Evaluation of Opuntia-Carrageenan superporous hydrogel (OPM-CRG-SPH) as an effective biomaterial for drug release and tissue scaffold

Abstract

Abstract Stimuli-sensitive superporous hydrogels prepared using natural polymers are efficient in sustaining structural integrity for an extended duration and can be employed as an effective drug delivery system including polymeric scaffold for tissue regeneration. A pH-sensitive superporous hydrogel was designed by blending two natural polysaccharides Opuntia mucilage and Carrageenan using microwave irradiation and was optimized according to swelling index at different pH 1.2, 7.4, and 8.0 and % porosity. Optimized grade F6 was analyzed for surface hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity using optical contact angle (OCA). Analytical characterizations of F6 were performed using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) which reflects semicrystalline behavior. Mechanical property and mucoadhesion study confirmed adequate strength and affinity of F6 at target site. Hemolysis study depicted hemocompatible nature of F6. In vitro drug release study with ciprofloxacin-HCL (CPFX) as model drug indicated controlled release behavior with 43% release in 6 hr and r² = 0.9698. Release kinetic study best fitted to Korsmeyer-Peppas model with n = 0.85262 following non-fickian diffusion. In vitro antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory assays attributed to wound healing nature of F6 which was corroborated by wound contraction and histopathology analyses. In vivo toxicity experiments endorsed to non-toxic character of scaffold and was confirmed by zebrafish toxicity test. The study concludes that the pH-sensitive grade F6 can be effectively used as a novel biomaterial for drug delivery and as polymeric scaffold for biomedical applications.