ELECTROSPUN THERMOPLASTIC POLYURETHANE MATS CONTAINING NAPROXEN– CYCLODEXTRIN INCLUSION COMPLEX Çiğdem Akduman 1 , Işık Özgüney 2 , E. Perrin Akçakoca Kumbasar 3 1 Pamukkale University, Denizli Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Department of Textile Technology, Denizli, Turkey 2 Ege University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Izmir, Turkey 3 Ege University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Textile Engineering, Izmir, Turkey E-mail: cakduman@pau.edu.tr 1. Introduction Textile-based nonwoven drug delivery systems present unique properties, including high surface area, and drug loading capacity, fabrication ease and options for surface modifcations make them attractive alternatives to current drug delivery devices [26]. The principle of electrospinning process is to use electrostatic force as the main driving power for fbre formation [24]. One of the obvious advantages of the electrospinning process is the highly porous structure of electrospun fbre mats, which exhibits much greater surface area and possibility of functionalization [13, 25]. More specifcally, incorporation of cyclodextrins (CDs) into electrospun nanofbrous materials is considered as potential candidates for functional textile applications [14]. Topical administration of active pharmaceutical substances is in principle favourable for rapid onset of drug action and ready accessibility [12]. This administration could be very effcient and useful in the treatment of acute pain related conditions [26]. The clinical effcacy of a topically applied drug depends not only on its pharmacologic properties but also on the drug availability at the target site [15]. Theoretically, topically applied NSAIDs could act directly within the area of injury, without systemic activity, and reduce the infammatory reaction [8]. Naproxen (NAP) (Fig. 1a) is a propionic acid derivative and is a type of non-steroidal anti-infammatory drug commonly administered for the treatment of pain, infammation and fever [9,11]. CDs are one of the most promising materials for the development of products with advanced properties due to inclusion complex formation ability with a wide variety of substances [16]. CDs have been explored extensively as additives in the pharmaceutical industry due to their ability to host and solubilize hydrophobic Abstract: Incorporation of cyclodextrins (CDs) into electrospun nanofbrous materials can be considered as potential candidates for functional medical textile applications. Naproxen (NAP) is a type of non-steroidal anti-infammatory drug commonly administered for the treatment of pain, infammation and fever. Drug–inclusion complex formation with CDs is an approach to improve the aqueous solubility via molecular encapsulation of the drug within the cavity of the more soluble CD molecule. In this study, NAP or different NAP–CD inclusion complexes loaded nanofbres were successfully produced through electrospinning and characterised. The inclusion complex loaded mats exhibited signifcantly faster release profles than NAP-loaded thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) mats. Overall, NAP–inclusion complex loaded TPU electrospun nanofbres could be used as drug delivery systems for acute pain treatments since they possess a highly porous structure that can release the drug immediately. Keywords: Naproxen, β-cyclodextrin, 2-hydroxy propyl-β-CD, Inclusion complex, Electrospinning, Drug release (a) (b) (c) Figure 1. Naproxen (NAP) (a), β-CD (b) and HP-β-CD (c) [18,19]. http://www.autexrj.com AUTEX Research Journal, Vol. 14, No 4, December 2014, DOI: 10.2478/aut-2014-0024 © AUTEX 239