Evaluation of modified pectin/alginate buccal patches with enhanced mucoadhesive properties for drug release systems: In-vitro and ex-vivo study

A recent approach for buccal mucoadhesive system is the production of thiolated polymers via thiomer. In this study, pectin was grafted with acrylic acid before the thiolation by L-cystein and it was characterized by FTIR, 1H NMR, and TGA. Following that, modified/unmodified pectin and alginate patches were successfully fabricated by a casting method, and they were characterized by FTIR and TGA. The modified pectin/alginate patches had a higher swelling ratio than that of unmodified pectin/alginate patches. Moreover, ex-vivo mucoadhesion studies of modified pectin/alginate buccal patch was 0.11 +/- 0.033 N which meant that mucoadhesion on buccal mucosa was improved as compared to unmodified pectin/alginate buccal patch. The triamcinolone acetonide release capacity of the modified pectin/alginate and unmodified pectin/alginate patches in pH 6.8 was found to be 32.6 and 28.5 mg/g, respectively. The drug release kinetic data best fitted with Korsmeyer-Peppas model for both buccal patches. To cell culture studies, drug loaded, and unloaded buccal patches had no cytotoxicity against L929 cell line. According to our results modified pectin/alginate buccal patch can be used as a promising alternative for buccal mucoadhesive drug release systems.