Self-assembled multilayer films for time-controlled ocular drug delivery

The patient’s compliance on the therapeutics to treat glaucoma is significantly low contributing for a fast evolution of the disease. This article presents an autonomous system with controlled release using an alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist, brimonidine, usually used to treat glaucoma. More specifically, biocompatible and layer-by-layer drug delivery films containing monolayers with brimonidine encapsulated in polymer-β-cyclodextrin were prepared with the objective to obtain a system able to release precise amounts of drug at specific times. To delay the erosion-controlled drug release, we included nanosheets of graphene oxide and layers of a biodegradable polymer (poly-β-aminoester) between the drug-containing monolayers to obtain a time-controlled drug delivery system. An increase in the number of graphene oxide layers is proportional to the brimonidine release delay and its kinetic release can be tuned as a function of the number of layers. Two types of films with brimonidine encapsulated in β-cycl...