Stimuli-sensitive hydrogels for pharmaceutical and medical applications

Abstract

Hydrogels are three-dimensional cross-linked hydrophilic polymers that swell in water and aqueous solutions without dissolving in them. They are very sensitive to environmental stimulus, which is manifested by a sharp phase transition. This feature is important for their application in the pharmaceutical field, especially for making formulations with controlled release of active ingredients, with the correction of the solubility, degradation and their toxicity reducing. Because of the compatibility with living tissues, hydrogels can be used in different medical purposes (for making contact lenses, stents, balloon catheters, artificial muscles, substitutes for arteries and veins, trachea, oviduct). This work presents methods (chemical and physical) for obtaining hydrogels, their properties and sensitivity to environmental stimuli (temperature, pH, magnetic field), as well as their potential application in medicine and pharmacy.

Hidrogelovi su umreženi trodimenzionalni hidrofilni polimeri koji bubre u vodi i vodenim rastvorima, a sami se ne rastvaraju u njima. Jako su osetljivi na spoljne stimulanse, što se manifestuje oštrim faznim prelazom. Ova osobina je važna za njihovu primenu u oblasti farmacije, i to pre svega za izradu formulacija sa kontrolisanim oslobađanjem aktivnih principa, uz korigovanje rastvorljivosti, degradacije i smanjenja njihove toksičnosti. Zahvaljujući kompatibilnosti sa živim tkivima, primena hidrogelova je važna i za rešavanje različitih medicinskih potreba (za izradu kontaktnih sočiva, stentova, balon katetera, veštačkih mišića, zamena za arterije i vene, traheja, jajovoda). U radu su detaljno prikazane metode za njihovo dobijanje (hemijske i fizičke), svojstva i osetljivost na spoljne stimulanse (temperatura, pH, magnetno polje), kao i moguće primene u oblasti medicine i farmacije.