Synthesis of novel composite hydrogel based on carboxymethyl cellulose/acrylamide/β-cyclodextrin for drug delivery

Polysaccharide-based hydrogels have attracted significant attention in fields such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound healing, primarily due to their excellent water-retention capacity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. This study reports the preparation of a hydrogel through the copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) using a simple free-radical polymerization method. β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), capable of encapsulating hydrophobic drugs, was chemically modified with double bonds (Ac-β-CD) and incorporated as a pendant unit in the polymerization reaction, forming a ternary copolymer hydrogel with CMC, AM, and Ac-β-CD. Ibuprofen, a model hydrophobic drug, was incorporated with Ac-β-CD through high-pressure steam sterilization and was successfully loaded into the hydrogel. The hydrogel exhibited excellent water absorption and biocompatibility. Cytotoxicity and in vivo studies confirmed its non-toxic profile. The porous hydrogel achieved an encapsulation efficiency of 97.83 % for drug-loading by autoclaving. The hydrogel showed a cumulative release rate of 87.3 % over 12 h under simulated physiological pH (pH 7.4). The CMC/AM/Ac-β-CD hydrogel system developed here thus demonstrates potential as a carrier for hydrophobic drugs.