Fabrication of polysaccharides-based hydrogel films for transdermal sustained delivery of Ibuprofen

Water-soluble polysaccharides of cellulose sulfate (NaCS) and chitosan hydrochloride (CHC) were chosen as the brick materials, while sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) as a special cement, the NaCS/CHC/STPP hydrogel films loaded with Ibuprofen were fabricated via self-assembly method. The prepared hydrogel films were characterized via SEM, FTIR, TGA and XRD. It manifested that the hydrogel films formed a dense three-dimensional network with a regular shape, and NaCS, CHC and STPP were involved in the formation of polyelectrolyte complex via electrostatic interaction. The Ibuprofen-loaded hydrogel films possessed respective loading and encapsulation efficiency of 43.15 +/- 4.88% and 60.65 +/- 4.68%. It verified that the hydrogel films had favourable sustained release profile during 1440 min test, in which Ibuprofen could penetrate through the skin of mouse in a transdermal drug delivery (TDD) model. The cytotoxicity assays indicated that the hydrogel films had non-toxicity and good biocompatibility. All these results shed light on the hydrogel films prepared could be used to design potential TDD vehicles.