Preparation, in-vitro evaluation, and delivery of colchicine via polyacrylamide hydrogel

Hydrogels have excellent biocompatibility and are widely used in biomedical applications. However, it is still a challenge to build a hydrogel with outstanding mechanical properties and multiple functions. In this study, a polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogel with a uniform network structure was achieved through an ultraviolet (UV)-responsive organic crosslinking agent, and a higher mechanical strength PAM-Ag+ hydrogel was designed through the introduction of silver ion by metal coordination interaction. Various contents of N'N-bis(acryloyl)cysteamine (BACA) as cross-linker, acrylamide (AM) as monomer, and Irgacure 2959 as initiator were investigated to have an optimal combination of high strength. Thus, the PAM-Ag+ hydrogel exhibited excellent adhesive behavior that could be fixed to the human forearm and any part of the skin, such as the finger and elbow joint. In addition, the properties and biocompatibility evaluations of the tough hydrogel in medical wound dressing were investigated. Meanwhile, these results showed that PAM-Ag+ hydrogels possess high stretchable (2600%) and mechanical robust (2.55 MPa) properties. Excitingly, the release of colchicine (Col) more than 95% in 48 h demonstrated the hydrogel highly potential in medical dressing and drug release applications in virtue of the excellent moisture retention, permeability, water tightness, swelling ratio, and biocompatibility.