Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of hydroxybenzyl alcohol releasing biodegradable polyoxalate nanoparticles.

p-Hydroxybenzyl alcohol (HBA) is one of phenolic compounds in herbal agents and plays a pivotal role in protection against oxidative damage-related diseases due to anti-inflammatory effects. We have developed a new biodegradable and anti-inflammatory peroxalate copolymer in which HBA is chemically incorporated into its backbone. The HBA-incorporated copolyoxalate (HPOX) was synthesized from a condensation reaction of oxalyl chloride, 1,4-cyclohexamethanol and HBA and was capable of releasing pharmaceutically active HBA during hydrolytic degradation.