An Enzyme‐Responsive Prodrug with Inflammation‐Triggered Therapeutic Drug Release Characteristics

Abstract Long‐term use of nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for relieving inflammatory reactions can lead to severe side effects. It is of great importance to configure new dosing strategies for alleviating the side effects of NSAIDs. In this work, an enzyme‐responsive anti‐inflammatory prodrug capable of generating indomethacin upon the trigger of inflammation is developed. A monomer is first prepared after the esterification of carboxyl groups of indomethacin by hydroxyl groups of N ‐(2‐hydroxyethyl) acrylamide. Then, a polymer prodrug, with indomethacin linked through ester bonds on the side chain, is synthesized by free radical polymerization of the monomer. The therapeutic drug component can be triggered to release from the prodrug under the stimulation of cholesterol esterase, mimicking the inflammation environment. On the contrary, there is only a small amount of drug released in the absence of the enzyme. Therefore, the drug can be triggered to release under the stimulation of an environment mimicking inflammation. Furthermore, the in vitro studies at the cellular level indicate that the enzyme‐responsive prodrug can efficiently relieve inflammatory responses induced by lipopolysaccharide in RAW264.7 macrophage cells while indicating no cytotoxicity.