Controlled release of human growth hormone from a biodegradable pH/temperature-sensitive hydrogel system

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

<P>Biodegradable pH/temperature-sensitive triblock copolymer hydrogels composed of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(β-amino ester urethane) (PAEU) were synthesized and characterized. The presence of urethane and tertiary amine groups in the synthesized copolymers could enhance the hydrogen bonds and ionic interactions between copolymers and drug/protein molecules, particularly the anionic-type. The existence of a copolymer solution at low pH and low temperatures (<I>e.g.</I> 20 °C, pH 6.0) facilitates the formulation of a hydrogel precursor with therapeutic agents, while the transition to the gel state at the physiological conditions (37 °C, pH 7.4) provides the potential application as a drug/protein carrier. The non-cytotoxicity of this hydrogel system was confirmed by the <I>in vitro</I> cytotoxicity test. The release of human growth hormone (hGH) from this hydrogel system was controlled for more than 5 days <I>in vitro</I> and 3 days <I>in vivo</I> without an initial burst, exhibiting the potential application as a protein carrier.</P> <P>Graphic Abstract</P><P>Proteins can be formulated with copolymer solutions to form a solution complex, which can be used as an injectable protein depot for controlled release of proteins.
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