Hyaluronic-acid-based β-cyclodextrin grafted copolymers as biocompatible supramolecular hosts to enhance the water solubility of tocopherol

Hyaluronic acid (HA), a common biopolymer found in the extracellular fluid, was grafted with beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) to form a composite polymer that could form inclusion complexes with tocopherol (VE), enhancing its water-solubility and serving as a model drug delivery system. Herein, different copolymers were prepared with varying HA:beta-CD ratios and characterized. VE loading capacity was directly correlated with increased beta-CD composition in the polymers and morphological changes were observed upon VE binding. The host materials and their VE inclusion complexes are not cytotoxic, and are thus useful for VE and drug delivery.