Synthesis of Porous Polymer with Biocompatible Sodium Alginate and 2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate Monomers in High Internal Emulsion as Drug Delivery Substrate in Releasing of Doxorubicin

In recent years, biomedicine has focused extensively on developing a biologically versatile drug delivery system characterized by responsive behavior and customizable properties. Among drug carriers, hydrogels can be a suitable option. Since they have specific surface and structure to selectively maintain and transport the drug to the operation area, they are released in a favorable time frame to provide a higher therapeutic effect. Here, we announce the synthesis of co-polymer of poly (sodium alginate (Alg) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA)) in high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs), to produce highly porous hydrogel which has been developed to load chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX). The percent of porosity can be changed with the variables involved in the polymer synthesis procedure. The developed beads were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In vitro release studies were investigated in pH 5.4 and 7.4 at 37 and 42 °C, it was shown that DOX was effectively incorporated into the porous hydrogel and released in a controlled manner through pH regulation and the swelling-shrinking process. The presence of hydroxyl and carboxylic acid groups in the structure of synthesized poly HIPE enhances the pH-sensitivity and swelling behavior of the resulted hydrogel, which can be designed to release drugs selectively in response to the acidic conditions of the tumour, offering a promising strategy for localized and effective cancer therapy.