In this study, the chemically crosslinked hydrogels of carboxymethyl chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol were fabricated by the free radical polymerization. Successful polymerization was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, while x-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetric measurements helped in investigating crystallinity and thermal behavior of the products. Morphological characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy. The increased incorporation of carboxymethyl chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol enhanced the swelling, drug loading, and in-vitro drug release while crosslinking agent acted inversely. The blanked hydrogels were cytocompatible while oxaliplatin loaded hydrogels showed dose-dependent controlled cytotoxicity against HCT-116 and MCF-7. Oral biocompatibility in albino rabbits showed that the hydrogel suspension was tolerable up to 3600 mg/kg as no toxic or histopathological changes were observed upon comparison with the control group. Results of the studies confirmed that the developed hydrogels can be a potential candidate for controlled oxaliplatin delivery and targeting in cancer therapy.
Keywords: Crosslinking; Oral tolerability; PVA.
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