Periodate-Modified Gum Arabic Cross-linked PVA Hydrogels: A Promising Approach toward Photoprotection and Sustained Delivery of Folic Acid

Ashiq Hussain Pandit; Nasreen Mazumdar; Khalid Imtiyaz; M Moshahid Alam Rizvi; Sharif Ahmad

doi:10.1021/acsomega.9b02137

Periodate-Modified Gum Arabic Cross-linked PVA Hydrogels: A Promising Approach toward Photoprotection and Sustained Delivery of Folic Acid

ACS Omega. 2019 Sep 18;4(14):16026-16036. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.9b02137. eCollection 2019 Oct 1.

Authors

Ashiq Hussain Pandit¹, Nasreen Mazumdar¹, Khalid Imtiyaz¹, M Moshahid Alam Rizvi¹, Sharif Ahmad¹

Affiliation

¹ Materials Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Material (Polymer) Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, and Genome Biology Laboratory, Department of Biosciences, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India.

Abstract

The chemically oxidized gum arabic was prepared and used as a naturally derived nontoxic and pH-responsive cross-linker to develop smart polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogels for the first time. The formulated hydrogels exhibited high mechanical properties, good porosity, and pH sensitivity, which facilitated their application as promising biomaterials for sustained delivery of folic acid. Further, the synthesized cross-linked PVA hydrogels displayed no cytotoxicity toward the human embryonic kidney cell line and exhibited higher blood compatibility. The hydrolytic degradation study confirmed their biodegradable nature. While the sustained delivery along with photoprotective properties of these hydrogels confirmed their multifunctional characteristics, these results suggest that these hydrogels may act as an efficient photoprotective material and find their application in the field of drug delivery.