Synthesis and characterisation of Poly n 2 hydroxy propyl Methacrylamide scaffolds for iomedical applications

Abstract

Drug delivery systems are essentially promising to ease the cure of many diseases. It is considered beneficial over the free drugs due to fewer side effects, lower frequency of dosage and wide drug delivery routes. Drug delivery systems can be in the form of film, microbeads, nanofibers etc. each having distinct advantage over the other concerning, rate of drug release, ease of application and stability. Cancer is one of the fatal diseases although many chemotherapeutic drugs are available in the market. Ineffective delivery of drugs lead to various side effects and low therapeutic efficiency of drugs causing a failure of treatment. To overcome this difficulty, drug delivery systems are used in which drugs are either physically entrapped within the polymer matrix or covalently attached to the polymer backbone. Drug molecules are either released at the site through the cleavage of covalent bond between drug molecules and polymers (conjugation) or through the diffusion from polymer matrices. Drug delivery systems thus ensure the safe release of drug causing less toxic side effect and high efficiency. Camptothecin (CPT) is a potent wide range anti-cancer drug listed in clinical trials which is not used effectively due to its toxicity and insolubility. In the present study, water soluble polymer such as poly [N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide] (pHPMA) was used as a carrier to improve the water solubility of camptothecin and to control the drug delivery. [N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide] HPMA monomer was prepared and its structural confirmation was done using NMR studies. pHPMA was obtained by RAFT polymerisation to control the molecular weight of the polymer to ensure the biocompatibility of pHPMA in in-vivo applications newline