Abstract
The present work reports the effect of radiation cross-linking on aqueous solution of 4-acryloyl morpholine (ACMO)/acrylic acid (AA) in the presence of flutamide (FLT), an anticancer drug. Use of a gamma-irradiation process within 5 kGy provided an insoluble hydrogel. Ultraviolet-visible absorption, fluorescence spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were employed to study the complex formation of FLT with ACMO and AA. The ability of the prepared ACMO/AA-based hydrogels to be used as drug carriers for anticancer-specific drug delivery system was estimated using FLT as a model drug. In vitro drug release studies in a pH 7 buffer solution show that 20%-30% of the FLT was continuously released from the FLT-incorporated ACMO/AA hydrogel within 1 day, followed by a gradual release upon 7 days under in vitro non-degradation hydrogel conditions. The recognition affinity of the ACMO/AA/FLT hydrogel is increased when synthesized in a high-concentration template solution.