Stealey Samuel T, Gaharwar Akhilesh K, Zustiak Silviya Petrova
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO 63103, USA.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77433, USA.
Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2023 May 31;16(6):821. doi: 10.3390/ph16060821.
Hydrogels are widely used for therapeutic delivery applications due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and ability to control release kinetics by tuning swelling and mechanical properties. However, their clinical utility is hampered by unfavorable pharmacokinetic properties, including high initial burst release and difficulty in achieving prolonged release, especially for small molecules (<500 Da). The incorporation of nanomaterials within hydrogels has emerged as viable option as a method to trap therapeutics within the hydrogel and sustain release kinetics. Specifically, two-dimensional nanosilicate particles offer a plethora of beneficial characteristics, including dually charged surfaces, degradability, and enhanced mechanical properties within hydrogels. The nanosilicate-hydrogel composite system offers benefits not obtainable by just one component, highlighting the need for detail characterization of these nanocomposite hydrogels. This review focuses on Laponite, a disc-shaped nanosilicate with diameter of 30 nm and thickness of 1 nm. The benefits of using Laponite within hydrogels are explored, as well as examples of Laponite-hydrogel composites currently being investigated for their ability to prolong the release of small molecules and macromolecules such as proteins. Future work will further characterize the interplay between nanosilicates, hydrogel polymer, and encapsulated therapeutics, and how each of these components affect release kinetics and mechanical properties.
水凝胶因其生物相容性、生物可降解性以及通过调节溶胀和机械性能来控制释放动力学的能力，而被广泛用于治疗性给药应用。然而，其临床应用受到不良药代动力学特性的阻碍，包括高初始突释以及难以实现长效释放，尤其是对于小分子（<500 Da）而言。将纳米材料掺入水凝胶中已成为一种可行的选择，作为一种将治疗剂捕获在水凝胶中并维持释放动力学的方法。具体而言，二维纳米硅酸盐颗粒具有许多有益特性，包括双电荷表面、可降解性以及在水凝胶中增强的机械性能。纳米硅酸盐 - 水凝胶复合体系提供了单一成分无法获得的益处，凸显了对这些纳米复合水凝胶进行详细表征的必要性。本综述聚焦于锂皂石，一种直径为30 nm、厚度为1 nm的盘状纳米硅酸盐。探讨了在水凝胶中使用锂皂石的益处，以及目前正在研究的锂皂石 - 水凝胶复合材料的实例，这些复合材料具有延长小分子和大分子（如蛋白质）释放的能力。未来的工作将进一步表征纳米硅酸盐、水凝胶聚合物和封装的治疗剂之间的相互作用，以及这些组分中的每一种如何影响释放动力学和机械性能。
