{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T13:03:27Z","timestamp":1790687007024,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,17]],"date-time":"2022-09-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1663372800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004410","name":"Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["115C078"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["115C078"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004410","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Antibiotice S.A Ias\u0131","award":["2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006472","name":"Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["\/"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["\/"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006472","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gels"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chitosan-based hydrogels possess numerous advantages, such as biocompatibility and non-toxicity, and it is considered a proper material to be used in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Vaginal administration of progesterone represents a viable alternative for maintaining pregnancy and reducing the risk of miscarriage and in supporting the corpus luteum during fertilization cycles. This study aimed to develop new formulations for vaginal administration of progesterone (PGT). A previously synthesized responsive chitosan-grafted-poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (CS-g-PNIPAAm) was formulated in various compositions with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as external crosslinking agent to obtain pH- and temperature-dependent hydrogels; the hydrogels had the capacity to withstand shear forces encountered in the vagina due to its mechanism of swelling once in contact with vaginal fluids. Three different hydrogels based on grafted chitosan were analyzed via Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), swelling tests, in vitro drug release, and bioadhesion properties by TA.XTplus texture analysis. A higher amount of PVA decreased the swelling and the bioadhesion capacities of the hydrogel. All hydrogels showed sensitivity to temperature and pH in terms of swelling and in vitro delivery characteristics. By loading progesterone, the studied hydrogels seemed to possess even higher sensitivity than drug\u2013free matrices. The release profile of the active substance and the bioadhesion characteristics recommended the CS-g-PNIPAAm\/PVA 80\/20 +PGT (P1) hydrogel as a proper constituent for the vaginal formulation for progesterone administration.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/gels8090596","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,18]],"date-time":"2022-09-18T23:39:22Z","timestamp":1663544362000},"page":"596","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":12,"title":["Development of Vaginal Carriers Based on Chitosan-Grafted-PNIPAAm for Progesterone Administration"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Oana-Teodora","family":"Afloarea","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, \u201cGrigore T. Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Ias\u0327i, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5229-8986","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Catalina Natalia","family":"Cheaburu Yilmaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"\u201cPetru Poni\u201d Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, 41 A Grigore Ghica Voda Alley, 700487 Ias\u0327i, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3098-8406","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liliana","family":"Verestiuc","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Bioengineering, \u201cGrigore T. Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Ias\u0327i, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nela","family":"Bibire","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, \u201cGrigore T. Popa\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 700115 Ias\u0327i, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Brahmeshwar, M., and Singh, J. (2021). Chapter 7\u2014Hydrogel-based drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. 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