Journal of Pharmaceutics & Drug Delivery Research

Fabrication and Characterization of Drug Loaded Scaffolds for Corneal Tissue Engineering

Allan Joshua I, Asha M, Shanmuganathan S and Nagalakshmi S*

The present work was aimed towards synthesizing chitin from crab shell, followed by preparation of chitin and deacetylation of chitin to chitosan which was then fabricated into scaffold by using variety of polymers including (HPMC, SCMC, CMC, chitosan). ofloxacin possess high activity as a wound healing accelerator. The anti-infective ability and antibacterial activity of ofloxacin can be further enhanced by the polymer prepared from chitosan prepared from chitin.

Four formulations were developed (i.e., S1, S2, S3, S4,) using various usage of polymers such as (HPMC, SCMC, CMC, chitosan). The prepared scaffolds were studied for its characteristic properties such as weight loss, swelling ability, porosity measurement, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, FT-IR, optical microscopy, zeta potential, In vitro release studies and In vitro antimicrobial studies.

Owing to the greater water uptake activity, sufficient porosity, improved antibacterial activity and extended drug release, the optimised formulation containing chitosan would be a promising biomaterial for corneal tissue engineering applications compared with other polymers.

From this research, it was concluded that the drug loaded scaffold is a viable alternative to existing conventional dosage forms which lead to improved bioactivity and a promising biomaterial for corneal tissue engineering applications in case of administration affords resulting in better patient compliance and cost effective therapy in the field of biomedical application.

Results indicated that chitosan scaffolds (S4) containing ofloxacin were well suited for the sustained release of ofloxacin and are promising carrier for the drug delivery in corneal tissue engineering due to their compliance with the corneal epithelial cells.