Engineering and Development of Chitosan-Based Nanocoatings for Ocular Contact Lenses

Abstract

This research manuscript reports on Electrohydrodynamic Atomisation (EHDA) to engineer ondemand coatings for ocular contact lenses. A formulation approach was adopted to modulate the release of timolol maleate (TM) using chitosan and borneol. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and poly (Nisopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) were electrically atomised to produce optimised, stationary contact lens coatings to encapsulate TM. The particle and fibre diameter, thermal stability, compatibility of the formed coatings along with their in vitro release-modulating effect and ocular tolerability were investigated. The results demonstrated highly stable nano-matrices with advantageous morphology and size. All formulations yielded coatings with high TM encapsulation (>88%); with excellent ocular biocompatibility. The coatings presented biphasic and triphasic release; depending on composition. Kinetic modelling revealed a noticeable effect of chitosan; the higher the concentration, the more the TM release due to chitosan swelling; with the release mechanism changing from Fickian diffusion (1% w/v; n = 0.5) to non-Fickian (5% w/v, 0.45 < n < 0.89). The use of EHDA has not yet been explored in depth within the ocular research remit; engineering on demand lens coatings capable of sustaining TM release. This is likely to offer an alternative dosage form for management of glaucoma with particular emphasis on improving poor patient compliance.

Preparation of Chitosan/Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Nanocomposite Films Incorporated with Oxidized Carbon Nano-Onions (Multi-Layer Fullerenes) for Tissue-Engineering Applications

“…CS has many desirable properties for tissue engineering such as biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and biodegradability [22]. CS was used in several tissue-engineering applications involving bone [23,24], cartilage [25,26], liver [27], tendons [28,29], ligaments and nerves [30,31], wound healing [32,33], separation membranes [34,35,36], blood anticoagulants [37,38,39,40], contact lenses [41], controlled release of drugs [42,43,44], fat-sequestering agent [45,46], hydrogel preparations [47,48], and food packaging material [49,50]. CS was evaluated for bone tissue engineering (BTE) with good cell adhesion and proliferation observed [51,52,53,54].…”

Chitosan and its Derivatives for Ocular Delivery Formulations: Recent Advances and Developments

“…The development of novel coatings using CS and borneol for ocular contact lenses was proposed by Mehta et al [ 289 ]. In that study, the formulations loaded with timolol maleate were prepared via electrohydrodynamic atomization using PVP and PNIPAAm as stabilizers.…”

Therapeutic Ophthalmic Lenses: A Review

“…Several methods have been suggested to produce coatings on drug-eluting biomedical devices (e.g., layer-by-layer deposition, spray coating, dip coating, plasma-assisted grafting) with the purpose of implementing drug-eluting reservoirs [64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73]. Besides, these coatings may be used in order to increase the hydrophilicity of the device surface [74] and, also, as diffusion barriers to drug release [75][76][77].…”