Exploring potential of aloe vera and sterculia gum dietary fibers to develop functional hydrogels for drug delivery applications

Now days the main focus of carbohydrate research is to design functional hydrogels for biomedical applications. The aloe vera (AV) and sterculia gum (SG) are therapeutically active dietary fibers. Herein, these polysaccharides were explored to develop network hydrogels by covalent and non-covalent interactions for use in drug delivery (DD) and wound dressing (WD) applications. These hydrogel dressings were impregnated with antibiotic drug moxifloxacin for better wound care. Slow and sustained diffusion of drug was found with a non-Fickian mechanism and release profile was best explained by Higuchi kinetic model. Additionally, various physiological and biomedical properties of hydrogels were also evaluated. The dressings exhibited an impressive wound fluid absorption tendency under simulated conditions. The network structure demonstrated mucoadhesive properties and required 97 ± 6.00 mN forces for the detachment of dressings from mucosal surface. Dressing revealed significant antioxidant activity which demonstrated 49.14 ± 0.32 % free radical scavenging in DPPH assay. The dressings were non-toxic and were permeable to O₂ & H₂O. The characterization of hydrogel dressings was performed through Field emission scanning electron microscopy/Energy dispersive spectroscopy (FESEM/EDS), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), ¹³Carbon Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹³C NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) & X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques to establish the structural aspects of copolymers. Overall, physicochemical & biochemical findings suggested that these hydrogels could be applied in DD applications. These hydrogels developed from bioactive AV and SG could be applied as wound dressings encapsulated with antibiotic drug for better wound healing.