Modified acrylamide hydrogel nanocomposites for varginal drug delivery system

Abstract

This study conducted on the structure of modified acrylamide-based hydrogel by synthesizing the nano composites. The hydrogels employed in this study were provided through a combination of acrylamide monomers, montmorillonite clay, Sodium carboxymethylcellulose (NaCMC) and magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles by crosslinking polymerization. N, N, N’, N’-tetramethyl ethylenediamine and ammonium persulfate as the initiator were applied in the structure of the polymer. In addition, the total of the polymerization and characterization were utilized based on three types of hydrogels which are acrylamide (Aam), Aam/NaCMC and Aam/NaCMC/MgO hydrogels. The properties of surface morphology of the hydrogels were characterized by swelling ratio, field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), texture analysis, x-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Findings of the study considered the nano composites consisting of MgO have the highest swelling ratio and gel strength compared to Aam and Aam/NaCMC hydrogels. Thus, MgO is an appropriate nanoparticle to be used in the nano composites. The role of NaCMC was also studied in the swelling and consequently in drug release. The systems were characterized regarding rheological behavior of hydrogel, FTIR, and FESEM. The dispersion of the nanoparticles MgO and drug (acyclovir) inside the hydrogel was shown by transmission electron microscopy. Acyclovir, one of the famous drugs to treat the vaginal infections, was used as the drug for delivery and release in the vagina conditions. It was loaded into the polymer through the soaking method in an aqueous solution contained acyclovir. The drug release was studied in two different mediums, phosphate-buffer saline (PBS) (pH 7.4) and vaginal fluid simulant (SVF) (pH 4.5) aqueous solutions were utilized. The amount of released drug from the hydrogels was determined using high performance liquid chromatography. The best amount of NaCMC and MgO used in this study was 0.2 g and 0.01 g at pH 6, respectively. The aggregate percentage of released acyclovir diversed between 89.7% and 35.1% in SVF and 76.41% and 22.24% in PBS. In this study, the 3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay test showed that the acrylamide-based hydrogel demonstrated a cytotoxicity effect at 12.5, 25,50, 100 and 200 mg/ml concentrations.