PCEC hydrogel used on sustained-release hyaluronic acid delivery with lubrication effect

Injection of bionic synovial fluid (BSF) is a conventional method to improve the lubricity of artificial joints, but BSF cannot maintain long due to the dilution and degradation of BSF in human body. To prolong the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid (HA), which is the major component of BSF, this study applies a temperature-sensitive poly(-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(-caprolactone) (PCEC) hydrogel loaded with HA to achieve long-term lubrication. In addition, Fourier transform infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and gel permeation chromatography spectra were used to analyze the structure of the synthetic hydrogel. Rheological test and test tube inverting method were used to characterize the thermosensitivity. The lubrication properties of the released solution were characterized by UV-vis, tribological tests, SEM, and 3D laser confocal scanning microscope. The experimental results reveal that the triblock PCEC hydrogel contains both hydrophilic block and hydrophobic block, and both PCEC and PCEC/HA hydrogels have phase-changed effect when the temperature increases from room temperature to body temperature. Moreover, the friction coefficient of the released solution from PCEC/HA hydrogel is approximatively 38% lower than that of phosphate buffer saline. And the ability of shear resistance and creep recovery of PCEC/HA hydrogel are better than that of PCEC hydrogel. This study provides an effective approach to achieve long-time lubrication effect for artificial joints. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46228.