Self-Assembling Elastin-Like Hydrogels for Timolol Delivery: Development of an Ophthalmic Formulation Against Glaucoma

FERNÁNDEZ-COLINO, ALICIA; QUINTEROS, DANIELA A.; ALLEMANDI, DANIEL A.; GIROTTI, ALESSANDRA; PALMA, SANTIAGO D.; ARIAS, F. JAVIER

MOLECULAR PHARMACEUTICS

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2017 vol. 14 p. 4498 - 4508

1543-8384

his work focuses on improving the effectivenessof current therapies against glaucoma by incorporatingself-assembled polymers into the ophthalmic formulation. Tothat end, we first studied the influence of the dispersingmedium on the mechanical performance of self-assemblingelastin-like (EL) and silk-elastin-like (SEL) hydrogels byconducting rheological tests. These polymers were subsequentlyincorporated into the antiglaucoma formulation, whichcontains timolol maleate (TM) as active ingredient, and in vivotests, namely adhesion tests and intraocular pressure measurements (IOP), were performed in New Zealand rabbits. Anenhanced reduction in IOP due to the presence of the polymers was observed. Moreover, differences in the effectiveness betweenboth EL- and SEL-hydrogels, which can be explained on the basis of the different rheological properties displayed by these twosystems, were also encountered. The results point to the potential of this system as a basis for the development of an ophthalmicformulation against glaucoma