Sonolytically intercalated poly(anisidine-co-toluidine)/bentonite nanocomposites: pH responsive drug release characteristics

Sustained Release Studies of Metformin Hydrochloride Drug Using Conducting Polymer/Gelatin-Based Composite Hydrogels

The present work highlights the synthesis and characterization of conducting polymer (CP)-based composite hydrogels with gelatin (GL-B) for their application as drug delivery vehicles. The spectral, morphological, and rheological properties of the synthesized hydrogels were explored, and morphological studies confirmed formation of an intense interpenetrating network. Rheological measurements showed variation in the flow behavior with the type of conducting polymer. The hydrogels showed a slow drug release rate of about 10 h due to the presence of the conducting polymer. The release kinetics were fitted in various mathematical models and were best fit in first order for PNA-, POPD-, and PANI-based GL-B hydrogels, and the PVDF/GL-B hydrogel was best fit in the zero-order models. The drug release was found to follow the order: POPD/GL-B > PANI/GL-B > PVDF/GL-B.

Synthesis and characterization of pH-responsive conducting polymer/Na-alginate/gelatin based composite hydrogels for sustained release of amoxicillin drug

Composite hydrogels of Na-Alginate (Na-ALG) and Gelatin (GEL) with conducting polymers (CPs) were synthesised using poly(o-phenylenediamine) (POPD), polyaniline (PANI), poly(1-naphthylamine (PNA) and poly(vinylenedine fluoride) (PVDF). The synthesised hydrogels were characterized using FTIR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) rheology, swelling ability and in-vitro drug release characteristics. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether these hydrogels could be used to deliver antibiotics for extended drug release. The composite hydrogels were loaded with antibiotic drug: amoxicillin in three different concentrations and the release was studied at intestinal fluid (pH 7.4) and gastric fluid (pH 1.2). Release kinetics was found to show best fit in zero order models at both pH values and showed prolonged release characteristics. The POPD-Na-ALG/GEL showed highest release at intestinal pH of 7.4, while PVDF-Na-ALG/GEL showed highest release at gastric pH at 1.2.

Bentonite as a water-insoluble amorphous solid dispersion matrix for enhancing oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs

Bentonite (BT), an orally administrable natural clay, is widely used for medical and pharmaceutical purposes due to its unique properties, including swelling, adsorption and ion-exchange. However, its application as a matrix of amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) formulations is rarely reported, despite the fact that drugs can adsorb to BT in an amorphous state. The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of BT as a water-insoluble ASD matrix for enhancing the oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs, including sorafenib (SF). We prepared a novel BT-based ASD of an SF-BT composite (SFBTC) by adsorbing SF onto BT under acidic conditions using the ionic interaction between cationic SF and negatively charged BT. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), powder X-ray diffractometry (pXRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analyses revealed that SF adsorbed to BT in an amorphous state at SF:BT ratios from 1:3 to 1:10. In pharmacokinetic studies in rats, SFBTC (1:3) significantly improved the oral bioavailability of SF, and the AUClast of SFBTC (1:3) was 3.3-fold higher than that of NEXAVAR®, a commercial product of SF. An in vitro release study under sink conditions revealed that SFBTC (1:3) completely released SF in a pH-dependent manner, while a nonsink condition study indicated the generation of supersaturation under intestinal pH conditions. A kinetic solubility study showed that the release of SFBTC (1:3) followed the diffusion-controlled mechanism, which is a typical characteristic of water-insoluble matrix-based ASDs. The pharmacokinetic studies of drug-BT composites of various drugs belonging to BCS class II indicated that the pKa value of the adsorbed drugs is one of the most important factors determining their dissolution and oral bioavailability. These results suggest that BT could be a promising water-insoluble ASD matrix for improving the oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs, including SF.

Mechanical and biological characteristics of 3D fabricated clay mineral and bioceramic composite scaffold for bone tissue applications

3D printing technology provides a platform to fabricate a wide range of structures and complex geometry-based scaffolds through computer-aided design (CAD). This study investigates the possibility of developing Bentonite(BEN)/Hydroxyapatite(HAP) scaffold with different HAP wt% (25, 50, 75) using a 3D printing technique (Robocasting) for potential bone tissue applications. Thermal stability of the composites was characterized in TGA and rheological properties of slurries were observed to have different viscosity and shear stress, especially BEN-HAP 50 wt% achieves all criteria for high-quality printing. The fabricated scaffolds were subjected to sintering from 200 °C to 1000 °C for proper densification and attained a maximum compression strength of 52 MPa at 1000 °C for the printed structures. Changes in crystallinity and functional groups were observed as well with respective sintering temperatures. In this study, we also discussed the extrusion and rheological properties of the composite slurry. Porosity, water absorption, degradation and density were studied to understand the physical properties of the sintered scaffolds. The biological characteristics of the scaffold were studied using MG63 cell lines In vitro biocompatibility study and expressed 91% of viability for the 1000 °C sintered samples under controlled culture conditions.

A versatile strategy for mechanically durable nanocomposite cryogels based on cationic (alkyl)methacrylates and hydrophilic bentonite via freezing (cryo)polymerization

A simple strategy for the preparation of organic-inorganic (alkyl)methacrylate-based nanocomposite gels was established. The preparation procedure was based on free-radical copolymerization of cationic monomer N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) in the presence of a low amount of ionic comonomer 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-propanosulfonic acid (AMPS), nanoclay bentonite (BENT) and diethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (DEGDMA) as a chemical crosslinker. The parameters of equilibrium volume swelling, initial swelling rate, diffusional exponent, and early- and late-time diffusion coefficients were evaluated from the swelling measurements in salt solutions. PDMAEMA retained its own characteristics regardless of the amounts of ionic comonomer AMPS and nanoclay bentonite. The prepared nanocomposite cryogels/hydrogels were found to be pH and temperature-responsive. The elastic moduli and compressibility of the nanocomposite NC/BENTm-Cgels were much higher than those of NC/BENTm-Hgels. The effective crosslink density distribution of the nanocomposite NC/BENTm-Hgels was evaluated from the elastic moduli data of the as-prepared state and the degree of crosslinking was described by a quadratic polynomial as a function of the clay concentration. At high clay content, the nanocomposite NC/BENTm gels exhibited a lower swelling degree, and thus a higher crosslinking density than the clay-free gels. Both NC/BENTm Hgels and Cgels exhibited obvious pH and temperature double sensitiveness; the equilibrium degree of swelling decreased as the solution's pH or the swelling temperature increased. The power law exponent values obtained from dynamic swelling in aqueous Na2SO4 solution indicated that the sorption mechanism of both the nanocomposite NC/BENTm-Hgel and NC/BENTm-Cgel samples was Fickian controlled. Overall, this study successfully establishes the thermodynamic relations between the physico-mechanical behavior and characteristic network parameters of (alkyl)methacrylate-based nanocomposite gels prepared at various BENT concentrations.