Synthesis and Characterization of Arabinoxylan Psyllium Mucilage-2-methacryloyloxyethyl Trimethylammonium Chloride Copolymeric Hydrogel by Gamma Radiation for Use in Drug Delivery Applications

Psyllium seed mucilage is a gel forming therapeutically important dietary fiber polysaccharide. In present work, an attempt has been made to synthesize arabinoxylan psyllium mucilage-2-methacryloyl-oxyethyl trimethylammonium chloride copolymeric hydrogel by using high energy gamma radiation for drug delivery applications. Various thermal, mechanical, physicochemical, biomedical properties of the hydrogel were determined along with characterization with FTIR, XRD, TGA, DSC and AFM techniques. The release of antibiotic drug cefuroxime occurred in sustained manner with Fickian diffusion from the crosslinked polymer and release profile was best fitted in Higuchi kinetic model. It is inferred from the results of crosslinking density, simulated fluid sorption, hemolytic potential, antioxidant and mucoadhesion properties that the crosslinked psyllium mucilage could be explored as a potential drug delivery carrier for gastrointestinal tract.