Bioadhesive behavior of Poloxamer/hyaluronic acid-based formulations analyzed by rheology method

Systems based on Poloxamer and hyaluronic acid have been developed for treatment of back pain as drug delivery formulations. Due that, it is important to study interactions among components and their ability to adhere to mucosa, since these formulations can release drugs on the intervertebral disc. Aqueous formulations with Poloxamer (PL) 407 15%, 30% (w/w), and binary system PL 407 15% + PL 338 15%, with hyaluronic acid (HA) at 0.5% (w/w) and the anesthetic bupivacaine (5 mg/mL) were used. To simulate mucosa, it was prepared mucin solutions (5%). The aim of this work is to compare the bioadhesive force (F) and relative rheological synergism (∆G′/G′) of all formulations when they interact with a simulated mucosa. It is pointed that binary systems show augmented ability to adhere to mucin, approximately 1000 times than other formulations. When it added hyaluronic acid to PL 407 15% and binary system, it is observed that F increases twice. It is seen increased interaction between PL 338-mucin and HA-mucin, demonstrating that more hydrophilic polymers have favored interactions with mucin. This work intends to show that the design of formulations of pharmacological interest can be favored with the use of simple models.