Polymeric implant of methylprednisolone for spinal injury: preparation and characterization

Purpose: To improve the effectiveness and reduce the systemic side effects of methylprednisolone in traumatic spinal injuries, its polymeric implants were prepared using chitosan and sodium alginate as the biocompatible polymers. Methods: Implants of methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) were prepared by molding the drug-loaded polymeric mass obtained after ionotropic gelation method. The prepared implants were evaluated for drug loading, in vitro drug release and in vivo performance in traumatic spinal-injury rat model with paraplegia. Results: All the implant formulations were light pale solid matrix with smooth texture. Implants showed 86.56 ± 2.07 % drug loading. Drug release was 89.29 ± 1.25 % at the end of 7 days. Motor function was evaluated in traumatic spinal injury-induced rats in terms of its movement on the horizontal bar. At the end of 7 days, the test group showed the activity score (4.75 ± 0.02) slightly higher than that of standard (4.62 ± 0.25), but the difference was not statistically different (p > 0.05). Conclusion: MPSS-loaded implants produces good recovery in traumatic spinal-injury rats.