Electrically controlled transdermal drug release of ionic and non-ionic drug from kappa-iota carrageenan cryogel

The goals of this study were to fabricate and characterize the kappa (K) and iota (I) carrageenan (CAR) cryogel matrix for electrically controlled transdermal ionic namely diclofenac (DCNa) and non-ionic namely theophylline (Theo) delivery. The CAR cryogels were prepared by freeze-drying method based on the effects of CAR types which were different sulfate ester group content in the structure, K-CAR concentrations, and blending K and ICAR. According to the results, the increasing K-CAR concentrations affected to reduce the swelling behavior and pore size of cryogels. However, the swelling behavior was increased and pore size was decreased with blending K/I-CAR. The release mechanism of DCNa and Theo was a non-fickian and fickian diffusion depending on drug types, cryogels composition, and applied electric potentials. The amount of drug release was decreased with increasing K-CAR concentrations and decreased with a blending K/I-CAR. However, the amount of drug release was increased with increasing electric potential, especially an anionic drug. The amount of DCNa was higher than that of Theo with and without applied electric potential. The maximum amount of drug release was 78.06 and 58.78% for DCNa and Theo, respectively. Thus, the CAR cryogel is suitable for controlled release of ionic and non-ionic drug with and without applied electric field.