Chitosan/alginate multilayer film for controlled release of IDM on Cu/LDPE composite intrauterine devices

To reduce such side effects as pain and bleeding caused by copper-containing intrauterine device (Cu-IUD), a novel medicated intrauterine device, which is coated with an indomethacin (IDM) delivery system on the surface of copper/low-density polyethylene (Cu/LDPE) composite intrauterine device, has been proposed and developed in the present work. The IDM delivery system is a polyelectrolyte multilayer film, which is composed of IDM containing chitosan and alginate layer by layer, is prepared by using self-assembled polyelectrolyte multilayer method, and the number of the layers of this IDM containing chitosan/alginate multilayer film can be tailored by controlling the cyclic repetition of the deposition process. After the IDM containing chitosan/alginate multilayer film is obtained on the surface of Cu/LDPE composite intrauterine device, its release behavior of both IDM and cupric ion has been studied in vitro. The results show that the release duration of IDM increase with the increasing of thickness of the IDM containing chitosan/alginate multilayer film, and the initial burst release of cupric ion cannot be found in this novel medicated Cu/LDPE composite IUD. These results can be applied to guide the design of novel medicated Cu-IUD with minimal side effects for the future clinical use.