Drug concentration was measured in the local skin tissue, blood serum, kidney, liver, and spleen of male Wistar rats. The concentration of drug in local skin tissue was found to be higher than the minimum bactericidal concentration for a study time of 60 days. It was concluded that these delivery systems may have a good therapeutic potential for the treatment of localized infection like osteomyelitis. In another study Changez et al. evaluated the in vivo safety and efficacy of gentamycin sulphate (GS) or vancomycin hydrochloride (VCl) loaded IPN device [42]. The placebo and drug-loaded device (acrylic acid: gelatin: Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 1:1 w/w) were employed for the treatment

of experimental osteomyelitis in rabbit. Rabbits were categorized into four groups and were treated with IPN device loaded with varying drug concentrations. After implantation of IPN device in the adjacent tissue of femoral cavity and serum the drug concentration was measured. On the 7th day maximum drug concentration was found in femoral cavity with all the devices. No Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical drug was found after 21 days at the local site with devices containing 12 ± 1 mg of 22% Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical w/w GS and 44% w/w GS whereas with 16 ± 1 mg device (44%w/w GS or VCl) drug was detected even after 6 weeks. Macroscopic evaluation after treatment revealed that swelling, redness, local warmth, and drainage decreased depending upon the drug loading of the implants. Sequential radiographs,

histology, microbiologic assay, and scanning electron micrograph demonstrated that devices containing 16 ± 1mg of 44% w/w GS or 44% w/w GS VCl are the most suitable devices, which heal the

infection after 6 weeks of treatment. None of the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical IPN devices showed toxic level of drug in serum at any given time. Kulkarni et al. synthesized pH responsive IPN hydrogel beads of polyacrylamide grafted κ-carrageenan and sodium alginate for targeting ketoprofen to the intestine and studied their in vivo performance for the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical PR-171 order release of drug to the target site (intestine) [43]. Stomach histopathology of albino rats indicated that the prepared IPN beads were able to retard the drug release in stomach leading to the reduced ulceration, hemorrhage, and erosion of gastric mucosa without any toxicity. Org 27569 7. IPN Based Drug Delivery Systems Development of suitable carrier systems for delivery of active pharmaceuticals always remains a major challenge. New technological advances have brought many innovative drug delivery systems. A variety of approaches have been investigated for the controlled release of drugs and their targeting to selective sites including hydrogel, microspheres, nanoparticles, tablet, capsule, and films. Some widely studied IPN based drug delivery systems are discussed here. 7.1. Hydrogel In recent decades hydrogels have been extensively used as a smart biomaterial in many biomedical applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering because of their excellent physical and chemical properties.