Investigating the behavior of mucoadhesive polysaccharide-functionalized graphene oxide in bladder environment

Abstract

Drug administration for treatment of bladder disorder has always been impeded by the urothelium integrity and short residence time of therapeutic forms. In this study, polysaccharides chitosan and carboxymethylcellulose are used to confer the mucoadhesive property to graphene oxide as a potential drug-delivery system for therapeutic drugs in the bladder. The synthesized chitosan-functionalized graphene oxide (CS-sGO) and carboxymethylcellulose-functionalized graphene oxide (CMC-sGO) had good dispersion stability at a wide range of pH values as well as physiological media, signifying the suitability for application in diverse constituents and pH conditions of diseased bladder. The nanoparticles exhibited good mucoadhesion to porcine bladder tissues, with prospective retention as high as 20 urine voiding.