Gelatin-based emulsion gels for diffusion-controlled release applications

Goutam Thakur, Muhammad Ali Naqvi, Dérick Rousseau, Kunal Pal, Analava Mitra, Amit Basak

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Emulsion gels are now emerging as a new class of biomaterials for controlled-release applications. Novel food-grade emulsion gels consisting of indomethacin-loaded vegetable oil droplets dispersed within genipin-cross-linked gelatin-based hydrogels were characterized for their physical and drug-release properties. Varying the weight ratio of the aqueous and oil phases between 5:1 and 5:5 was used to modulate construct swelling and drug release. The dispersed oil droplets generally became larger, more polydispersed and aggregated with an increase in oil fraction. Cross-linking with genipin increased the puncture strength of the gels vs. their uncross-linked counterparts and was necessary to prevent breakdown. Swelling of the emulsion gels demonstrated Fickian behaviour at all gelatin: oil ratios. Indomethacin release followed Fickian diffusion at higher oil fractions only, demonstrating coupled Fickian and super-Case-II transport at lower oil ratios (5:1, 5:2 and 5:3). Overall, the introduction of a dispersed oil phase within a hydrogel was exploited for the release of hydrophobic bioactive compounds, with tailoring of composition used to significantly alter release kinetics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)645-661
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition
Volume23
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22-03-2012

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Biophysics
  • Bioengineering
  • Biomaterials
  • Biomedical Engineering

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