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Review
. 2019 Dec 10;11(12):671.
doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics11120671.

Poloxamer Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications

Eleonora Russo  1 , Carla Villa  1
Affiliations
Review

Poloxamer Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications

Eleonora Russo et al. Pharmaceutics. .

Abstract

This review article focuses on thermoresponsive hydrogels consisting of poloxamers which are of high interest for biomedical application especially in drug delivery for ophthalmic, injectable, transdermal, and vaginal administration. These hydrogels remain fluid at room temperature but become more viscous gel once they are exposed to body temperature. In this way, the gelling system remains at the topical level for a long time and the drug release is controlled and prolonged. Poloxamers are synthetic triblock copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(propylene oxide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO), also commercially known as Pluronics®, Synperonics® or Lutrol®. The different poloxamers cover a range of liquids, pastes, and solids, with molecular weights and ethylene oxide-propylene oxide weight ratios varying from 1100 to 14,000 and 1:9 to 8:2, respectively. Concentrated aqueous solutions of poloxamers form thermoreversible gels. In recent years this type of gel has arouse interest for tissue engineering. Finally, the use of poloxamers as biosurfactants is evaluated since they are able to form micelles in an aqueous environment above a concentration threshold known as critical micelle concentration (CMC). This property is exploited for drug delivery and different therapeutic applications.

Keywords: biomedical; copolymer; hydrogels; micelle; poloxamer; thermosensitive.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Histogram showing the increase in publications related to the keywords “poloxamer hydrogel” in Science Direct database during the past twenty years.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical formula for poloxamers: x and y are the lengths of PEO and PPO: poly(ethylene oxide) and poly(propylene oxide) chains, respectively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Poloxamers 3D distribution according to physical state (solid flakes = magenta; paste = yellow; liquid = blue), weight percentage of POE chains and molecular mass of the PPO groups (adapted from [16]).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic representation for hydrogel formation.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Scanning electron microscopy images of microneedle arrays imaged from a lateral view (A,B) and from the top side (C). Scale bars represent 500 µm (80×) (A,C) and 100 µm (300×) (B) (adapted from [64]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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