Abstract
In this study, a novel injectable in situ gelling thermosensitive hydrogel system based on chitosan and gelatin blends was designed and investigated. The addition of gelatin provides the correct buffering and other physicochemical conditions including control of hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding, which are necessary to retain chitosan in solution at neutral pH near 4ยฐC and furthermore to allow gel formation upon heating to body temperature. The chitosan/gelatin hydrogels were studied by FTIR, swelling, and rheological analysis. The rheological analysis evidenced the endothermic gelation of chitosan/gelatin solutions, which indicated their gelation temperatures and reflected the effect of gelatin concentration on the thermosensitive properties of gels. The morphology of this system was examined with laser scanning confocal microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The images indicated that the gels were quite heterogeneous and porous. The investigation of these gels as vehicles for delivering bovine serum albumin as a model drug of protein showed that the system could sustain the release of the protein drug. These results show that chitosan/gelatin solutions can form gels rapidly at body temperature and have promising perspective for their use in local and sustained delivery of protein drug. ยฉ 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009