Sustained release of water-insoluble simvastatin from biodegradable hydrogel augments bone regeneration

Drug delivery technology is a practically promising way to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of drugs. However, there remain some properties of material to be improved for drug delivery, such as the biodegradability and biocompatibility. In this study, we demonstrate that a biodegradable hydrogel of gelatin can achieve the sustained release of water-insoluble simvastatin. Biologically active simvastatin can be released accompanied with the biodegradation of hydrogel. The biocompatibility issue of material remaining after drug release can be practically resolved. Simvastatin was water-solubilized by gelatin grafted with L-lactic acid oligomer and mixed with gelatin, followed by chemical crosslinking to obtain gelatin hydrogels incorporating simvastatin water-solubilized. The hydrogel augments the simvastatin-induced bone regeneration given biocompatible gelatin fragments and has its potential to deliver a wide range of water-insoluble drugs.