Thermo-Responsive Injectable MPEG-Polyester Diblock Copolymers for Sustained Drug Release

Polymers

Hoon Hyun²  Seung Hun Park²  Doo Yeon Kwon²  Gilson Khang¹  Hai Bang Lee²  Moon Suk Kim² 

[1] Department of BIN Fusion Technology, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju 561-756, Korea; E-Mail:;Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea; E-Mails:

关键词: thermo-responsive hydrogels;    biodegradable polyesters;    block copolymers;    sustained release;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym6102670

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Thermo-responsive diblock copolymers composed of hydrophilic methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) and hydrophobic biodegradable polyesters were prepared for application as injectable drug delivery systems, because they show a thermo-responsive sol-to-gel transition, especially around body temperature, when dispersed in aqueous solutions. The thermogelling hydrogels formed by hydrophobic aggregation could be varied by changing the components of the hydrophobic polyester part. For the polyester block in the present study, 95 mol% of ε-caprolactone (CL) was used for the main polyester chain and 5 mol% of p-dioxanone (DO) was copolymerized randomly by the MPEG initiator in the presence of HCl as the catalyst. By adding a small portion of DO into the poly ε-caprolactone (PCL) chains, the temperature range of gelation, the intensity of viscosity and the drug release behavior were changed. The MPEG-b-poly(ε-caprolactone-ran-p-dioxanone) (MPEG-b-PCDO) hydrogel showed the enhanced drug release in vitro and in vivo compared to MPEG-b-PCL hydrogel. Therefore, MPEG-polyester hydrogels may serve as minimally invasive and therapeutic, injectable hydrogel systems with adjustable temperature-responsive and biodegradable windows, as well as sustained release of drugs over a certain time period.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.