Guar gum succinate as a carrier for colon-specific drug delivery

A novel type of pH-sensitive colon-specific controlled drug delivery carrier based on guar gum succinate (GGS) was prepared by reacting guar gum (GG) with succinic anhydride (SA) in the presence of 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP). The formation of GGS was confirmed by FT-IR and 1H NMR and characterized using XRD techniques. GGS microparticles with 460–740 μm in size were prepared using sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) as a cross-linking agent. The size and morphologies of GGS microparticles were assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The swelling degree of the GGS microparticles was found to be higher in pH 7.4 than in pH 1.2. In addition, GGS microparticles showed a pH dependent drug release profile when compared to the GG microparticles. The MTT assay revealed that there is no apparent cytotoxicity of GGS against a mouse mesenchymal stem cell line at a concentration range of 0–200 μg/ml. These results confirm that GGS could be used as a carrier for colon-specific drug delivery.