RT Journal Article
T1 Smart biodegradable hydrogels: Drug-delivery platforms for treatment of chronic ophthalmic diseases affecting the back of the eye
A1 Aragón Navas, Alba
A1 López-Cano, José Javier
A1 Johnson, Melissa
A1 Sigen, Aa
A1 Vicario De La Torre, Marta
A1 Andrés Guerrero, Vanesa
A1 Tai, Hongyun
A1 Wang, Wenxin
A1 Bravo Osuna, Irene
A1 Herrero Vanrell, María Del Rocío
AB This paper aims to develop smart hydrogels based on functionalized hyaluronic acid (HA) and PLGA-PEG-PLGA (PLGA,poly-(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid); PEG,polyethylene glycol) for use as intraocular drug-delivery platforms. Anti-inflammatory agent dexamethasone-phosphate (0.2 %w/v) was the drug selected to load on the hydrogels. Initially, different ratios of HA-aldehyde (HA-CHO) and thiolated-HA (HA-SH) were assayed, selecting as optimal concentrations 2 and 3 % (w/v), respectively. Optimized HA hydrogel formulations presented fast degradation (8 days) and drug release (91.46 ± 3.80 % in 24 h), thus being suitable for short-term intravitreal treatments. Different technology-based strategies were adopted to accelerate PLGA-PEG-PLGA water solubility, e.g. substituting PEG1500 in synthesis for higher molecular weight PEG3000 or adding cryopreserving substances to the buffer dissolution. PEG1500 was chosen to continue optimization and the final PLGA-PEG-PLGA hydrogels (PPP1500) were dissolved in trehalose or mannitol carbonate buffer. These presented more sustained release (71.77 ± 1.59 % and 73.41 ± 0.83 % in 24 h, respectively) and slower degradation (>14 days). In vitro cytotoxicity studies in the retinal-pigmented epithelial cell line (RPE-1) demonstrated good tolerance (viability values > 90 %). PLGA-PEG-PLGA hydrogels are proposed as suitable candidates for long-term intravitreal treatments. Preliminary wound healing studies with PLGA-PEG-PLGA hydrogels suggested faster proliferation at 8 h than controls.
PB Elsevier
SN 0378-5173
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/91676
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/91676
LA eng
NO Aragón-Navas A, López-Cano JJ, Johnson M, A S, Vicario-de-la-Torre M, Andrés-Guerrero V, et al. Smart biodegradable hydrogels: Drug-delivery platforms for treatment of chronic ophthalmic diseases affecting the back of the eye. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 2024;649:123653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123653.
NO Instituto de Salud Carlos III
NO European Commission 
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 6 abr 2025