Thermoresponsive amphiphilic conetworks comprising poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) (PEtOx), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, and 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate segments have been studied as new platforms for delivery of drug with limited solubility. Series of conetworks of varied composition were synthesized and swelling kinetics in aqueous media and ethanol were followed. The platforms were loaded with the hydrophobic drug ibuprofen by swelling in its ethanol solution. The structure and properties of the drug carriers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The release kinetics profiles of ibuprofen from the studied platform were established. The investigation proved the feasibility of the PEtOx-based amphiphilic conetworks as highly effective platforms for sustained ibuprofen delivery.

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Abstract. Segmented copolymer networks (SCN) based on poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline) and containing 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, 2-hydroxypropyl acrylate, and/or methyl methacrylate segments have been evaluated as potential sustained release systems of the water soluble cardioselective β-blocker metoprolol tartrate. The structure and properties of the drug carriers were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Swelling kinetics of SCNs in various media was followed, and the conditions for effective MT loading were specified. MT-loaded SCNs with drug content up to 80 wt.% were produced. The release kinetics of metoprolol tartrate from the systems was studied and it was shown that the conetworks of different structure and composition are able to sustain the metoprolol tartrate release without additional excipients.

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Very stable co-polymer (vinyl acetate (VA)-co-3-dimethyl(methacryloyloxyethyl) ammonium propane sulfonate (DMAPS) (p(VA-co-DMAPS)) latexes with different compositions have been synthesized by emulsifier-free emulsion co-polymerization. The dry p(VA-co-DMAPS)s have been used in the preparation of drug tablets for sustained Metoprolol tartrate release. It has been shown that the tablet swelling depends on the mol fraction of DMAPS monomer units (m(DMAPS)), pH and ionic strength (I). An original explanation, based on the swelling behavior of p(VA-co-DMAPS), has been proposed for the "overshooting" phenomenon observed. It assumes the formation of hydrophilic domains with a higher m(DMAPS) in the co-polymer tablets. The formation of dipole-dipole clusters between the DMAPS units at different m(DMAPS) and I are the main cause for the established differences in both the swelling kinetics of the p(VA-co-DMAPS) matrices and Metoprolol tartrate release. The obtained results show that for p(VA-co-DMAPS) matrices-based tablets controlled sustained Metoprolol tartrate release can be realized just by varying two parameters, co-polymer composition and I.