• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2006.05a
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• pp.203-204
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• 2006

Studies on some biodegradable polymers and other materials such as hydrogels have shown the promising potential for a variety of surgical applications. Postoperative adhesion caused by the natural consequence of surgical wound healing results in problems of the repeated surgery. Recently, scientists have developed absorbable anti-adhesion barriers that can protect a tissue from adhesion in case they are in use; however, they are dissolved when no longer needed. Although these approaches have been attempted to fulfill the criteria for adhesion prevention, none can perfectly prevent adhesions in all situations. Overall of this work, a new method to fabricate an anti-adhesion membrane using biodegradable polymer and hydrogel has been developed. The ideal barrier for preventing postoperative adhesion would have the following properties; it should be (i) resorbable (ii) non-reactive (iii) easy to apply (iv) capable of being fixed in position. In order to fulfill these properties, we adopted solid freeform fabrication method combined with surface modification which includes the hydrogel coating, therefore, inner or outer structure can be controlled and the property of anti adhesion can be improved.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.461-465
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• 2006

Two types of injectable system using thermosensitive chitosan (chitosan-g-NIPAAm), hydrogel and microparticles (MPs)-embedded hydrogel were developed as drug carriers for controlled release and their pharmaceutical potentials were investigated. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU)-loaded, biodegradable PLGA MPs were prepared by a double emulsion method and then simply mixed with an aqueous solution of thermosensitive chitosan at room temperature. All 5-FU release rates from the hydrogel matrix were faster than bovine serum albumin (BSA), possibly due to the difference in the molecular weight of the drugs. The 5-FU release profile from MPs-embedded hydrogel was shown to reduce the burst effect and exhibit nearly zero-order release behavior from the beginning of each initial stage. Thus, these MPs-embedded hydrogels, as well as thermosensitive chitosan hydrogel, have promising potential as an injectable drug carrier for pharmaceutical applications.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.734-738
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• 2009

Biodegradable, pH-sensitive, glycol chitosan (GC) hydrogels were prepared using divinyl adipate (DVA) as a crosslinker and acetic acid as a catalyst. DVA has highly reactive double vinyl ester groups and GC contains a high density of hydroxyl groups, with two in every glucosamine unit. The transesterification reaction between vinyl esters and hydroxyl groups produced crosslinked GC hydrogels. The initial crosslinking reaction was monitored by measuring the viscosity of the reaction mixture. When DVA was added to the GC solution and heated to $50^{\circ}C$, the viscosity of the GC solution gradually increased, implying a crosslinking reaction and hydrogel formation. A new peak from the ester group was observed in the FTIR spectra of the GC hydrogels, confirming the crosslinking reaction. The synthesized GC hydrogel showed pH-dependent water absorbency, mainly due to the presence of amine groups ($-NH_2$) at the C-2 position of the glucosamine unit of GC. The water absorbency greatly increased at acidic pH and slightly decreased at alkaline pH. The GC hydrogel gradually degraded in $37^{\circ}C$ water due to hydrolysis of the ester bonds, which were intermolecular crosslinking sites. A red dye, 5-carboxyltetramethyl-rhodamine (CTMR), was entrapped in the GC hydrogels as a model compound. CTMR was released from GC hydrogels in two steps: an initial burst release mainly due to desorption and diffusion, and a second sustained release possibly due to gradual degradation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.24 no.4 s.193
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• pp.138-146
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• 2007

Some biodegradable polymers and other materials such as hydrogels have shown the promising potential for surgical applications. Post surgical adhesion caused by the natural consequence of surgical wound healing results in repeated surgery and harmful effects. Recently, scientists have developed absorbable anti-adhesion barriers that can protect a tissue from adhesion in case they are in use; however, they are dissolved when no longer needed. Although these approaches have been attempted to fulfill the criteria for adhesion prevention, none can perfectly prevent adhesions in all situations. Overall, we developed a new method to fabricate an anti-adhesion membrane using biodegradable polymer and hydrogel. It employed a highly accurate three-dimensional positioning system with pressure-controlled syringe to deposit biopolymer solution. The pressure-activated microsyringe was equipped with fine-bore nozzles of various inner-diameters. This process allowed that inner and outer shapes could be controlled arbitrarily when it was applied to a surgical region with arbitrary shapes. In order to fulfill the properties of the ideal barriers f3r preventing postoperative adhesion, we adopted the pre-mentioned method combined with surface modification with the hydrogel coating by which anti-adhesion property was improved.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.771-779
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• 2022

Background: As a kind of common complication of the surgery of perianal diseases, perianal ulcer is known as a nuisance. This study aims to develop a kind of 20(S)-ginsenoside Rg3 (Rg3)-loaded hydrogel to treat perianal ulcers in a rat model. Methods: The copolymers PLGA₁₆₀₀-PEG₁₀₀₀-PLGA₁₆₀₀ were synthesized by ring-opening polymerization process and Rg3-loaded hydrogel was then developed. The perianal ulcer rat model was established to analyze the treatment efficacy of Rg3-loaded hydrogel for ulceration healing for 15 days. The animals were divided into control group, hydrogel group, free Rg3 group, Rg3-loaded hydrogel group, and Lidocaine Gel® group. The residual wound area rate was calculated and the blood concentrations of interleukin-1 (IL-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were recorded. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, Masson's Trichrome (MT) staining, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), Ki-67, CD31, ERK1/2, and NF-κB immunohistochemical staining were performed. Results: The biodegradable and biocompatible hydrogel carries a homogenous interactive porous structure with 10 ㎛ pore size and five weeks in vivo degradation time. The loaded Rg3 can be released sustainably. The in vitro cytotoxicity study showed that the hydrogel had no effect on survival rate of murine skin fibroblasts L929. The Rg3-loaded hydrogel can facilitate perianal ulcer healing by inhibiting local and systematic inflammatory responses, swelling the proliferation of nuclear cells, collagen deposition, and vascularization, and activating ERK signal pathway. Conclusion: The Rg3-loaded hydrogel shows the best treatment efficacy of perianal ulcer and may be a candidate for perianal ulcer treatment.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.223-226
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• 1995

A new method to study water uptake into biodegradable polymer was developed. Polymer was gently mixed with the tritiated buffer and the radioactivity level of the polymer due to water uptake was measured by liquid scintillation counting. The rate of water uptake was estimated from the plot of the amount of water in the device as a function of time. The technique used in this study is particularly useful for estimating water uptake of biodegradable polymers which were difficult to study by other techniques such as weight gain used for hydrogel.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.981-985
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• 2006

Novel copolymers consisting of poly(2-hydroxyethyl aspartamide-co-N,N'-dimethyl-1,3-propane aspartamide) (PHEA-DPA) were prepared from polysuccinimide (PSI), which is the thermal polycondensation product of aspartic acid, via a ring-opening reaction with N,N'-dimethyl-1,3-propane diamine (DPA) and ethanolamine. The prepared water-soluble copolymer was then crosslinked by reacting it with hexamethylene diisocyanate to provide the corresponding gel. The swelling behavior and morphology of the crosslinked hydrogels were investigated. The degree of swelling decreased with increasing crosslinking reagent due to the higher crosslinking density. It was also confirmed that the swelling property is affected by pH. At low pH (< pH 4), swelling is increased due to the ionization of DPA with a tertiary amine moiety. In addition, a reversible swelling and de-swelling behavior was demonstrated by adjusting the pH of the solution. The prepared hydrogels showed a well-interconnected microporous structure with regular 5-20 $\mu$m sized pores.

• Radioisotope journal
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.46-54
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• 2006

Biocompatible and biodegradable hydrogels based on carboxymethyl cellulose(CMC) and polyethyleneglycol(PEG) were prepared far physical barriers for preventing surgical adhesions. These interpolymeric hydrogels were synthesized by a gamma irradiation crosslinking technique. The 1Scmxl.Scm of cecal serosa and adjacent abdominal wail were abraded with bane burr until tbe serosal surface was disrupted and hemorrhagic but not perforated. and the serosa of tbe cecum was sutured to the abdominal wall in 5mm apart from the injured sire. The denuded cecum was covered with either CMC/PEG hydrogels or solution from CMC/PEG hydrogel. Control rat serosa was not covered. Two weeks later. the rats were sacrificed and adhesion was scored on a 0-5 scale. No treatment showed the significantly higher incidence of adhesions than either CMC/BEC hydrogels or solution from CMC/PEG hydrogel. In conclusion, these studies demonstrate that CMC/BEG hydrogels have a function of prevention of intra abdominal adhesion in a rat model.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.69-73
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• 2001

Biodegradable hydrogels based on glycidyl methacrylate dextran (CMD) and dimethacrylate poly(ethylene glycol) (DMP) were proposed for colon-specific drug delivery. GMD was synthesized by coupling of glycidyl methacylate with dextran in the presence of 4-(N, N-dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) using dimethylsulfoxide as a solvent. Methacrylate-terminated poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) macromer was prepared by the reaction of PEG with methacryloyl chloride. CMD/DMP hydrogels were prepared by radical polymerization of phosphate buffer solution (0.1 M, pH 7.4) of GMD and DMP using ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS) and UV as initiating system. The synthetic GMD, DMP and GMD/DMP hydrogels were characterized by fourier transform infrared (FT-lR) spectroscopy. The FITC-albumin loaded hydrogels were prepared by adding FITC-albumin solution before UV irradiation. Swelling capacity of GMD/DMP hydrogels was controlled not only by molecular weight of dextran, but also by incorporation ratio of DMP Degradation of the hydrogels has been studied in vitro with dextranase. FITC-albumin release from the GMD/DMP hydrogels was affected by molecular weight of nextran and the presence of dextranase in the release medium.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.143-149
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• 2001

Poly(aspartic acid), PASP, is a biodegradable, water-soluble polymer and offers a biodegradable alternative to polycarboxylates and other non-degradable water-soluble polymers. PASP one of poly (amino acid)s, possesses carboxylic acid pendant group in its repeating unit, which can be used for various further modification purposes. In this study we prepared high molecular weight polysuccinimide, as the precursor polymer for PASP, by thermal polycondensation ofL-aspartic acid in the presence of phosphoric acid. The polysuccinimide was hydrolyzed with 0.1 N sodium hydroxide, and then acidified to give PASP. High water-absorbent gels were produced by thermal crosslinking of freeze-dried mixture of partially-neutralized PASP and different amount of low moi. wt. PEG-diepoxide compounds in aqueous medium. The swelling behavior of the prepared gels from different size and composition of crosslinking reagent in different media was investigated and the results were discussed. This PASP-based hydrogel materials possessing inherent biodegradability, potential non-toxicity and biocompatibility, is expected to be used as a substrate for various biomedical applications as well as a general purpose super-absorbent polymer.