Synthesis and characterization of alginate and sterculia gum based hydrogel for brain drug delivery applications

The present work deals with the design of the alginate, sterculia gum polysaccharide and PVP based hydrogel for brain drug delivery applications. The release dynamics of citicoline drug, a nerve regenerating agent, was evaluated. The polymers were investigated by Cryo-SEMs, AFM, FTIR, XRD, C-13 NMR, and swelling studies. The drug release occurred slowly without burst effect and followed mechanism that was approaching the Fickian diffusion mechanism and first order kinetic model. The polymer matrix showed drug loading 40.0 +/- 0.8%, thrombose percentage 68.70 +/- 8.95%, hemolytic index value 3.66 +/- 1.65%, detachment force from the intestinal mucosa = 0.124 +/- 0.04 N, and tensile strength 7.67 +/- 0.40 N/mm(2). These films were found biocompatible, antioxidant and mucoadhesive and could be explored for brain drug delivery. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.