Microfluidic-based Preparation of Hyaluronic Acid Microgels for Enzymatic-Triggered Release of Hydrophobic Drugs

VÉRONIQUE LAPEYRE; NATALIA CASIS; VALÉRIE RAVAINE; CARLOS BUSATTO; RACHEL AUZÉLY-VELTY; JULIO LUNA; HÉLÈNE LABIE; ADELINE PERRO-MARRE; DIANA ESTENOZ

Madrid

Conferencia; 31st Conference of the European Colloid & Interface Society; 2017

The design and preparation of polymer microgels have attracted considerable attention due to their great potential in the biomedical field, particularly as drug delivery systems. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan composed of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid. This polymer is biodegradable, biocompatible, nontoxic, and can be chemically modified. The aim of this work is to prepare biodegradable HA microgels encapsulating hydrophobic drugs by a co-flow microfluidic strategy. The approach relies on three steps: (i) the drug is incorporated in an oil-in-water nanoemulsion, (ii) the nanoemulsion is further incorporated within a double oil-in-water-in-oil emulsion (O/W/O) using microfluidics, and (iii) the microdroplets are cross-linked by photopolymerization of HA precursors modified with methacrylate groups (HA-MA) present in the aqueous phase. The procedure is used for the encapsulation and controlled release of progesterone. Degradability and encapsulation/release studies in PBS buffer at 37 °C in presence of different concentrations of hyaluronidase (Hase) are performed. It is demonstrated that enzymatic degradation can be used to trigger the release of progesterone from microgels. This method allows a fine and robust control of the structural parameters and can be applied for the encapsulation and controlled release of different types of hydrophobic drugs.