Supramolecular drug-laden hydrogel based on structural tautomerization enhances drug delivery for rheumatoid arthritis treatment.

ABSTRACT: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a major autoimmune disease characterized by significant joint inflammation and bone destruction. Many first-line RA treatment drugs such as methotrexate (MTX) have limited solubility in major solvents and are difficult to be delivered to RA joints in a sustained manner. Meanwhile, the efficient co-delivery of osteoinductive ions such as magnesium ions (Mg²⁺) for RA treatment is also challenging due to the uncontrolled burst release. By capitalizing on the enhanced supramolecular interactions of cyanuric acid (CYA) upon the pH-induced keto-enol tautomerization, a supramolecular hydrogel (Gel-MTX/Mg) with efficient co-delivery of MTX and Mg²⁺ is proposed. This hydrogel features pH-responsive on-demand release of MTX and Mg²⁺ in RA

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12313956 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature