Poloxamer-Alginate In-Situ Gel Containing Glatiramer Acetate Intended for Multiple Sclerosis Treatment

Abstract

As an auto-immune disease multiple sclerosis (MS) has captured serious concerns about the treatment of its relapses so far. A therapeutic formulation was used in this research, which relied on glatiramer acetate (GA) as a common medicine in dealing with relapsing-MS. In this regard, a thermosensitive in situ gel composed of poloxamer 407 (P407) and sodium alginate (SA) was designed. The response surface approach was used in order to determine the optimum formulation to accomplish the desired gelling time. There were twenty distinct test runs carried out under a variety of situations, which ultimately resulted in the optimum formulation composed of 160 mg of P407, 3 mg of SA, and 60 mg of GA.

The optimization process yielded a gelling time of 20 seconds. The P407/SA gel formulation was also evaluated in terms of chemical structure and morphology using FT-IR and SEM. In addition, the rheological properties of the drug-containing gel and blank formulation were studied. Accordingly, the storage modulus and loss modulus were evaluated at both 25 and 37°C to assess their functional properties. The findings show that this in situ gel formulation may extend the beneficial effects of GA medication, making it a viable candidate for treating MS.