Development and characterization of biodegradable antibacterial hydrogels of xanthan gum for controlled ciprofloxacin release

The global public health challenge of antimicrobial resistance necessitates new treatment strategies, as existing antibiotics like ciprofloxacin face limitations such as short half-life, frequent dosing, adverse effects, and poor patient compliance. To attempt this, ciprofloxacin-loaded xanthan gum hydrogels were developed and characterized, and their cytotoxicity and antibacterial activities were evaluated. The interaction among hydrogel contents was confirmed by FTIR, whereas a decrease in the crystallinity of xanthan gum and drug was shown by XRD analysis of prepared hydrogels. After being polymerized with other hydrogel ingredients, xanthan gum's thermal stability was enhanced, as demonstrated by TGA and DSC analysis. SEM indicated a hard surface of hydrogel with a few pores. Similarly, a greater mechanical stability of 63.42 % was observed with applied force. The sol and gel fractions were found within the 3-10 % and 82-97 % ranges, while a porosity of 71-93 % was achieved for all formulations of hydrogels. The swelling and drug-release behaviors of developed hydrogels were found to be pH-dependent as an increase in both swelling and drug release was seen with the change in the pH of the medium from lower to higher values. A biodegradation study demonstrated a slow and steady degradation of hydrogel networks with increasing concentrations of hydrogel contents. Likewise, a cytotoxicity study was performed on mouse fibroblast L929 and human colon cancer T84 cells, which indicated no toxic effects as maximum cells were found live even using high concentrations of prepared hydrogels. The scratched gap of the cells was found closed by cell migration after 24 h. The antibacterial study indicated high inhibition zones of 47.635 ± 0.41 mm and 44.321 ± 0.24 mm for gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria, respectively. Thus, the results demonstrate that the newly fabricated hydrogel networks seem to be highly potential and effective agents for the controlled release of ciprofloxacin due to their excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, minimal cytotoxicity, and antibacterial activities.