Biopolymer-Based Vehicles for Drug Encapsulation

Abstract

Biopolymers are increasingly used to design drug delivery systems (DDSs), which incorporate therapeutic agents to deliver drugs precisely to the diseased sites with minimal side effects. An ideal DDS targets and controls drug release, protecting drugs from breakdown during transport. Due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability, the DDS made of biopolymers acts as a drug vehicle to reduce the side effects in the body [1]. In this preliminary work, chitosan hydrogels were prepared using 1,3,5-benzene tricarboxylic acid (BTC) as a crosslinker. In addition, the release behavior of the hydrophobic dye (Rhodamine B) from the chitosan hydrogels was examined. The dye was used in this work to visually track and quantify the loading and release behavior