Affiliations: [a] School of Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Qiao Zhang, Wuhan Institute of Technology, No. 206 Optical Valley 1st Road, East Lake High-tech Development Zone, Wuhan, Hubei, 430205, China. E-mail: booyou@163.com. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7680-365X
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Polysaccharide hydrogel is one of the most important materials for the colon target drug release system. However, the degradation time of polysaccharide hydrogel is much longer than the retention time in the colon. The drugs are expelled from the body before being released. OBJECTIVE:In order to match the degradation of drug carriers and their retention time in the colon, a rapidly degradable konjac glucomannan (KGM) hydrogel was designed for colon target drug release. METHODS:A crosslinker containing azo bond, olsalazine, was used to prepare the rapidly degradable KGM hydrogel. The degradation and drug release of the hydrogels with different crosslinking densities in the normal buffer and the human fecal medium were studied to evaluate the efficiency of colon drug release. RESULTS:More than 50% of the KGM hydrogel by weight was degraded and more than 60% of the 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) was released within 48 h in 5% w/v human fecal medium. CONCLUSION:The drug was released more rapidly in a simulated colon environment than in a normal buffer. Furthermore, the drug release was controlled by the degradation of the hydrogel. The KGM hydrogel containing azo crosslinker has great potential for colon drug release.
Keywords: Konjac glucomannan, hydrogel, azo bond, colon target, drug release
