Sidhavatam Harshavardhan Reddy; Manimaran V
Abstract
Diabetic foot ulcer pose a significant challenge in healthcare, often leading to prolonged healing processes and complications requiring sophisticated and advanced therapeutic interventions. ...
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Diabetic foot ulcer pose a significant challenge in healthcare, often leading to prolonged healing processes and complications requiring sophisticated and advanced therapeutic interventions. This study focuses on the formulation and development of Doxycycline hyclate loaded chitosan nanoparticles in cross-linked topical hydrogel patches for targeted management of DFU healing. Various characterization techniques, such as FT-IR, Zeta potential, DSC, XRD, and SEM, were employed to confirm and gain insights into the structural and morphological features of the cross-linked topical hydrogel patches. The evaluation parameters encompassed analyzing sol-gel behavior, swelling dynamics, and in vitro drug release studies at pH values of 5.5, 6.5, and 7.4. Drug permeation and deposition was performed utilizing the Franz diffusion cell method. The topical hydrogel patches showed pH-sensitive behavior, with enhanced drug release, swelling, and permeation observed at pH 7.4. The synthesized nanoparticles exhibited a spherical morphology, varying particle sizes ranging from 92.83 nm to 206.2 nm, and a zeta potential measuring -22.4 mV. The patches were produced by incorporating CNPs as carriers for DCH into a polymeric matrix, which required the optimization of free radical polymerization. The ion gelation method was utilized to prepare the CNPs. The solvent evaporation technique was used for grafting the topical hydrogel patches. Among the seven formulations, topical hydrogel patch F6 exhibited the most favorable characteristics, as evidenced by a substantial drug content of 97.21 ± 0.524%. The F6 formulation excelled over other formulations over 72 hours at pH 7.4. Stability testing of the selected F6 formulation over 6 months under accelerated conditions confirmed its viability. Therefore, this polymeric network represents an innovative technology for accelerating the healing process of diabetic foot ulcers through the use of doxycycline hyclate loaded chitosan nanoparticles cross-linked in topical hydrogel patches.