Affiliation:
1. Department of Physics, Divyadrishti Imaging Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
2. Nanobiotechnology Laboratory, Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India
Abstract
Abstract
Introduction:
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a chronic disorder that is associated with diabetes that causes disruption to the retinal blood vessels. Conventional methods for treating DR face major limitations due to pathophysiological barriers, formulation of drugs, their effectiveness, and availability. Drug-loaded hydrogel lens can be a prominent treatment method to treat DR in the early stages. Hence, anti-VEGF drugs such as Avastin drug-loaded hydrogel lens can be utilized for treating DR.
Methods:
The hydrogels were prepared by testing numerous compositions and further optimizing them by incorporating components such as gelatin, alginate, and acrylamide to make them clear and viscous. The hydrogels were prepared with varying solvents such as deionized water, phosphate buffer saline, and dimethyl sulfoxide. The selected hydrogel was further investigated to check its transmissivity, biocompatibility, total drug release, and swelling properties.
Results:
Among testing and optimizing various hydrogels for preparing the lens, the hyaluronic acid and poly 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (pHEMA)-based lens showed positive results with LA (Lower hyaluronic Acid)-based hydrogels having optimum transmittance of approximately 80%–82%. The lens was further investigated for cytocompatibility testing which shows they are 70%–80% compatible with/without drug loaded. The drug release and encapsulation studies also show approximately 50% efficiency.
Conclusions:
The LA-based hydrogels are preferred over pHEMA hydrogels due to their biodegradability, economic, and longer shelf life. LA-based hydrogel is a nontoxic transparent lens with optimum drug retention capacity. The preparation of hydrogel is relatively easier with less incubation time making it a suitable material to prepare drug-eluding transparent lenses. The study provides an alternative yet effective hydrogel lens as it is more biocompatible to the NIH3T3 fibroblast cell lines.