Mahato K K, et al. Materials Research Express, 2019, 6(11), 115408.
The drug-loaded composite hydrogels in this work were made from chitosan lactate (CL) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) raw materials. The cytotoxicity, cell adhesion, hemolysis and drug release of the prepared PVA/CL hydrogels were all studied. In vitro cell viability of L929 cells suggested that the PVA/CL hydrogels were cell-friendly and promoted cell adhesio. Moreover, the ongoing release of ciprofloxacin from the PVA/CL drug-loaded hydrogels blocked Escherichia coli growth, thus acting as a biological antibacterial agent.
Preparation of Hydrogel
· A 10% w/w polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) aqueous solution was prepared by autoclaving at 121°C for one hour. Similarly, chitosan lactate solutions at different concentrations (0.25% w/w, 0.50% w/w, 1% w/w, and 2% w/w) were prepared using the same method. A glutaraldehyde solution was made by diluting 5 ml of 25% w/w glutaraldehyde in 10 ml of ethyl alcohol.
· Four hydrogel formulations were created by mixing 18 g of the 10% (w/w) PVA solution with 20 ml of water and 2 g of chitosan lactate at varying concentrations (0.25%, 0.50%, 1%, and 2% w/w) (PVA/CL2, PVA/CL3, PVA/CL4, and PVA/CL5, respectively), while stirring continuously at 60 rpm for 10 minutes at room temperature.
· Following this, 1 ml of the glutaraldehyde cross-linker was added to each mixture under moderate stirring for 30 minutes. The resulting 20 g solutions were then poured into polystyrene Petri dishes (internal diameter 8.5 cm), allowed to set for 20 minutes at room temperature, and finally placed in an incubator at 37°C for 24 hours.
