Encapsulação de glicose em hidrogéis de gelatina reticulados com transglutaminase

Abstract

The hypoglycemia has been affecting a large number of type 1-diabetes patients, especially young people and children in the night period, in some cases people present problems in neuropsychological development and its functions as well as convulsion and even death. An alternative to increasing the maintenance time of glucose in the blood would be controlled release of glucose from edible hydrogels. Regarding to that, the main aim of this article is to synthesize gelatin hydrogels crosslinked with transglutaminase, which contains glucose and then, characterized them. Also, eight types of hydrogels were made as well as its blanks, in other words, without glucose. Furthermore, some conditions were analyzed such as: crosslinking temperature (40/50 °C), amount of transgulatimase (10/20 U/g of protein) and the treatment of drying (oven/lyophilization), according to 2³ factorial experimental design. Thus, to characterized them, was done thickness analyses, of balance swelling in Milli-Q water, swell in simulation gastric and intestinal fluids and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The samples which were made by treatment of oven and lyophilization, presented glazed and spongy aspects, respectively. Also was noted that, the first one presented less tickness than the second one. The swelling ratio of the hydrogels G4020 and G5020 in water was higher for sampes dried in an oven and was noted that after 1 hour the simulations of sweeling fluids presented higher ratio of swelling. That diference is due to hydrogels which were lyophilized presented its structure more opened than the other one in the oven, also, the structure stayed for longest time with fluids which helps the hydrolysis function, leading to increased solvation of the matrix. As for the factorial experimental design was not significant in relation to the chosen independent variables, so these did not influence the behavior of the hydrogels synthesized in different conditions. In FTIR analysis showed that there was crosslinking in the hydrogel network due to the presence of the band monosubstituted amide, which is obtained by the action of the transgutaminase crosslinking, beyond the presence of glucose in hydrogel through the band characterized of stretch C-O, which has moved and can be presented by relation between glucose and polymer matrix. Finally, it can be concluded that was possible to synthesize the hydrogels characterized by having high absorption capacity and the efficiency of the encapsulation of glucose production and also, it indicates, by oven drying as a method of lower expenditures such as financial costs and energy.