Self-Assembling Elastin-Like Hydrogels for Timolol Delivery: Development of an Ophthalmic Formulation Against Glaucoma

FERNÁNDEZ-COLINO, ALICIA; QUINTEROS, DANIELA A.; ALLEMANDI, DANIEL A.; GIROTTI, ALESSANDRA; PALMA, SANTIAGO D.; ARIAS, F. JAVIER

MOLECULAR PHARMACEUTICS

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Lugar: Washington; Año: 2017 vol. 14 p. 4498 - 4498

1543-8384

his work focuses on improving the effectiveness of current therapies against glaucoma by incorporating self-assembled polymers into the ophthalmic formulation. To that end, we first studied the influence of the dispersingmedium on the mechanical performance of self-assembling elastin-like (EL) and silk-elastin-like (SEL) hydrogels by conducting rheological tests. These polymers were subsequently incorporated into the antiglaucoma formulation, whichcontains timolol maleate (TM) as active ingredient, and in vivo tests, namely adhesion tests and intraocular pressure measurements (IOP), were performed in New Zealand rabbits. An enhanced reduction in IOP due to the presence of the polymers was observed. Moreover, differences in the effectiveness betweenboth EL- and SEL-hydrogels, which can be explained on the basis of the different rheological properties displayed by these two systems, were also encountered. The results point to the potential of this system as a basis for the development o