Novel formulation of glucocorticoid based on silver alginate microcapsules for intraarticular drug delivery

Abstract The development of drug delivery systems for glucocorticoid drugs is a new strategy for optimization of glucocorticoid therapy, allowing the reduction of systemic side effects and the prolongation of a therapeutic one. For intraarticular glucocorticoids injection, widely used for therapy of osteoarthritis, the prolongation of drug release might also reduce the needle injection damage of a joint, due to reducing the number of injections operations. The current study introduces the novel system for water-insoluble glucocorticoid betamethasone delivery, based on silver alginate microcapsules, providing improved bioavailability, enhanced loading efficiency, and sustained release. The proposed system opens up the prospects for osteoarthritis therapy, enabling to overcome limitations of the intraarticular delivery of glucocorticoids.