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Thermo‐responsive albumin hydrogels with LCST near the physiological temperature
Author(s) -
Spizzirri Umile Gianfranco,
Cirillo Giuseppe,
Iemma Francesca,
Puoci Francesco,
Curcio Manuela,
Ilaria Parisi Ortensia,
Picci Nevio
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.33543
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , lower critical solution temperature , methacrylate , polymer chemistry , bovine serum albumin , thermoresponsive polymers in chromatography , drug delivery , polymerization , chemical engineering , monomer , materials science , radical polymerization , glass transition , drug carrier , chemistry , polymer , copolymer , phase (matter) , organic chemistry , chromatography , nanotechnology , composite material , reversed phase chromatography , engineering
Abstract This paper deals with the synthesis of thermoresponsive microspheres with proteic structure exhibiting a transition temperature close to the body temperature. The hydrogels were synthesized by free radical polymerization of methacrylate Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA‐MA) as crosslinker, and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and/or N ‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm), as hydrophilic and thermoresponsive monomers, respectively. The modification of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance in the polymerization feed allows to modulate the volume phase transition temperature of the macromolecular network. The hydrogels were characterized by infrared spectroscopy and thermal analyses, which showed negative thermoresponsive behavior for all compositions and, by increasing the content of the hydrophilic moieties in the network, the transition temperature was ranged from 34.2 to 36.8°C. To test the preformed materials as drug carriers, diclofenac diethyl ammonium salt was chosen and drug entrapment percent was determined. Drug release profiles, in media at different temperature, depend on the crosslinking degree and on the composition of the hydrogels. By using semiempirical equations, the release mechanism was extensively studied and the diffusional contribute evaluated. The physic‐chemical characteristics of thermoresponsive materials confirm the applicability of the microspheres as drug delivery device. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011