Ciprofloxacin-imprinted hydrogels for drug sustained release in aqueous media

Abstract

In this study several ciprofloxacin (CFX) imprinted and non-imprinted hydrogels were prepared and evaluated as ocular drug delivery systems in aqueous media. 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) was used as a solvent and backbone monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross-linker, methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and CFX as the template molecule. CFX-imprinted hydrogels (MIPs) were prepared applying different CFX:MAA molar ratios (1:16, 1:20 and 1:32) in feed composition of monomer solutions. Thermal polymerization was applied and hydrogels were synthesized in a polypropylene mold (0.4 mm thickness). Swelling and binding properties of hydrogels were evaluated in water. Release profile of the MIPs was evaluated in NaCl (0.9%) and artificial tears. The data showed that enhancing the MAA concentration, as a co-monomer, and using molecular imprinting improved binding properties of the synthesized hydrogels. The optimized MIPs with 400 mM MAA and CFX: MAA molar ratio of 1:20 and 1:16 showed the greatest affinity for CFX and the highest ability to control drug release. In vitro antibacterial activity of hydrogels was studied and demonstrated the effect of CFX-loaded hydrogels against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) isolated from patients’ eyes. This study indicated antibacterial efficacy of CFX-loaded MIP hydrogels.

Keywords:

• Ciprofloxacin
• hydrogels
• molecular imprinting
• ocular drug delivery systems

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the Vice Chancellor of Research, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences for their support.

Disclosure statement

The authors confirm that this article content has no conflicts of interest.

The results described in this paper were part of a Pharm. D. student (Sajedeh Kioomars) thesis.