Development and characterization of dual-functional polymeric hydrogels: A Sustainable approach for drug delivery and...

Treatment failure and increased death rates may arise from the presence of drug-resistant microorganisms in the hospital environment. The purpose of this study was to devise new therapeutic hydrogel formulations to target drug resistant bacteria.

In this study injectable hydrogel was developed containing Chitosan (CH) Methacrylic acid (MAA) and Glutaraldehyde, via polymerization technique, with subsequent loading of Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) and Colistin (CT). Physicochemical characterization was performed by UV-Vis spectroscopy, zeta sizer, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and drug release assays were conducted to predict the hydrogel's injectable therapeutic applications. Molecular Docking, simulation analysis was performed to evaluate the binding affinities of hydrogel components to their respective target. A broth microdilution method was employed to assess the antibacterial and antibiofilm efficacy.

The CH-MAA hydrogel showed remarkable swelling, excellent biodegradability, and cytocompatibility. The hydrogels followed non-Fickian drug release indicated by the computed "n" values of 0.45-0.89. The CH-MAA hydrogel showed excellent antibacterial effects with a significant decrease in MIC values (5 μg/mL). The IONPs loaded hydrogels showed significant decrease in MIC value (0.78 μg/mL) as compared to IONP standalone (50 μg/mL). CT resistant A. baumannii was successfully targeted by CT loaded hydrogel which showed a remarkable MIC (1.25 μg/mL).

Current findings suggest that the newly designed CH-MAA injectable hydrogel could be a novel therapeutic agent with antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against these highly resistant bacteria to combat AMR.