Vancomycin-loaded HPMC microparticles embedded within injectable thermosensitive chitosan hydrogels

Antibiotic use is an essential method for the treatment of bacterial infections. In certain cases, antibiotics are not effective because of the distribution problems caused by physiological barriers in the body. Such problems are thought to be minimized by development of sustained release systems which involve implantation of antibiotic loaded polymeric systems directly to the site of infection. In this work, a new composite vancomycin hydrochloride release system based on HPMC microparticles and chitosan/glycerophosphate (Ch/Gp) thermosensitive hydrogel was designed for the aim of local treatment of osteomyelitis. Vancomycin-loaded HPMC microparticles (Van-HPMCs) were prepared by spray drying method. The SEM results showed that these particles had a mean diameter of 1.5–6.4 μm with a narrow size distribution and homogeneous particle production. Their drug encapsulation efficiency was 72.6%. The Van-HPMCs were embedded in an injectable Ch/Gp solution to introduce a composite drug release platform (Van/HPMC-Ch/Gp). In vitro release studies indicated that inclusion of the Van-HPMCs into the Ch/Gp hydrogel caused a reduction in both the release rate and total amount of vancomycin release, which suggests that HPMC microparticles entrapped into the Ch/Gp hydrogels showed more suitable sustained release kinetics for local antibiotics delivery.