Influence of nanofillers (Ag NPs and C. dots) on the controlled drug release profile of gelatin-grafted-polyacrylamide hydrogel: An in vitro study

Hydrogel nanocomposites, one of the essential biomaterials, because of its enhanced mechanical strength, improved swelling properties and stimuli responsiveness has recently become quite popular in the domains of drug delivery, tissue engineering, and biomedicine. In this work, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) / carbon dots (C. dots) embedded gelatin-grafted polyacrylamide hydrogel nanocomposites were fabricated to understand their role in drug release, a characteristics feature of the hydrogel system. Different parameters such as swelling, thermal stability, biodegradation and antibacterial properties were adopted in order to investigate the effect of incorporation of the nanofillers on pre-synthesized hydrogel. The swelling properties and thermal stability of the hydrogel were significantly improved due to the presence of nanofillers. The in vitro release of ciprofloxacin (CFX) was performed from these nanocomposite systems at different pH conditions, i.e. pH 1.2, pH 6.8 and pH 7.4. CFX release was found to be more at pH 7.4 as compared to pH 1.2. As compared to bare hydrogel, hydrogel nanocomposite systems have demonstrated more controlled release of CFX, thus making them an appealing delivery system candidate. Antibacterial studies on E. coli and S. aureus revealed that incorporation of Ag NPs imparted antibacterial property to the hydrogel system. C. dots enhanced the hydrophilicity of the system, also, it has great potential to be employed as bioimaging agent to track the drug release process. [Display omitted] •Chemical reduction method is successfully employed for in situ synthesis of Ag NPs.•Carbon dots synthesis was achieved via hydrothermal process.•GAm hydrogel nanocomposites (GAmAg & GAmC) were synthesized and characterized.•GAmAg & GAmC exhibited superior swelling and controlled release.•Ag NPs bestowed antibacterial properties to the hydrogel system.