Physicochemical properties and release behavior of indomethacin-loaded polysaccharide membranes

Polyelectrolyte complex based on chitosan and xanthan gum and containing the anti-inflammatory indomethacin at three different concentrations were developed with the intent of using these drug-loaded membranes as bioactive wound dressings. The resulting incorporation efficiency of indomethacin into the membranes was above 95%. The drug-loaded membranes were quite stable and exhibited a high degree of swelling in aqueous solutions. Studies of drug release in phosphate buffer saline solutions indicated that the formulation containing 20 mg of drug per gram of biopolymer is able to release the expected topical dosage in 6 h, thus showing a potential for biomedical application.