Ciprofloxacin-imprinted hydrogels for drug sustained release in aqueous media.

In this study several ciprofloxacin (CFX) imprinted and non-imprinted hydrogels were prepared and evaluated as ocular drug delivery systems in aqueous media. 2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) was used as a solvent and backbone monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross-linker, methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer and CFX as the template molecule. CFX-imprinted hydrogels (MIPs) were prepared applying different CFX:MAA molar ratios (1:16, 1:20 and 1:32) in feed composition of monomer solutions.