Juan J. Torres-Labandeira

New Cyclodextrin Hydrogels Cross-Linked with Diglycidylethers with a High Drug Loading and Controlled Release Ability

PurposeThe goal of the study is to develop new hydrogels based on cyclodextrins cross-linked with ethyleneglycol diglycidylether (EGDE) under mild conditions, to be used as carriers of amphiphilic drugs. Also, it aims to characterize the cross-linking and the drug loading and release processes.MethodsThe cross-linking of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) with EGDE, in the absence or presence of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) Methocel® K4M, was optimized applying oscillatory rheometry and Fourier transform infrared. Hydrogels were characterized regarding swelling in water, ability to load diclofenac, and release after different drying treatments.ResultsSolutions of HPβCD (14.28%), without or with HPMC (0.2–1.0%), provided firm and transparent hydrogels after cross-linking with EGDE (14.28%), in which around two thirds of the OH groups were cross-linked. The incorporation of HPMC progressively reduced the gel time and the swelling degree of hydrogels. HPβCD hydrogels efficiently loaded diclofenac and sustained the release for several hours. The presence of HPMC slowed the release from swollen hydrogels, but promoted it from hydrogels dried before the loading and also before the release.ConclusionsHPβCD hydrogels with good mechanical properties and tunable loading and release ability can be obtained by direct cross-linking with EGDE.

Bioinspired imprinted PHEMA-hydrogels for ocular delivery of carbonic anhydrase inhibitor drugs.

Hydrogels with high affinity for carbonic anhydrase (CA) inhibitor drugs have been designed trying to mimic the active site of the physiological metallo-enzyme receptor. Using hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) as the backbone component, zinc methacrylate, 1- or 4-vinylimidazole (1VI or 4VI), and N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide (HEAA) were combined at different ratios to reproduce in the hydrogels the cone-shaped cavity of the CA, which contains a Zn(2+) ion coordinated to three histidine residues. 4VI resembles histidine functionality better than 1VI, and, consequently, pHEMA-ZnMA(2) hydrogels bearing 4VI moieties were those with the greatest ability to host acetazolamide or ethoxzolamide (2 to 3 times greater network/water partition coefficient) and to sustain the release of these antiglaucoma drugs (50% lower release rate estimated by fitting to the square root kinetics). The use of acetazolamide as template during polymerization did not enhance the affinity of the network for the drugs. In addition to the remarkable improvement in the performance as controlled release systems, the biomimetic hydrogels were highly cytocompatible and possessed adequate oxygen permeability to be used as medicated soft contact lenses or inserts. The results obtained highlight the benefits of mimicking the structure of the physiological receptors for the design of advanced drug delivery systems.

Improvement of water solubility of sulfamethizole through its complexation with β- and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin: Characterization of the interaction in solution and in solid state

The aim of this study was to increase the solubility of sulfamethizole in water by complexing it with beta-cyclodextrin (BCD) and hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HPBCD). The interaction of sulfamethizole with the cyclodextrins was evaluated by the solubility, 1H NMR spectrometry and molecular modelling. The stability constants calculated from the phase solubility method increase in order HPBCD<BCD. From the NMR studies could be concluded that the sulfamethizole:cyclodextrin mole ratio was 1:1 (mol/mol) in the BCD complex and 2:3 (mol/mol) in the HPBCD complex. In both cases the sulfamethizole moiety included in the cyclodextrin was the thiadiazole group. MM2 calculations, either in vacuum or in the presence of a solvent, support this structure. Solid inclusion complexes of sulfamethizole with BCD and HPBCD were obtained by freeze drying 1:1 (mol/mol) solutions in aqueous ammonium hydroxide. Host-guest interactions were studied in the solid state by powder X-ray diffractometry and differential scanning calorimetry. The dissolution rates of sulfamethizole increased by the complexation with BCD or HPBCD.

Preparation and evaluation of ketoconazole-β-cyclodextrin multicomponent complexes

Abstract Increase in poor buffer pH 5 and 6 solubility of ketoconazole was studied. Two systems were used: binary complexes prepared with β -cyclodextrin and multicomponent systems (β-cyclodextrin and an acid compound), obtained by spray-drying. X-ray diffractometry and differential scanning calorimetry showed differences between ketoconazole/cyclodextrin complexes and their corresponding physical mixtures and individual components. The solubility of ketoconazole increased significantly with the cyclodextrin complexes. However, enhancement was better from the multicomponent systems.

Characterization and in vitro dissolution behaviour of ketoconazole/β- and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion compounds

The effect of β-cyclodextrin and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin on the solubility of ketoconazole in different media were studied. A type AL solubility diagram was obtained for ketoconazole and the two cyclodextrins in buffer solution, pH 5 and pH 6. The stability constants between ketoconazole and the two cyclodextrins were calculated from the phase solubility diagrams. Increased ionization of the imidazole derivative decreased the values of the stability constants. The formation of solid inclusion complexes were experimentally prepared by the kneading and spray-drying techniques. In order to confirm solid complex formation, X-ray diffractometry and differential scanning calorimetry were used. It was found that the spray-drying technique could be used to prepare the amorphous state of drug inclusion complexes. The dissolution rates of ketoconazole from the inclusion complex made by spray-drying were faster than the pure drug, kneading systems and the physical mixtures of drug and cyclodextrins. The enhanced dissolution rate of spray-dried products might be attributed to the decreased particle size, the high-energetic amorphous state and inclusion complex formation.

Inclusion complexation of glibenclamide with 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin in solution and in solid state

Abstract Phase solubility diagrams have been used to investigate complexation between 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPBCD) and glibenclamide (GM) in aqueous medium. More stable GM-HPBCD complexes were formed in alkaline medium (in which the drug is in ionized form) than in acid medium (in which the drug is in non-ionized form). The formation of solid GM-HPBCD inclusion complexes has been evaluated by using kneading, spray-drying and freeze-drying methods. Characterization of the resulting mixtures by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry indicated that inclusion complexes can be obtained by spray drying and freeze drying but not by kneading. According to the phase solubility results, drug solubility in alkaline medium was greatly improved by inclusion with HPBCD, whereas in acid medium inclusion with HPBCD had no appreciable effect. Cyclodextrin complexation of ionized drug molecules in alkaline medium resulted in greater total solubilization, i.e., solubilization of the drug due to both cyclodextrin complexation and ionization.

Characterization of β-Lapachone and Methylated β-Cyclodextrin Solid-state Systems

The purpose of this research was to explore the utility of β cyclodextrin (βCD) and β cyclodextrin derivatives (hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin [HPβCD], sulfobutylether-β-CD [SB\CD], and a randomly methylated-β-CD [RMβCD]) to form inclusion complexes with the antitumoral drug, β-lapachone (βLAP), in order to overcome the problem of its poor water solubility. RMβCD presented the highest efficiency for βLAP solubilization and was selected to develop solid-state binary systems. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and optical and scanning electron microscopy results suggest the formation of inclusion complexes by both freeze-drying and kneading techniques with a dramatic improvement in drug dissolution efficiency at 20-minute dissolution efficiency (DE20-minute 67.15% and 88.22%, respectively) against the drug (DE20-minute 27.11%) or the βCD/drug physical mixture (DE20-minute 27.22%). However, the kneading method gives a highly crystalline material that together with the adequate drug dissolution profile make it the best procedure in obtaining inclusion complexes of RMβCD/βLAP convenient for different applications of βLAP.

Poloxamine-cyclodextrin-simvastatin supramolecular systems promote osteoblast differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.

Osteogenic/osteoinductive systems combine simvastatin, poloxamine Tetronic 908 (T908) and α-cyclodextrins (αCDs) in a supramolecular network that enhances the solubility/stability of the simvastatin hydroxy acid form and synergistically promotes osteoblast differentiation. Incorporation of 5% αCD transforms dilute T908 solutions (as low as 2% copolymer) into gels, enhances the osteoinductive activity of T908, and provides simvastatin sustained release for more than one week, which results in higher and more prolonged alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. The performance of the intrinsically osteoinductive polypseudorotaxane scaffold can be easily tuned by modifying the concentrations of T908, αCD, and simvastatin in a certain range of values. Moreover, the use of affordable, stable materials that can be sterilized applying a conventional method make the supramolecular gels advantageous candidates as scaffolds to be applied in the critical defect using minimally invasive techniques.

Benznidazole drug delivery by binary and multicomponent inclusion complexes using cyclodextrins and polymers

Benznidazole (BNZ) is the drug of choice for Chagas disease treatment, which affects about 9.8 million people worldwide. It has low solubility and high toxicity. The present study aimed to develop and characterize inclusion complexes (IC) in binary systems (BS) with BNZ and randomly methylated-β-cyclodextrin (RMβCD) and in ternary systems (TS) with BNZ, RMβCD and hydrophilic polymers. The results showed that the solid BS had a large increase in dissolution rate (Q>80%). For the solid IC obtained, the kneading method, in ratio of 1:0.17 (77.8% in 60 min), appeared to be the most suitable for the development of a solid oral pharmaceutical product, with possible industrial scale-up and low concentration of CD. The solid TS containing 0.1% of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) showed no significant advantages compared to the binary IC in solid state. The use of cyclodextrins proved to be a viable tool for effective, standardized and safe drug delivery.

Syringeable Self-Assembled Cyclodextrin Gels for Drug Delivery

The design of syringeable cyclodextrin (CD) gels is a developing area in the drug delivery and tissue engineering fields, since they offer the possibility of being administered with minimally invasive maneuvers to form depots that can remain for prolonged time in the implantation site. Two different supramolecular systems can be obtained exploiting the capability of CDs to form inclusion complexes. (i) The threading of free CDs on certain blocks or side chains of copolymers leads to polypseudorotaxanes, which can assembly via regular stacking of the threaded CDs. The resultant assemblies can be reversible broken under a certain shear stress and reformed at rest, exhibiting thixotropy that enables the flow through the syringe and the gel recovery in the implantation site. (ii) CDs grafted to polymer chains can develop their ability to form inclusion complexes with complementary guest moieties in other polymeric structures. The result is a ladder- or zipper-like arrangement, which can be also broken and reformed under certain stress conditions. Both types of CDsupramolecular gels can load and stabilize a variety of drugs via interaction with available polymer functional groups or with the CDs that are not participating in other complexes. Moreover, since the complex formation depends on various external and internal variables of the body, the syringeable CD gels can also provide stimuli-responsive drug release. This review focuses on the two main types of syringeable CD gels, prepared via self-aggregation of poly(pseudo)rotaxanes and via zipper-like assembly of CD-functionalized and guest-functionalized macromolecules, and analyzes the mechanisms and variables involved in the gelling processes and the most recent applications in the drug delivery field.