Development of Phenolic Acid/Polysaccharides Composite Hydrogel for Ocular Application

Many eye diseases featured by severe inflammatory reaction and oxidative stress are commonly treated with eye drop formulations. Nevertheless, the drug bioavailability of eye drop formulations is quite limited, thereby requiring frequent dosing with high drug concentrations. In order to overcome the drawbacks associated with poor patient compliance and high risks of side effects, the aim of this project is to develop composite hydrogels that can prolong the ocular retention of therapeutic agents, consequently offering an effective treatment of the inflammatory and oxidative eye diseases. Using anti-solvent precipitation method, the fabricated phenolic acid/polysaccharides composite hydrogels can serve as an ocular delivery platform to extend drug release. Moreover, the bioavailability of phenolic acid compounds, which is a therapeutic agent with ability to reduce oxidative stress and mitigate inflammation, on ocular surface is improved by polysaccharides through a formation of composite hydrogel. We expect that our proposed method to synthesize a novel composite hydrogel can be leveraged to mass production at low cost. The suspensions of these hydrogel membranes may provide alleviation and compliance for patients afflicted with inflammatory and oxidative eye diseases.

Project ID:PC10906-0009
External Project ID:MOST109-2622-B182-001-CC2