Designing aloe vera-sterculia gum based copolymeric hydrogel dressings for drug delivery

Herein the present work, aloe vera (AV) and sterculia gum (SG) based polymer network hydrogels have been designed for use in wound dressing and drug delivery (DD) applications. The hydrogels were prepared by graft copolymerization reaction of poly(2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl trimethylammonium chloride) [poly (METAC)] onto AV and SG. Polymers were characterized by FESEM, SEM, EDS, AFM, C13 NMR, FTIR, XRD and TGA-DTG analysis. Swelling, drug delivery and biomedical properties of dressings have been evaluated. Sustained diffusion of moxifloxacin drug from dressings exhibited a non-Fickian diffusion mechanism and the release profile was best fitted in the Korsmeyer-Peppas kinetic model. Various interactions of polymers with blood and goat membranes revealed the biocompatible and mucoadhesive nature of the dressings. Hydrogel dressings were found permeable to O2 and water vapour and impermeable to microbes. Overall, these properties revealed that these hydrogels could act as suitable materials for design of wound dressings. Furthermore, antioxidant properties of AV, wound healing characteristic of SG, antibacterial properties of poly(METAC) and encapsulated moxifloxacin drug in hydrogel dressings may enhance the wound healing potential of hydrogel wound dressings (HWD).