Synthesis and characterization of radiation cross-linked PVP hydrogels and investigation of its potential as an antileishmanial drug carrier

The aim of this study was to elaborate a suitable hydrogel to be used as drug carrier for antileishmanial treatment. Therefore, a PVP hydrogel was synthesized using gamma radiation technique. In the first step, PVP, agar and PEG concentrations were modified as a function of dose rate. Then, established polymers were characterized using FTIR, solid-state ¹³C NMR and TGA analyses. After that, rheological measurements followed to determine elastic and viscous modulus. Based on these techniques, it was found that synthesized PVP–hydrogels have the structure of a semi-interpenetrated network (SIPN). The sample containing 3% of PEG was selected to test its potential as antileishmanial drug carrier because it had the elastic modulus that fits more the application as wound dressing. As antileishmanial drug carrier, it has been shown that in the presence of hydrogel, the activity of conventional drug (Amphotericin B) on Leishmania promastigotes was markedly improved with an increase in selectivity index from 10.54 to 56.8.