Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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COLLAGEN-DOXYCYCLINE TOPICAL HYDROGELS: RHEOLOGICAL, KINETIC AND BIOCOMPATIBILITY STUDIES

MIHAELA VIOLETA GHICA1, MĂDĂLINA GEORGIANA ALBU2*, IRINA TITORENCU3,4, LUMINIŢA ALBU2, LĂCRĂMIOARA POPA1

1“Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Physical and Colloidal Chemistry Department, 6 Traian Vuia Str., 020956, Bucharest, Romania
2 INCDTP – Division Leather and Footwear Research Institute, Collagen Department, 93 Ion Minulescu Str., 031215, Bucharest, Romania
3 “Petru Poni” Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41A Grigore Ghica Vodă Alley, 700487, Iasi, Romania
4 “Nicolae Simionescu” Institute of Cellular Biology and Pathology, Cell Culture Department, 8 B.P. Hasdeu Str., 050568, Bucharest, Romania

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The aim of this study was the design of some topical drug delivery systems, as hydrogels, based on collagen and doxycycline hyclate, usable for the prevention and/or treatment of the infections appeared due to cutaneous wounds (superficial burns, surgical wounds). For this purpose the influence of the cross-linking agent (glutaraldehyde) on the rheological properties, release kinetics and the enzymatic biodegradability of the developed systems was followed. The biocompatibility with the human dermal fibroblast and endothelial cells for the most stable sample to the enzymatic degradation was also tested. Thus, all the designed hydrogels presented a non-newtonian pseudoplastic behaviour, the rheological analysis highlighting also that the viscosity increases in the same time with the cross-linking degree increase. The drug release from hydrogels follows the power law model. The cross-linking with glutaraldehyde reduced the doxycycline release from the drug system, but increased the resistance to the enzymatic degradation. The most stable hydrogel to the enzymatic degradation was the one cross-linked with 0.30% glutaraldehyde, and sustained human dermal fibroblast and endothelial cells growth.