Chelating agent effect on the release of gentamicin from PEG-DA hydrogels

Abstract

In this study, controlled drug release devices of poly(ethylene glycol-diacrylate) (PEG-DA) hydrogels were prepared by free radical UV polymerization. PEG-DAmacromere was cross-linked with different percentages of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA). The chelating agent, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA), was added at three different concentrations. Gentamicin sulphate was incorporated into the hydrogel during photopolymerization and its release kinetics was tested spectrophotometrically at 255 nm in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4). Results indicate that the presence of chelating agent leads to a prolonged drug release. Gentamicin release from hydrogel synthesized by using low chelating and cross-linking agent concentrations indicate slow release time. The effect of chelating agent concentration eliminated when the amount of cross-linking agent increased while drug release time is still higher than control group which was prepared in the absence of EDTA. It is interesting to note that the gentamicin release time prolonged when chelating agent decreased at constant cross-linking agent concentration.