We report here on the covalent conversion of the anti-inflammatory agent ketoprofen into self-assembling prodrugs that enable the effective purification of ketoprofen enantiomers, the improved selectivity and potency of ketoprofen, as well as the formation of one-component drug-bearing supramolecular hydrogels. We found that the ketoprofen hydrogelator could exhibit much-enhanced selectivity for cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) over COX-1, reduce the concentration of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1 and TNFα), and induce apoptosis in fibroblast-like synoviocytes while maintaining biocompatibility with healthy chondrocytes. In addition, these anti-inflammatory agent-containing hydrogels demonstrated the ability to retain the therapeutic within a joint cavity after intra-articular injection, exhibiting a slow, steady release into the plasma. We believe that upon further optimization these drug-based injectable supramolecular hydrogels could provide the basis for a local treatment strategy for rheumatoid arthritis and similar conditions.
Keywords: drug delivery; peptide-drug conjugate; rheumatoid arthritis.; self-assembly; supramolecular hydrogel.