DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF GLUCOSE SENSITIVE HYDROGELS FOR THE TREATMENT OF DIABETES MELLIT

Development of stimuli-sensitive hydrogels for the delivery of drug involves the development of matrices that are glucose-sensitive and have strong sensing properties so that the developed system can sense the level of glucose and release the medicament in response to blood glucose level. In the present study an attempt has been made to develop a glucose sensitive hydrogel system which modulates the release of an anti-diabetic drug in response to the blood glucose level in the body. The hydrogel system was prepared by gas foaming technique using chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as polymer and glutaraldehyde as cross-linking agent. Metformin was used as a drug candidate because of its short biological half life (6.25±0.5 hrs). The prepared glucose sensitive hydrogel system has characterized using different parameters. It was observed that hydrogel swelled and deswelled reversibly depending on the pH and glucose sensitivity of the medium and has suitable mechanical properties. In-vitro results showed that the enzymatically immobilized hydrogel was sensitive to both pH and glucose for effective release of drug. It was found that higher the concentration of glucose in the medium, higher the amount of drug released from the hydrogel. In vivo results showed that glucose oxidase leads to reduction in blood glucose level in response to variable glucose concentration in the body thus achieving the desired therapeutic levels in the body . The present study showed that glucose sensitive hydrogels not only are efficient in controlling the physiological blood glucose level but also provide for a sustained and controlled release of drugs having short biological half life.