Crosslinked soy protein films and their application as ophthalmic drug delivery system

AGUSTÍN GONZÁLEZ; IGNACIO TÁRTARA; SANTIAGO D. PALMA; CECILIA I. ALVAREZ IGARZABAL

MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING. C, BIOMIMETIC MATERIALS, SENSORS AND SYSTEMS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2015 vol. 71 p. 73 - 79

0928-4931

In this research, the potential of soy protein (SPI) based-films as drug delivery devices for ocular therapy was developed.Hence, crosslinked films with a natural and non-cytotoxic crosslinking agent, genipin (Gen), coatedwithpoly(lactic acid) (PLA), were prepared. Filmogenic solutions were loaded with timolol maleate (TM) as a modeldrug, to be used as drug delivery devices, a novel application for this material. The mechanical properties of thefilmswere studied, observing that with the presence of PLA coating, more rigid materialswith improved propertieswere obtained. Furthermore, the release behavior of TM was evaluated in aqueous medium, it being influencedby the degree of film crosslinking. Furthermore, it was determined that PLA coating decreased TMrelease rate compared to that of uncoated films. Similarly, this behavior was observed via indirect estimationof the release by assessing the hypotensive effectiveness of the films by in-vivo assays. Through intraocularpressure (IOP) determination tests in rabbits, it was demonstrated that, through the use of high crosslinkedand coated films, a significant decrease in IOP could be achieved for prolonged time periods. These results suggestthat the use of soy protein-based films as drug delivery systems is highly suitable.