Novel nano-porous hydrogel as a carrier matrix for oral delivery of tetracycline hydrochloride

A novel nano-porous hydrogel (NPH) was synthesized via graft copolymerization of sodium acrylate (Na-AA) and acrylamide (AAm) onto salep backbones and its application as a carrier matrix for oral delivery of tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) was investigated. The Taguchi method as a strong experimental design tool was used for synthesis optimization. The swelling behavior of optimum hydrogel was measured in various media. The hydrogel formation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetrical analysis (TGA). The study of the surface morphology of the hydrogels using SEM and AFM showed a nanoporous (average pore size: 180 nm) structure for the sample obtained under optimized conditions. The drug delivery results demonstrated that this NPH could successfully deliver a drug to the intestine without losing the drug in the stomach, and could be a good candidate as an orally administrated drug delivery system. (C) 2011 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.