Electrochemically controlled release of dexamethasone from conducting polymer polypyrrole coated electrode

Chronic recordings from micromachined neural electrode arrays often fail a few weeks after implantation primarily due to the formation of an astro-glial sheath around the implant. We propose a drug delivery system, from conducting polymer (CP) coatings on the electrode sites, to modulate the inflammatory implant-host tissue reaction. In this study, polypyrrole (PPy) based coatings for electrically controlled and local delivery of the ionic form of an anti-inflammatory drug, dexamethasone (Dex), was investigated. The drug was incorporated in PPy via electropolymerization of pyrrole and released in PBS using cyclic voltammetry (CV). FTIR analysis of the surface showed the presence of Dex and polypyrrole on the coated electrode. The thickness of the coated film was estimated to be approximately 50 nm by ellipsometry. We are able to release 0.5 mug/cm(2) Dex in 1 CV cycle and a total of almost 16 mug/cm(2) Dex after 30 CV cycles. In vitro studies and immunocytochemistry on murine glial cells suggest that the released drug lowers the count of reactive astrocytes to the same extent as the added drug. In addition, the released drug is not toxic to neurons as seen by healthy neuronal viability in the released drug treated cells.