Characterization of an alginate-based drug delivery system for neurological applications

Ciofani, Gianni; Raffa, Vittoria; Pizzorusso, Tommaso; Menciassi, Arianna; Dario, Paolo

doi:10.1016/j.medengphy.2007.10.003

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Volume 30, Issue 7 , Pages 848-855, September 2008

Characterization of an alginate-based drug delivery system for neurological applications

Gianni Ciofani
- CRIM (Center for Research in Microengineering) Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy
- Corresponding author at: CRIM (Center for Research in Microengineering), Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Viale Rinaldo Piaggio 34, 56025 Pontedera (PI), Italy. Tel.: +39 050883026; fax: +39 050883497.
Vittoria Raffa
- CRIM (Center for Research in Microengineering) Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Tommaso Pizzorusso
- Istituto di Neuroscienze, CNR, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56100 Pisa, Italy
Arianna Menciassi
- CRIM (Center for Research in Microengineering) Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy
- Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Via Morego 30, Genova, Italy
Paolo Dario
- CRIM (Center for Research in Microengineering) Lab, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127 Pisa, Italy
- Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Via Morego 30, Genova, Italy

Received 6 June 2007; received in revised form 3 October 2007; accepted 16 October 2007. published online 26 November 2007.

Abstract

This paper presents a drug delivery system based on alginate gels. The biocompatibility, the flexibility in size and shape, and the ability to entrap biomolecules make alginate-based systems ideal for in vivo drug delivery. Specifically, by considering the target application of neural regeneration and neuroprotection, the issue of biocompatibility as well as morphologic compatibility (e.g. shape and size of an implant) have to be addressed.

The authors describe various types of alginate gels; fibers of cylindrical shape resulted the best choice in terms of simplicity of realization, insertion and release effectiveness, as shown by preliminary in vivo assays. Consequently, fibers release is tested in vitro and theoretically modelled, in order to obtain mathematical correlations between the release kinetics and key parameters affecting the realization procedure.

Keywords: Drug delivery system, Alginate gels, Mathematical release modelling, In vivo morphological biocompatibility