Injectable, in situ gelling, cyclodextrin–dextran hydrogels for the partitioning-driven release of hydrophobic drugs

Injectable, degradable hydrogels based on cross-linking between aldehyde-functionalized dextran, hydrazide-functionalized dextran, and hydrazide-functionalized beta-cyclodextrin (βCD) were developed for hydrophobic drug delivery. βCD functions as both the in situ-gelling agent driving hydrogel formation as well as the binding site for the hydrophobic model drug, dexamethasone. In hydrogel systems where βCD is primarily covalently attached to …