Preparation, Characterization, and Evaluation of β‐Cyclodextrin Inclusion Hydrogel Films Based on Dates Carboxymethyl Cellulose for Hydrophobic Drug Delivery

This work investigates the carboxymethylcellulose (CMC)‐dates (Dt) hydrogel films (HFs) for the controlled delivery of hydrophobic drugs, using citric acid (CA) as a nontoxic cross‐linking agent. The model drug Econazole (ECN) was loaded into HFs, and drug release was studied at pH 7.4. The HFs were evaluated for β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) content, carboxyl content, swelling ratio, drug loading, drug release, and in vivo anti‐inflammatory activity. These films were characterized using ATR‐FTIR, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive x‐ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for morphological measurements. Results revealed that the HFs with high carboxyl content exhibit maximum swelling and high drug loading. The incorporation of β‐CD helped to retard the release of ECN from the HFs. Our findings indicate that HFs F3 and F4 with high Dt concentrations reduce the edematous response by 92% ± 5.07% and 89% ± 3.69%, respectively. Altogether, our findings show that CMC‐Dt HFs are suitable for the delivery of non‐soluble weak bases and have potential for wound‐healing applications. The in vivo investigation demonstrated that the HFs exhibit significant anti‐inflammatory characteristics.