Controlled release studies of hydroxychloroquine sulphate (Hcq) drug-using biodegradable polymeric sodium alginate and lignosulphonic acid blends

Abstract

HCQ an antimalarial drug is one of the most in-demand medications globally since COVID-19 pandemics. To study the controlled release of HCQ in physiological environments to address the side effects, biodegradable polymeric blends of Sodium alginate (NaAlg) and Lignosulphonic acid (LS) blends are loaded with HCQ as a model drug. Drug-loaded NaAlg/LS blends of the ratio 80:20 is crosslinked using calcium chloride solutions at different time intervals of time to study HCQ release in different pH conditions of 1, 4, 7, and 9.2 using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The HCQ drug release is studied for its release in variable pH conditions to mimic the gastrointestinal conditions in the stomach and intestine. The HCQ drug-loaded NaAlg/LS (80:20) blends are also studied for chemical interactions using FT-IR. The results showed that NaAlg/LS (80:20) blends are more suitable carriers and promising strategy for HCQ control release and FTIR results confirm, that HCQ is very much compatible with alginate blend matrix.