ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
This article is part of the Research TopicInsights in Biomaterials 2025 - Novel Developments, Current Challenges, and Future PerspectivesView all 3 articles
Ammonia-Triggered Disintegration of Kappa-Carrageenan Hydrogel carrier for Site-Specific Anti-inflammatory Drug Delivery
Provisionally accepted
Sachin Kumar1
Priyank Purohit2*Surbhi Panwar1Shivsharan Balbhim Kharatmal3Sachin Munjhal4
Magda Hassan Abdellattif5Anil Thotange3Rachana Sambhaji3- 1Graphic Era Hill University, Dehradun, India
- 2Swami Rama Himalayan University, Dehradun, India
- 3Sinhgad College of Science, Pune, India
- 4Graphic Era Institute of Medical Sciences, Dehradun, India
- 5Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
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Ammonia accumulation in tissues is increasingly recognized as a direct biochemical trigger of ammonia-induced inflammation, yet no therapeutic strategy currently exists that can selectively target this pathological condition while minimizing systemic toxicity. Addressing this critical gap, the present study introduces a first-of-its-kind kappa-carrageenan (KC) based formulation engineered to respond selectively to ammonia-rich inflammatory environments while simultaneously exerting synergistic anti-inflammatory effects. The KC gel's structural network exhibited pronounced disruption upon exposure to ammonium hydroxide, supported by physicochemical changes, the weakening of –OH and –SO₃H absorption bands in FTIR spectra, and optical microscopy-confirmed morphological alterations. Drug-release studies revealed highly accelerated celecoxib release (up to 86%) from NH₄OH-treated gels compared to only 33% under normal physiological conditions, demonstrating strong ammonia-triggered responsiveness and high site-selective delivery. In-vivo anti-inflammatory evaluation further confirmed enhanced therapeutic potency arising from the synergistic interaction between celecoxib and KC, while cell-line assays validated the formulation's favorable safety profile. Although long-term stability and pharmacokinetic assessments are required for clinical translation, this study establishes KC as a dual-functional, smart, and ammonia-responsive system, offering a novel mechanistic framework for targeted, sustained, and effective treatment of ammonia-associated inflammatory disorders.
Keywords: Ammonia-sensitive hydrogel, Amoniasis, Carrageenan, Celecoxib, Dual functional matrix, gel disintegration, IL-10, Kappa carrageenan
Received: 30 Jul 2025; Accepted: 28 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kumar, Purohit, Panwar, Kharatmal, Munjhal, Abdellattif, Thotange and Sambhaji. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Priyank Purohit
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