Due to presence of hydroxy and carboxy functional groups, xanthan gum is amenable to various chemical modification for producing derivatives such as carboxymethyl xanthan and carboxymethyl hydroxypropyl xanthan with desirable properties for end use.

This investigation used Moi gum to develop semi-interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel particles with carboxymethyl xanthan gum in aqueous environment using aluminum chloride as crosslinker. The semi-IPN hydrogel systems had >90% of drug entrapment efficiency. Increase in Moi gum concentration from 33.33% to 66.66% reduced swelling of semi-IPN hydrogel particles by 17.6% and 23.3% in pH 1.2 and pH 6.8, respectively in 2 h. The semi-IPN hydrogel particles made up of 66.66% Moi gum released 94.8% of drug in 8 h. The modified xanthan gum alone however released about 98% drug in 3 h in simulated gastrointestinal pH. Irrespective of pH, the drug release followed an anomalous diffusion mechanism. FTIR analysis did not reveal any drugpolymer interaction. The thermal and x-ray diffraction investigations suggested amorphous state of drug in semi-IPN hydrogel system. Moreover, the hydrogel systems demonstrated more than 90% Caco-2 cell viability which supported the non-toxic nature of the hydrogel system. Preclinical experiments on male albino rats showed that the semi-IPN hydrogel systems could allow monitoring of anti-diabetic efficacy over 8 h. Overall, a suitable combination of negatively charged and neutral polysaccharides appeared promising in developing semi-IPN hydrogel particles, which could tailor the drug delivery performance, especially the drug release process and preclinical anti-diabetic activity.

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