Topical ocular administration using thermosensitive chitosan-glycerophosphate-PRP hydrogels for improved ocular bioavailability

One of the difficulties in the pharmacy field is the delivery of drugs for the eyes. Topical therapy is one of the most common methods for treating eye diseases. Due to their unique properties, including biocompatibility and suitable degradation, hydrogels are appropriate for biological purposes. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), as a designated concentration of platelets, is in a smaller volume than the plasma and is considered a rich source of growth factor that has been used in recent years, including applications in eye diseases including corneal wound healing, improvement of dry eye and post-LASIK syndrome. The present study was performed to fabricate Chitosan (CS) and glycerophosphate (GP) based hydrogels that are temperature-sensitive for PRP and investigate their effect on ocular stem cells. CS-GP-based temperature-sensitive hydrogels containing PRP were successfully fabricated using CS and GP. This hydrogel is liquid at ambient temperature and a gel at ocular temperature. Rheology, FTIR, and SEM tests assessed the properties of the hydrogels. The results of the MTT test showed that the hydrogel made with the optimal formulation was not toxic to LSC cell lines. Given this, CS-GP-based hydrogels can be applied as a biocompatible formulation in ocular medication administration with increased bioavailability at the ocular surface and topical delivery of PRP.