Swelling and Proxyphylline Release Kinetics of Enzyme-Digestible Swelling Hydrogel Tablet

효소 소화성 하이드로겔 정제의 팽윤 및 프록시필린 방출 특성

Although oral route is the most convenient route for drug administration, the short and variable transit of drug through GI tract restricts the sustained drug absorption after oral administration. Thus, for sustained absorption of drugs, it is desirable to prolong the GI transit time by retaining the dosage forms in the stomach. In this study, the enzyme-digestible swelling hydrogel was synthesized by heating the mixed solution of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone[monomer], acrylated albumin[crosslinking agent] and proxyphylline[drug] at $65^{\circ}C$ for 10 hours in the cylindrical test tube. The resultant hydrogel tablet (diameter; 0.77 cm, thickness; 0.47 cm) was designed to swell in the gastric fluid after oral administration to such a size that passing through the pylorus could be inhibited during the drug release. After releasing drug, the hydrogel was expected to be degraded by pepsin, an enzyme in the stomach, and eventually solubilized. Actually, the hydrogel synthesized in the study swelled to a size larger than the diameter of the pylorus ($1.3{\pm}0.7$ cm) and slowly digested in the presence of pepsin. Drug release from the hydrogel was prolonged up to about 12 hours. The swelling kinetics was dependent on albumin acrylation time, drug content and gel thickness. Particularly the gel thickness was the most important factor that influences on drug release. By adjusting these factors, the albumin-crosslinked hydrogel was expected to be retained in the stomach for up to 60 hours and used as a potential platform of drugs for long-term GI absorption.