Abstract
During the last decades, salicylic acid (SA) and hyaluronic acid (HA) have been studied
for a wide range of cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. The current study investigated the
drug loading potential of SA in HA-based crosslinked hydrogel films using a post-loading (osmosis)
method of the unmedicated xerogels from saturated aqueous solutions of salicylic acid over a range
of pH values. The films were characterized with Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR) and
ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry in order to elucidate the drug loading profile and the
films’ integrity during the loading process. Additional studies on their weight loss (%), gel fraction
(%), thickness increase (%) and swelling (%) were performed. Overall, the studies showed significant
film disintegration at highly acidic and basic solutions. No drug loading occurred at neutral and
basic pH, possibly due to the anionic repulsion between SA and HA, whereas at, pH 2.1, the drug
loading was promising and could be detected via UV-Vis analysis of the medicated solutions, with
the SA concentration in the xerogel films at 28% w/w.
for a wide range of cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. The current study investigated the
drug loading potential of SA in HA-based crosslinked hydrogel films using a post-loading (osmosis)
method of the unmedicated xerogels from saturated aqueous solutions of salicylic acid over a range
of pH values. The films were characterized with Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR) and
ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry in order to elucidate the drug loading profile and the
films’ integrity during the loading process. Additional studies on their weight loss (%), gel fraction
(%), thickness increase (%) and swelling (%) were performed. Overall, the studies showed significant
film disintegration at highly acidic and basic solutions. No drug loading occurred at neutral and
basic pH, possibly due to the anionic repulsion between SA and HA, whereas at, pH 2.1, the drug
loading was promising and could be detected via UV-Vis analysis of the medicated solutions, with
the SA concentration in the xerogel films at 28% w/w.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 54-76 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | Gels |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Jan 2024 |