Evaluation of starch based cryogels as potential biomaterials for controlled release of antibiotic drugs

Abstract

In the present study starch has been blended with poly(vinyl alcohol) to design macroporous architectures following a repeated freeze-thaw method. These macroporous cryogels were loaded with an antibiotic drug, ciprofloxacin hydrochloride (Cfx), and evaluated for its in vitro delivery in a completely controlled manner thus exploring possibilities to use it as a biomaterial in burn or wound healing applications. The key advantage of the present system is that cryogels formed do not contain any chemical crosslinking agent which is often harmful to organic compounds. These Cfx loaded cryogels were characterized by infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. The controlled release of Cfx drug from cryogels was investigated under varying experimental conditions such as percent loading of the antibiotic drug, chemical architecture of the cryogels and pH, temperature, and nature of the release media. The prepared cryogels show promise to provide a possible pathway for controlling delivery of antibiotic drug thus minimizing the known side effects and improving efficacy also.