| Category | BMED | L07 | Using Polymer Hydrogels for Drug Delivery |
| Abstract | The purpose of this experiment is to investigate drug release using |
| polymer hydrogels. This method simulates local drug delivery, which is |
| done by implanting an engineered polymer into the organ or system |
| affected by a disease thus limiting drug side effects compared to |
| systemic drug delivery. |
| To conduct this experiment, 5% green and 15% blue gelatin polymers |
| were made by heating water to 90o C, adding 2 grams and 6 grams |
| gelatin powder, making the solutions, adding 0.75 mL of food coloring |
| to the gels, and chilling them. These gelatin cubes or polymer hydrogel |
| control the release of the color, which represents the drug. Low and |
| high enzyme concentration solutions were prepared by adding 0.1 g |
| and 0.5 g of meat tenderizer to 100 mL of water. The hydrogel cubes |
| were added to solutions with no enzyme, low enzyme, and high enzyme |
| concentration. A UV spectrophotometer was used to determine the |
| amount of drug released by measuring the absorbance. |
| The hypothesis of this experiment that the gel with higher polymer |
| hydrogel concentration will result in more quantity of drug release |
| regardless of the enzyme concentration is not supported. Adding |
| enzymes to the delivery system increases the drug release except in |
| the 5% control solution. The 5% polymers released more drug than the |
| 15% polymers. So in local drug delivery systems using polymer can be |
| tailored to release a specific % of drug. The higher concentration |
| polymer resulted in slower release because it takes longer to degrade |
| the fibers. While this experiment simulates local drug delivery systems |
| using polymer hydrogels, more research needs to be conducted using |
| real drugs in animals or humans. |
| Bibliography | Kopeček, Jindřich. "Hydrogel Biomaterials: A Smart |
| Future?" Biomaterials. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2007. |
| Web. 15 Mar. 2017. |
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| Libretexts. "Spectrophotometry." Chemistry LibreTexts. Libretexts, 21 |
| July 2016. Web. 15 Mar. 2017. |
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| Pettigrew, Roderick. "HOME." National Institutes of Health. U.S. |
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| Sylman, J. L; Neeves, K. B.; “An Inquiry-Based Investigation of |
| Controlled-Release Drug Delivery from Hydrogels: An Experiment for |
| High School Chemistry and Biology.” J. Chem. Ed. 2013 90 918-921 |