Tunable macroporous D-galactose based hydrogels for controlled release of a hydrophilic drug

In this article, we report on the preparation of novel D-galactose based hydrogels capable of forming a tunable matrix for biomedical applications. The water-soluble polymer, poly(6-O-methacryloyl-D-galactose) (PMAGal) was synthesized using 6-O-methacryloyl-1,2;3,4-di-O-isopropylidene-D-galactose (MAIpGal) monomer by free radical polymerization followed by acid hydrolysis. The polymeric hydrogels HG1, HG2.5 and HG5 were prepared by condensation of PMAGal with 1, 2.5 and 5 wt%, respectively of hexamethylene diisocyanate as crosslinker. The hydrogels exhibit porous morphology with pore size ranging from 4 to 20 mu m as determined by FESEM. The influence of crosslinker content on thermal degradation, swelling ratio, morphology, and viscosity was evaluated. Gel swelling studies showed 526% water uptake by HG1, reduced to 453% in HG2.5, and 341% in HG5. HG1 loaded with the hydrophilic antibiotic drug gentamicin, showed up to 92% of drug release in 72 h in phosphate buffer solution. The Higuchi kinetic model suggests a diffusion mechanism is involved for drug release with correlation coefficient R-2 > 0.99 for all three gels. The cytocompatibility of the material from MTT assay and live-dead test shows its potential toward various biomedical applications.

Automated summary

This article reports the preparation of novel D-galactose based hydrogels for biomedical applications. The hydrogels exhibit porous morphology with tunable properties such as swelling ratio and drug release. The cytocompatibility of the material shows its potential for various biomedical applications.