Spermidine cross-linked hydrogels as a controlled release biomimetic approach for cloxacillin.

The intrinsic ability of albumin to bind active substances in the physiological fluids has been explored to endow hydrogels with improved capability to regulate drug release. To develop such biomimetic-functional hydrogels, it is critical that albumin conformation is not altered and that the protein remains retained inside the hydrogel keeping its conformational freedom, i.e., it should be not chemically cross-linked. Thus, the hydrogels were prepared with various proportions of albumin by physical cross-linking of anionic polysaccharides (gellan gum and chondroitin sulfate) with the cationic endogen polyamine spermidine under mild conditions in order to prevent albumin denaturation. Texture and swelling properties of hydrogels with various compositions were recorded, and the effect of the preparation variables was evaluated applying neurofuzzy logic tools for hydrogels prepared with and without albumin and associating the antibiotic cloxacillin. Developed hydrogel systems were extensively analyzed by mea...