Colon targeted drug delivery of branch-chained disulphide cross-linked polymers: design, synthesis, and characterisation studies

Drug delivery directly to the colon is a very useful approach for treating localised colonic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease. The use of disulphide cross-linked polymers in colon targeted drug delivery systems has received much attention because these polymers are redox sensitive, and the disulphide bonds are only cleaved by the low redox potential environment in the colon. The goal of this study was to synthesise tricarballylic acid-based trithiol monomers for polymerisation into branch-chained disulphide polymers. The monomer was synthesised via the amide coupling reaction between tricarballylic acid and (triphenylmethyl) thioethylamine using two synthesis steps. The disulphide cross-linked polymers which were synthesised using the air oxidation method were completely reduced after 1 h of reduction with different thiol concentrations detected for the different disulphide polymers. In simulated gastric and intestinal conditions, all polymers had low thiol concentrations compared to the thiol concentrations in the simulated colon condition with Bacteroides fragilis present. Degradation was more pronounced in polymers with loose polymeric networks, as biodegradability relies on the swelling ability of polymers in an aqueous environment. Polymer P15 which has the loosest polymeric networks showed highest degradation.