M. Tech. Polymer Technology / Type II diabetes afflicts more than 300 million people worldwide. The pursuit for improved targeted drug delivery systems has led to the development of highly improved biomaterials with enhanced biocompatibility and biodegradability properties. Hydrogels are of particular interest for drug delivery applications due to their ability to address targeted drug delivery, in addition to their good biocompatibility, tunable network structure needed to control the diffusion of drugs and their ability to imbibe drugs within their mesh network structure. Hydrogels are promising candidates for advanced anti-diabetic applications. They were prepared by application of free-radical polymerization of acrylamide (AAm) in the presence of partially and thermally reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and wheat protein isolate (WPI). The incorporation of two (or more) different drugs onto a single delivery vehicle and the realization of combination therapy is a challenging, just as it is an important aspect for smart drug delivery. Thus, the development of dual drug delivery systems that can control the release behaviours of each drug is highly pertinent. This project aims to develop a dual drug delivery system with smart polymers, exploiting stimuli responses to be utilized as a carrier vehicle to aid in proffering a cure for diabetes. Also, it aims at proffering a solution to the lingering issue of combination therapy; by comparing the effect of the test drugs individually and in combination as anti-diabetic drugs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1001692 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Owonubi, Shesan John. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format |
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