Sodium Alginate Carboxymethyl Cellulose Composite Hydrogel beads for Oral Drug Delivery

Abstract Hydrogels based on biopolymers demonstrate great potential for drug delivery applications because they are not only biocompatible but also various release profiles of therapeutic agent can be achieved by altering polymeric matrix. Particularly, oral drug delivery is the most preferred and convenient route for drug administration showing high patient compliance. The aim of this study is to synthesize composite hydrogel beads and examine their potential for oral administration using paracetamol as a model drug. Therefore, native sodium alginate of different viscosity and composite hydrogel beads based on sodium alginate and carboxy methyl cellulose of different polymer concentrations were synthesized using calcium chloride dihydrate as a crosslinking agent. These hydrogels beads were then characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray crystallography. The surface morphology of prepared hydrogel beads was visualized by scanning electron microscope. Their average weight and dimensions were measured and their swelling behavior at different pH (distilled water and PBS pH 7 and 5.8 respectively) were analyzed. It was shown that the swelling of the synthesized hydrogels was affected by the variation in pH. Moreover, the amount of drug loading in sodium alginate was lower than the amount loaded in composite hydrogel beads. Furthermore, drug release studies of containing hydrogels showed that drug release rate found to be high in composite hydrogels (715 ug per bead) as compared to native hydrogels (439 ug per bead). These hydrogels can be suitable for oral administration following further in vivo studies.