Biocompatible hydrogel for cartilage repair with adjustable properties

Synthesis of hydrogel at mild conditions is considered one most important challenge, especially if the hydrogel will be used for hosting bioactive materials or drugs. The procedure of hydrogel preparation should have no effect on the properties of the hosted materials. Hyaluronic acid (HA) was modified by adding dialdehyde groups to its structure to facilitate formation of hydrogel at very mild conditions. Dialdehyde HA (DHA) was prepared through oxidation of HA using sodium metaperiodate as oxidizing agent. The prepared DHA was characterized by Fourier‐transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and aldehyde content. A hydrogel was prepared using different chitosan/DHA molar ratio and fixed amount of glutaraldehyde at 25°C. The prepared hydrogel has tunable properties and pores size depending on the chitosan/DHA molar ratio. Sodium diclofenac was loaded on the hydrogel as a model drug. The hydrogel was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, swelling rate, gel fraction, drug release profile, and cytotoxicity. The results obtained indicated that the properties of the prepared hydrogel, including gelling time, gel fraction, swelling, pores size, and drug release profile are highly tuned depending on the chitosan/DHA molar ratio. The drug loading efficiency was in the range of 70% to 85%. The cytotoxicity results reveal that the prepared hydrogel has a very low toxicity in presence and absence of sodium diclofenac.