article · Chemistry & Biodiversity
Researchers have developed hydrogel films using carboxymethylcellulose derived from dates, cross-linked with non-toxic citric acid, to deliver hydrophobic drugs. Econazole was used as a model drug to assess release behaviour at pH 7.4. The films were evaluated for their structural properties, swelling behaviour, and drug loading capacity, alongside the inclusion of beta-cyclodextrin. The results showed that films with higher carboxyl content achieved the greatest swelling and drug loading capacity. Adding beta-cyclodextrin effectively slowed down the release rate of the drug. Furthermore, in vivo evaluations revealed that formulations with high date carboxymethylcellulose content reduced edematous responses by up to 92 percent. These findings demonstrate that the bio-based hydrogels possess strong anti-inflammatory properties and offer an effective platform for delivering poorly soluble weak-base drugs.
Delivering poorly water-soluble drugs effectively remains a major challenge in pharmaceutical formulation. By using agricultural date derivatives and safe cross-linking agents to create sustained-release films, this approach offers an alternative route for drug delivery. The strong anti-inflammatory effect demonstrated in living models also highlights practical promise for improving treatments in wound care.
This technology could enable advanced wound dressings and topical formulations for delivering poorly soluble drugs. Potential users include pharmaceutical manufacturers and medical device developers working on wound-care products. Because the formulation has been fabricated and tested in vivo with positive anti-inflammatory results, it sits at an applied research stage, though further clinical evaluation and scale-up studies would be required before market adoption.
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This work investigates the carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)-dates (Dt) hydrogel films (HFs) for the controlled delivery of hydrophobic drugs, using citric acid (CA) as a nontoxic cross-linking agent. The model drug Econazole (ECN) was loaded into HFs, and drug release was studied at pH 7.4. The HFs were evaluated for β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) content, carboxyl content, swelling ratio, drug loading, drug release, and in vivo anti-inflammatory activity. These films were characterized using ATR-FTIR, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for morphological measurements. Results revealed that the HFs with high carboxyl content exhibit maximum swelling and high drug loading. The incorporation of β-CD helped to retard the release of ECN from the HFs. Our findings indicate that HFs F3 and F4 with high Dt concentrations reduce the edematous response by 92% ± 5.07% and 89% ± 3.69%, respectively. Altogether, our findings show that CMC-Dt HFs are suitable for the delivery of non-soluble weak bases and have potential for wound-healing applications. The in vivo investigation demonstrated that the HFs exhibit significant anti-inflammatory characteristics.
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DOI: 10.1002/cbdv.71622
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