Dually responsive biodegradable drug releasing 3D printed structures

The aim of this study was to develop temperature and pH-responsive biodegradable 3D printed drug-releasing constructs using the Digital Light Processing (DLP) printing technique. The printable molecules, named inks throughout this study, comprised polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide-polyethylene oxide (PEO-PPO-PEO) triblocks and acrylic acid (AAc) that rendered them reverse thermo-responsive (RTR) and pH-sensitive, respectively. Additionally, the inks' biodegradability was imparted to them by incorporating lactide (LA) and epsilon-caprolactone (CL) units into their composition, while their printability was achieved by end-capping them with 2-Isocyanatoethyl methacrylate (IEMA). By fine tuning the LA/CL composition, a broad range of inks displaying different water absorption behavior, biodegradation as well as bovine serum albumin (BSA) release profiles at different conditions. All the hydrogels showed a fast and reversible swelling-deswelling response, as they fluctuated between pH 2.0 and pH 7.4 or between 10 and 37 degrees C. The resultant hydrogels showed good water uptake capacity (6340%) at pH 7.4 and 10 degrees C temperature. BSA release from the loaded 3D printed hydrogel showed a maximum (80.5%) at pH 7.4 and 10 degrees C in comparison to pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C (65%). The proposed dual responsive 3D printed biodegradable hydrogels objects will shed light as a drug carrier.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to develop temperature and pH-responsive biodegradable 3D printed drug-releasing constructs using the Digital Light Processing (DLP) printing technique. The resulting hydrogels showed fast and reversible swelling-deswelling response and good water uptake capacity. These dual responsive 3D printed biodegradable hydrogel objects have the potential to be a novel drug carrier.