Gold Nanoparticle and Berberine Entrapped into Hydrogel Matrix as Drug Delivery System

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.