Abstract:

The aim of this experiment was to prepare a hydrogel that can be used for local delivery of esculin. Carboxymethyl cellulose sodium (CMC-Na) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) were selected as the raw materials, to which esculin (ESC) was added to prepare Esculin-loaded CMC-Na/CMCS hydrogel (CCE) for topical drug delivery, and its properties and functions were investigated. In this experiment, the CCE hydrogel was successfully prepared, and orthogonal tests were designed with different ratios of CMC-Na/CMCS, based on the screening of drug loading and encapsulation rate, and the formulation of the hydrogel was finally determined as 2% CMC-Na, 2% CMCS, 200 μL of Genipin, and the rotational speed was 800 r·min^-1, and the appearance of the hydrogel was a blue solution, with no precipitation and impurity-free transparency and uniformity; Scanning electron microscopy showed that it had a three-dimensional structure and many smooth pores; the particle size was 0.841 5 nm, and the zeta potential was -32.1 mV; Fourier infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction showed that esculin was successfully loaded into the CMC-Na/CMCS hydrogel without affecting its original functional groups; the solubilization rate was 234%; the in vitro release time was significantly prolonged compared with that of raw materials; the antibacterial effect was prolonged compared with raw materials at the same concentration of loaded gel. The antimicrobial effect was prolonged and better than that of raw materials. In this experiment, we successfully loaded esculin into CMC-Na/CMCS hydrogel and proved through a series of experiments that esculin has a certain slow-release effect compared with the API, which can prolong the action time of the drug and reduce the number of times of administration, providing a new way of administration for the treatment of diseases with Esculin in clinical practice.

Key words: sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, carboxymethyl chitosan, esculin, hydrogel, drug delivery