Preparation of antioxidant-biodegradable poly(acrylic acid-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogel using rutin as a crosslinker: Drug release and anticancer activity

It is important to develop drug-release systems that reduce the side effects of chemotherapy drugs, can regulate drug release, and can be designed for a target to keep the quality of life of cancer patients high. In this study, a polyphenol compound rutin was used as a natural crosslinker to prepare poly(acrylic acid-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)/rutin (RTN hydrogel) as a drug carrier. The swelling behavior, thermal stability, in vitro biodegradability, and antioxidant activity of this hydrogel were determined. The prepared hydrogel had in vitro biodegradability and antioxidant properties. The maximum doxorubicin (DOX) amount adsorbed by the RTN hydrogel was 32.96 ± 1.83 mg/g. The DOX-loaded RTN hydrogel displayed drug release behavior in normal and cancer cell media. At the same time, the effect of the DOX-loaded hydrogel on triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines was investigated. Our results show that the RTN hydrogel, prepared using the natural product of rutin as a crosslinker with in vitro biodegradability and antioxidant properties, offers great promise as a high-impact carrier in the drug distribution system.