Chitosan / Dextran Based Hydrogels as Drug Delivery Systems

Controlled drug release enhances the safety, efficiency and reliability of drug administration. Regulation of the release rate results in a reduced frequency of the administration and supports the patient´s comfort. In the recent years, hydrogels have experienced an increase interest with respect to their potential in biomedical applications. At the same time the outstanding characteristics of polysaccharides have attracted attention. Combining both, our group has developed a chitosan/dextran based hydrogel for surgical use. Promising results have been obtained from sheep studies and human trials using the hydrogel as wound dressing in endoscopic sinus surgery. Considering the requirements after surgery, the idea arose to use the gel at the same time as a controlled delivery system. The aim of this research programme was to investigate the ability of the hydrogel in sustained release applying three model drugs. An anti-inflammatory, an anti-microbial drug as well as a painkiller were chosen for this study taking the healing process and the well-being of patients into account. Different characteristics of the compounds and the hydrogel were also determined