Fabrication and Evaluation of Water Hyacinth Cellulose-Composited Hydrogel Containing Quercetin for Topical Antibacterial Applications

Water hyacinth is an aquatic weed species that grows rapidly. In particular, it causes negative impacts on the aquatic environment and ecological system. However, water hyacinth is rich in cellulose, which is a biodegradable material. This study isolated cellulose from the water hyacinth petiole. It was then used to fabricate composite hydrogels made with water hyacinth cellulose (C), alginate (A), and pectin (P) at different mass ratios. The selected water hyacinth cellulose-based hydrogel was incorporated with quercetin, and its properties were evaluated. The FTIR and XRD of extracted water hyacinth cellulose indicated specific characteristics of cellulose. The hydrogel which consisted of the water hyacinth cellulose alginate characterized pectin: pectin had a mass ratio of 2.5:0.5:0.5 (C2.5A0.5P0.5), showed good puncture strength (2.16 ± 0.14 N/mm2), the highest swelling index (173.28 ± 4.94%), and gel content (39.35 ± 0.53%). The FTIR showed an interaction between water hyacinth cellulose and quercetin with hydrogen bonding. The C2.5A0.5P0.5 hydrogel containing quercetin possessed 92.07 ± 5.77% of quercetin-loaded efficiency. It also exhibited good antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa due to hydrogel properties, and no toxicity to human cells. This study indicated that water hyacinth cellulose-composited hydrogel is suitable for topical antibacterial applications

HPMC/PVP K90 Dissolving Microneedles Fabricated from 3D-Printed Master Molds: Impact on Microneedle Morphology, Mechanical Strength, and Topical Dissolving Property

Three-dimensional (3D) printing can be used to fabricate custom microneedle (MN) patches instead of the conventional method. In this work, 3D-printed MN patches were utilized to fabricate a MN mold, and the mold was used to prepare dissolving MNs for topical lidocaine HCl (L) delivery through the skin. Topical creams usually take 1–2 h to induce an anesthetic effect, so the delivery of lidocaine HCl from dissolving MNs can allow for a therapeutic effect to be reached faster than with a topical cream. The dissolving-MN-patch-incorporated lidocaine HCl was constructed from hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC; H) and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP K90; P) using centrifugation. Additionally, the morphology, mechanical property, skin insertion, dissolving behavior, drug-loading content, drug release of MNs and the chemical interactions among the compositions were also examined. H51P2-L, H501P2-L, and H901P2-L showed an acceptable needle appearance without bent tips or a broken structure, and they had a low % height change (80%). These three formulations exhibited a drug-loading content approaching 100%. Importantly, the composition-dependent dissolving abilities of MNs were revealed. Containing the lowest amount of HPMC in its formulation, H901P2-L showed the fastest dissolving ability, which was related to the high amount of lidocaine HCl released through the skin. Moreover, the results of an FTIR analysis showed no chemical interactions among the two polymers and lidocaine HCl. As a result, HPMC/PVP K90 dissolving microneedles can be used to deliver lidocaine HCl through the skin, resulting in a faster onset of anesthetic action

Dual Crosslinked Ion-Based Bacterial Cellulose Composite Hydrogel Containing Polyhexamethylene Biguanide

Composite bacterial cellulose (BC) based hydrogel with alginate (A) or pectin (P) or alginate and pectin was fabricated via a physical crosslinking technique using calcium chloride (CaCl2) solution and incorporated with polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) as an effective antimicrobial drug by immersion method. After that, the physicochemical properties of all hydrogel formulations were characterized. The result showed that the formulations with PHMB performed better physicochemical properties than the hydrogel without PHMB. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) showed the interaction between PHMB and the carboxylic group of alginate and pectin. BC/A-PHMB hydrogel performed suitable mechanical strength, fluid uptake ability, water retention property, drug content, high integrity value, and maximum swelling degree. Moreover, in vitro cell viability of BC/A-PHMB hydrogel revealed high biocompatibility with human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) and demonstrated prolong released of PHMB in Tris-HCl buffer pH 7.4, while rapid release in phosphate buffer saline pH 7.4. BC/A-PHMB hydrogel demonstrated good anti-bacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. In conclusion, BC/A-PHMB hydrogel could be a potential dual crosslinked ion-based hydrogel for wound dressing with anti-bacterial activity