Hydrogels: A novel way to extend the life of a drug in the system. Key Take Aways: * Many "water-based" peptides have extremely short half-lives in the system- often as low as 2-8 minutes, not leaving enough time in system to produce effects. * Thick oil preparations like Castor Oil slow the release of substances substantially- especially when injected into fat. A 0.5mL bolus of castor oil + drug will often dissolve over a 24 hour+ time period. * Most peptides and many other substances will not solubilize in oil. * I created a kit to solubilize up to 1mg/ml of peptides etc. in oil based preparation. Effective, but not comprehensive as many drugs need a much greater concentration to be effective. Plus, the oil-based kit is honestly "tricky" to get just right. * From reading/researching I learned that a "hydrogel" preparation can be made in a water base using soluble fibers such as xanthan and methyl cellulose. These preparations are thick like castor
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