Newly developed nano-biocomposite embedded hydrogel to enhance drug loading and modulated release of anti-inflammatory drug

Abstract

A newly developed iron-based nano-biocomposite (nano Fe-CNB) impregnated alginate formulation (CA) is proposed to improve drug loading and exhibit pH-responsive behavior of model anti-inflammatory drug-ibuprofen for controlled release applications. The proposed formulation is investigated with conventional β-CD addition in CA. The nano Fe-CNB-based formulations with and without β-CD, (Fe-CNB β-CD CA and Fe-CNB CA) are compared with only CA and β-CD incorporated CA formulations. The results indicate the incorporation of nano-biocomposite or β-CD into CA enhances the drug loading (>40%). However, pH-responsive controlled release behavior is observed for nano Fe-CNB based formulations only. The release studies from Fe-CNB β-CD CA indicate ∼ 45% release in stomach pH (1.2) within 2 h. In contrast, Fe-CNB CA shows ∼20% release only in stomach pH and improved release (∼49%) at colon pH (7.4). The rheology and swelling studies indicate Fe-CNB CA remains intact in stomach pH with a minimal drug release, but it disintegrates at colon pH due to charge reversal behavior of nano-biocomposite and ionization of polymeric chains. Thus, Fe-CNB CA formulation is found to be a potential candidate for targeting colon delivery, inflammatory bowel disease, and post-operative conditions.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Nano-biocomposite
• controlled release
• cyclodextrin
• pH-responsive
• swelling
• ibuprofen
• NSAID

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to IITGN for funding this work. We are thankful to Sai Geetha for helping us with rheology experiments. The authors would also like to acknowledge DSIR-IITGN Common Research & Technology Development Hub (CRTDH) for providing instrumentation facilities.

Informed consent

This article does not contain any studies with human and animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.