Sustained release of tulobuterol from graphene oxide laden hydrogel to manage asthma

Abstract

Bronchial asthma is a chronic disease which is currently treated using various inhalants. However, the medication adherence with the inhalants is poor due to complex procedure to use them along with frequent dosing. In this paper, we have developed tulobuterol loaded Pluronic® F127-reduced graphene oxide transdermal hydrogel to sustain the release of tulobuterol to manage asthma for days. The synthesis of Pluronic^® F127-reduced graphene oxide was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. The transmission electron microscope showed wrinkled flat nano sheets. The hydrogel showed sufficient mechanical properties for topical application and was safe in the skin irritation study (rabbit model). The ex vivo release data demonstrated the ability of reduced graphene oxide to sustain the release of tulobuterol for 72 h, due to strong π-π interaction between drug and graphene oxide. The pharmacokinetic profile in Sprague-Dawley rat model confirmed the potential of tulobuterol-Pluronic^® F127-reduced graphene oxide hydrogel to sustain the release of tulobuterol for effective management of asthma.

Keywords:

• Tulobuterol
• transdermal
• hydrogel
• sustained release
• graphene oxide
• asthma

Data availability

Major data are available in supplementary material files and other data could be made available on request to the corresponding author.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose this work.

Additional information

Funding

The project supported by Research on the normal predicted value of Children's pulmonary function in Hunan province (Grant No. 2017SK50702).