pH-Thermosensitive hydrogel based on polyvinyl alcohol/sodium alginate/N-isopropyl acrylamide composite for treating re-infected wounds

Skin re-infection problems and its correlation with inflammation, causes rising wound temperature resulting wound healing impairment. In this current study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel blended with thermosensitive sodium alginate-g-N-isopropyl acrylamide (SA-g-NIPAM) producing thermosensitive hydrogel (PVA/SA-g-NIPAM) for controlled response to re-infected wounds. The thermosensitive SA-g-NIPAM was prepared using redox copolymerization with NIPAM. The fabricated (PVA/SA-g-NIPAM) grafted copolymer was investigated via FTIR technique. The physical properties (swelling ratios) and the morphological structure of the formed PVA/SA-g-NIPAM blend (50/50) were examined. The prepared hydrogel of PVA/SA-g-NIPAM immobilized with anti-inflammatory drug; diclofenac sodium (DS) was assessed via studying the in-vitro release of DS at acidic and neutral pH (5.5 and 7) respectively. The results obtained indicated that the swelling behavior of hydrogel strongly effected with modification process applied onto SA in addition to the carboxylic groups of SA which showed a positive effect on the physical properties at neutral and basic medium. Furthermore, studying the in-vitro release of DS loaded PVA/SA-g-NIPAM in correlation with temperature indicated that 65% of DS at room temperature and 35% at over body temperature were released. On the other hand, the DS loaded PVA/SA hydrogel was completely released within the first 60 min. The obtained results considered to supply the medical field with new pH-thermosensitive hydrogel can face re-infection skin wounds troubles.