Designing novel bioconjugates of hydroxyethyl cellulose and salicylates for potential pharmaceutical and pharmacological applications

This deals with fabrication of macromolecular prodrugs (MPDs) of salicylic acid (SA) and aspirin (ASP) based on a hydrophilic cellulose ether, hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC). Degrees of substitution (DS) of SA and ASP per HEC repeating unit (HEC-RU) were achieved ranging from 0.60 to 2.18 and 0.53 to1.50, respectively. The amphiphilic HEC-SA conjugate 2 assembled into nanowire-like structures, while HEC-ASP conjugate 6 formed nanoparticles (diameter 300-00 nm) at a water/DMSO interface. After oral administration in rabbit models, conjugates 2 and 6 showed plasma half-life of 6.96 and 7.01 h with maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) of 15.27 and 23.01 μg L−1, respectively, and each reached peak plasma concentration (tmax) at 4.0 h. Immunomodulatory assays (interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor-α values) revealed that anti-inflammatory properties of SA and ASP were unaltered in conjugates. Swelling inhibition of 61 and 71% was observed for conjugates 2 and 6, respectively, in a carrageenan induced paw edema test. Cytotoxic profiling (MTT assay) showed that conjugates were safe for administration in the concentration range of 2-10 mM up to 24 h. Thermal analyses revealed that Tdm values of SA and ASP conjugates were increased by 99 and 154 ̊C, respectively, indicating extraordinary thermal stability imparted to drugs after MPD formation.