Abstract
Hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels are attractive materials for biomedical applications because they are porous, water‐swelling, biocompatible, biodegradable, and resistant to non‐specific cell adhesion. A limitation of HA hydrogels is that incorporation of bioactive drugs can be restricted by low solubility of drug within the hydrogel environment. Our goal was to synthesize HA hydrogels that bind drug through hydrophobic interactions as a method for increasing drug loading. We functionalized photocrosslinked HA hydrogels with a methacryloyl derivative of β‐cyclodextrin (βCD). βCD is a molecular “basket” with a hydrophilic exterior and a hydrophobic cavity. Inclusion complexes are formed when βCD hosts all or part of a hydrophobic drug within the cavity. HA hydrogels functionalized with methacryloyl‐βCD monomer gained the property of inclusion complexation which greatly enhanced the uptake of a model hydrophobic drug, hydrocortisone. Pre‐incubation of the hydrogels with adamantane carboxylic acid (ACA) inhibited hydrocortisone uptake by competition for βCD cavities. In addition, control hydrogels of HA functionalized with αCD monomer were not efficient at hydrocortisone uptake because the αCD cavity is too small for efficient complexation. These experiments confirmed that the βCD monomer enhances drug loading by the mechanism of inclusion complexation. Drug‐binding HA‐βCD hydrogels may be further engineered to create HA‐based biomaterials with a built in drug delivery capability. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 2008