Poly(ethylene- co-vinylalcohol)/Poly(δ-valerolactone)/Aspirin Composite: Model for a New Drug-Carrier System

Abdulaziz Ali Alghamdi; Waseem Sharaf Saeed; Abdel-Basit Al-Odayni; Fahad A Alharthi; Abdelhabib Semlali; Taieb Aouak

doi:10.3390/polym11030439

Poly(ethylene- co-vinylalcohol)/Poly(δ-valerolactone)/Aspirin Composite: Model for a New Drug-Carrier System

Polymers (Basel). 2019 Mar 6;11(3):439. doi: 10.3390/polym11030439.

Authors

Abdulaziz Ali Alghamdi¹, Waseem Sharaf Saeed², Abdel-Basit Al-Odayni³, Fahad A Alharthi⁴, Abdelhabib Semlali⁵, Taieb Aouak⁶

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. aalghamdia@ksu.edu.sa.
² Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. wsaeed@ksu.edu.sa.
³ Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. aalodayni@ksu.edu.sa.
⁴ Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. fharthi@ksu.edu.sa.
⁵ Groupe de Recherche en Écologie Buccale, Faculté de Médecin Dentaire, Université Laval, G1V 0A6, QC, Canada. abdelhabib.semlali@greb.ulaval.ca.
⁶ Chemistry Department, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. taouak@ksu.edu.sa.

Abstract

The release dynamics of aspirin(ASP), used as a drug model, from the poly(ethylene-co-vinyl alcohol)/poly(δ-valerolactone) (PE-co-VAL/Pδ-VL) hydrogel blend was controlled by varying the blend's degree of swelling through a gradual loading of Pδ-VL (hydrophobic polymer) in this copolymer matrix. To achieve this goal, a series of PE-co-VAL/Pδ-VL blends with different ratios was prepared through the solvent casting method, and the miscibility of this polymer blend was evaluated by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electronic microscopy methods. The tests of cell adhesion and growth on the PE-co-VAL/Pδ-VL specimens were performed using the 3-(4,5-demethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) method and the results obtained were the best performance in terms of cell viability, cell adhesion, and growth of the PE-co-VAL/Pδ-VL50 material. The dynamic mechanical properties of the prepared material were also examined by dynamic mechanical analysis; the results obtained showed a material having intermediary mechanical properties between those of the two components. On the basis of these characterizations, the blend showing the best performance, such as the PE-co-VAL/Pδ-VL50 system, was chosen as a carrier to study the in vitro control of the release dynamics of ASP from the ASP/PE-co-VAL/Pδ-VL drug-carrier system when administered orally, in which the influences of the ASP content and the degree of swelling of the PE-co-VAL/Pδ-VL blend were investigated. Based on the data obtained and the gastrointestinal transit time reported by Beltzer et al., it was possible to estimate the distribution of the in vitro cumulative ASP released in different digestive system organs regardless of the actions of any enzymes and microorganisms and select the best-performing drug-carrier system.

Keywords: composite; control of drug release; diffusion mechanism; effect of the degree of swelling; poly(ethylene-co-vinylalcohol)/poly(δ-valerolactone)/aspirin; the dynamic mechanical properties.