The Effect of Cationic Polyamidoamine Dendrimers on Physicochemical Characteristics of Hydrogels with Erythromycin

Polyamidoamine dendrimers (PAMAM) represent a new class of hyperbranched, monodisperse, three-dimensional polymers with unique properties, which make them very promising carriers of antimicrobial agents. The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of PAMAM-NH(2) dendrimers generation two (G2) or three (G3) on physicochemical characteristics and structure of hydrogels with a model antibacterial lipophilic drug—erythromycin—commonly used in topical applications. From the obtained rheograms, it can be concluded that tested hydrogels were non-Newtonian thixotropic systems with shear-thinning behaviour. The dissolution tests revealed that erythromycin was definitely faster released from formulations containing PAMAM-NH(2) in concentration and generation dependent manner. However, the addition of PAMAM-NH(2) to hydrogels evoked only slight improvement of their antibacterial activity. It was also shown that the structure of hydrogels changed in the presence of PAMAM-NH(2) becoming less compact, diversified and more porous. Designed hydrogels with PAMAM-NH(2) G2 or G3 were stable stored up to three months at 40 ± 2 °C and 75% ± 5% RH.