Hyaluronic Acid and Graphene Oxide-incorporated Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogels for Electrically Stimulated Release of Anticancer Tamoxifen Citrate

Transdermal drug delivery is the transport of drug across the skin and into the systemic circulation. Patch is a one of transdermal device that is used to attach on skin and contains drug. The drug matrices from hyaluronic acid (HA) and graphene oxide (GO) incorporated HA hydrogel were fabricated for the release of tamoxifen citrate (TMX) as the anticancer drug under applied electrical field. The pristine HA hydrogels as the matrix and GO as the drug encapsulation host were fabricated for transdermal patch by the solution casting using citric acid as the chemical crosslinker. In vitro drug release experiment was investigated by utilizing the modified Franz-diffusion cell under the effects of crosslinking ratio, electric potential, and GO. The TMX release behaviors from the hydrogels were found to be from the three mechanisms: the pure Fickian diffusion; the anomalous or non-Fickian diffusion; and Super case II transport depending on the crosslinking conditions. The TMX diffusion and release amount from the pristine HA hydrogels were increased with smaller crosslinking ratios. With applied electrical potential, the enhanced TMX diffusion and release amount were observed when compared to that without due to the electro-repulsive force. Furthermore, the TMX diffusion from the HA hydrogel with GO as the drug encapsulation host was higher by two orders of magnitude than without GO.