Injectable Hydrogel Containing Bupivacaine-Loaded Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Local Anesthetic Therapy

Developing a sustained drug delivery system with effective administration ruts is a central demand for local anesthesia applications. Moreover, the fast systemic absorption of the approved local anesthetics due to their low molecular weight have highlighted these demand. The main objective of the current study is to develop a sustained drug delivery system with effective administration ruts based on the combination of injectable hydrogel with mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs). The MSNPs were synthesized by combining the one-pot sol-gel reaction and the templating micelle system. Bupivacaine was loaded into the pores of MSNPs, and the nanoparticles were characterized using DLS, Zetasizer, SEM, TEM, encapsulation efficacy and drug loading capacity. The synthesized bupivacaine-loadedMSNPs were incorporated into a hydrogel based on alginate and characterized. The characterizations revealed that the formulation exhibited proper physicochemical properties beneficial for injectable hydrogel applications. The biological studies showed excellent encapsulation efficacy, drug loading efficacy, and local anesthetic effects. In conclusion, these results showed that the synthesized injectable hydrogel containing bupivacaine-loaded MSNPs could be considered an effective drug delivery system for local anesthetic therapy.