TITLE:
Gold Nanoparticle and Berberine Entrapped into Hydrogel Matrix as Drug Delivery System
AUTHORS:
Camila Rufino Souza, Henrique R. Oliveira, Wagner M. Pinheiro, Lubhandwa S. Biswaro, Ricardo B. Azevedo, Anderson J. Gomes, Claure N. Lunardi
KEYWORDS:
Hydrogel, Berberine, Drug Delivery, AuNPs
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomaterials and Nanobiotechnology,
Vol.6 No.1,
January
14,
2015
ABSTRACT: In this study the novel hydrogel loaded with gold nanoparticle (AuNP) enhanced the berberine (BS)
release when compared with other formulations of hydrogel. Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymer
networks having the capacity to absorb water, ranging from about twenty to thousand times their
dry weight. BS is a natural product, a quaternary ammonium salt from the group of isoquinoline
alkaloids found in medicinal plants as Berberis Vulgaris. BS has some activity against dysentery,
hypertension, inflammation, and liver disease in China and Japan. In this work, BS was used as a
model drug to study its association with different types of hydrogel composites of polyvinyl alcohol
(BS-PVA 10%); gellan gum (BS-GG 2%), gellan gum-PVA crosslinked with cysteine (cys)
(BSGG2%PVA2%cys) and gellan gum-PVA cosslinked with cysteine associated with gold nanoparticles
(AuNP-BSGG2%PVA2%cys). Several parameters such as fraction of retained water (Wf), hydration
percentage (%H), Swelling (DSw) and time course profile (t = 100%) (TC) were evaluated
for all preparations. The results showed that the AuNP-BS-GG2%PVA2%cys was able to retain
more water and swelling than the other preparations. The time course of release of the BS to the
medium was greater for AuNP-BS-GG2%PVA2%cys making it a candidate to drug delivery studies
in biological assays. Also Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of the surface of these hydrogel
were performed. Furthermore, crosslink of the resulting hydrogels were investigated by
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and
thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Thus, briefly, the aim of this work was to study three composition
of hydrogel loaded with BS and its composition in relation to addition to AuNP and evaluate
its profile for further drug delivery application using the Surface Plasmonic Resonance (SPR) as a
tool improving the drug release in the new hydrogel.