Development and Inflammation Suppressing Effects of Prednisolone Encapsulated Alginate/Agarose Co-Polymeric Hydrogel System

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) encompasses a group of chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, including Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative colitis. Conventional treatments for IBD often involve systemic administration of corticosteroids, such as Prednisolone (Pred), which can lead to undesirable side effects. Delivery systems are preferred for the administration of drugs, as they enhance the bioavailability of the drug while reducing the dosage and targeting the affected tissue. This leads to effective treatment with minimal side effects. Hydrogels are considered to be one of the effective drug delivery systems as they facilitate site-specific drug delivery. In this study, we aimed to optimize and develop a localized hydrogel-based drug delivery system using agarose (Agr) and alginate (Alg) respectively for targeted drug therapy in IBD. Pred, a potent corticosteroid with anti-inflammatory properties, was incorporated into the optimized hydrogel matrix at various concentrations. The hydrogel exhibited good swelling ability (12–14 g/g) and mucoadhesivity (43.54 ± 2.52%) at lower Agr concentration compared to Alg hydrogel as control. The 1% (w/v) agarose/2% (w/v) alginate hydrogel (A₁AH) was able to encapsulate approximately 97.31 ± 1.77% of Pred and possessed the ability to deliver the drug in a prolonged manner over a sustained time period. The Pred-encapsulated hydrogel (P-A₁AH) system displayed no in vitro cytotoxic effects on HCT116 cell lines and was able to effectively suppress inflammatory mediators like reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO) and revealed effective wound healing effects. The developed mucoadhesive hydrogel system can be exploited for the delivery of various drugs to target intestinal inflammation for prolonged effects.