel extrusion module (GEM) tablet formulation and drug dissolution rate

The purpose of the study was to characterize the swelling properties of controlled release tablet formulations with compositional and processing differences. A correlation was also established between the drug dissolution rate from the controlled release gel extrusion module (GEM) tablet and the swelling properties of the core tablet. The GEM tablet consisted of a core tablet of water swellable Carbopol polymer, a neutralizing agent, drug, and excipients. The tablet was subsequently coated with a rigid, water impermeable membrane. A number of holes were then drilled by laser through the impermeable membrane. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), Perkin Elmer DMA7, was used to characterize the swelling properties. During the swelling measurements, the measuring probe and sample were completely submerged in the surrounding medium. The results showed that the formulation containing potassium phosphate dibasic as a neutralizing agent had the highest swelling rate. Correspondingly, this formulation had the highest drug dissolution rate over the same time period. The processing difference included wet granulation and dry roller compaction. The compositional differences included different neutralizing agents, binders or Carbopol polymers. The results showed a linear relationship (r(2)=0.954) between the swelling rates of the core tablets and the drug dissolution rates of GEM tablets. No correlation was found between the drug dissolution rates and either the maximum extent of tablet swelling or the time needed to reach the maximum extent of swelling. The results demonstrated that DMA could be used to support both formulation and process development to determine the effects of different compositions and manufacturing processes on drug dissolution rates for swelling controlled release devices.

Drug diffusion and binding in ionizable interpenetrating networks from poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(acrylic acid)

Hydrogels of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), and their interpenetrating networks (IPNs) were prepared using glutaraldehyde and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinking agents. The hydrogels were characterized by measuring their equilibrium polymer volume fraction, equilibrium swelling ratio, and mesh size. Drug and protein diffusion through these hydrogels were studied. Solutes studied included theophylline, vitamin B12 and myoglobin. The ratio of PVA and PAA in the IPNs was varied to study the effect of ionic polymer content on the polymer/drug interactions and on the drug diffusion rate. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy was used to analyze the polymer/drug binding interactions. It was concluded that drug diffusion may be impeded by associated drug binding, especially in IPN hydrogels containing high amounts of PAA.