Nanoparticle loaded hydrogels as a pathway for enzyme controlled drug release in ophthalmic applications

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study was to develop nanoparticle loaded hydrogel based contact lenses that could be used for ocular drug delivery. Two potential contact lens platforms for controlled ophthalmic drug delivery was thus developed by incorporating chitosan-poly(acrylic acid) nanoparticles into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels and nanoparticles together with cellulose nanocrystals (CNC) in PVA. The nanoparticles were shown to disintegrate in a physiological 2.7 mg/ml concentration of lysozyme resulting from the hydrolysis of the chitosan chains by the enzyme. An extended release over a 28-hour period was demonstrated once the nanoparticles had been integrated into the composite lenses, with nanoparticle-CNC PVA lenses showing even greater potential for extended release. Further experiments using a suitable drug molecule incorporated into the nanoparticles during the synthesis, and released from the lenses in simulated tear fluid would be needed in order to validate the hydrogels as a potential drug delivery platform.