A hybrid thermo-sensitive chitosan gel for sustained release of Meloxicam.

The purpose of this work was to develop a multi-phase gel system for sustained release drug delivery. A thermo-sensitive hydrogel composed of chitosan and glycerol was prepared, and then an o/w emulsion was introduced to the thermo-sensitive gel in order to modulate the gelation behavior. Meloxicam was chosen as a model drug in this study and its release profile was investigated. This study revealed that the factors such as pH, chitosan molecular mass and glycerol concentration could significantly influence the gel formation. Chitosan with a molecular mass of 950 kDa and glycerol proportion ranging from 30 to 60% can form a pH-dependent thermo-sensitive gel system. Both the chitosan-glycerol gel and chitosan-glycerol-emulsion gel systems were applied in delivering drugs. The drug release from the two gels was both in Higuchi mode. Higuchi moduli were 3.04 x 10(-3) mg x h((1/2)) in the chitosan-glycerol-emulsion gel and 1.28 mg x h((1/2)) in the chitosan- glycerol gel. The former was significantly slower in sustained release. The in vivo investigation on the chitosan-glycerol gel indicated that the gel may be useful in sustained drug release in situ. Thermosensitive hydrogels composed of chitosan and glycerol were well formed and could act as a sustained release drug carrier in the work, it showed that this hybrid thermo-sensitive hydrogel system may be a promising sustained release drug carrier.