## 3 Results
### In Vitro Drug Release  
In vitro drug release was analyzed within a 120-min range. The data were plotted as a percentage cumulative release of MTZ against time, the means and SE values for MTZ-CMC and MTZ-HEC matrices are presented in Figures 6 and 7, respectively. To determine the mechanism of MTZ release from the carriers, the following mathematical models were applied: zero-order kinetics (cumulative amount of drug release versus time), first-order kinetics (log cumulative percentage of drug remaining versus time), Higuchi model (cumulative percentage of release versus square root of time), and Korsmeyer-Peppas (log cumulative percentage of drug released versus log time) equation model. The model that best fit the release data was evaluated by correlation coefficient (r\({}^{2}\)); values for all formulations according to the models are given in Table 5. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline
**Batch Code** & **Rupture Force (g)** & **Elongation at Break (\%)** \\ \hline CMC1 & \(251.26\pm 18.68\) & \(679.4\pm 42.83\) \\ CMC2 & \(1345.19\pm 72.10\) & \(1027.9\pm 53.82\) \\ CMC3 & \(2023.21\pm 48.33\) & \(918.7\pm 66.56\) \\ HEC1 & \(469.59\pm 24.49\) & \(750.5\pm 44.12\) \\ HEC2 & \(1007.95\pm 41.78\) & \(679.0\pm 54.13\) \\ HEC3 & \(1647.21\pm 88.61\) & \(632.6\pm 15.26\) \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Mechanical properties of CMC and HEC porous matrices: Data are presented as the mean \(\pm\) SE, n \(\geq\) 6. Figure 6: In vitro cumulative release profile of MTZ from matrices obtained on the basis of carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt: Results represent mean \(\pm\) SE, n = 6. The best fit with higher correlation was found with the first-order (r\({}^{2}\) 0.836-0.999) and the Korsmeyer-Peppas equations (r\({}^{2}\) 0.827-0.999). For matrices CMC1, CMC2, and HEC1, the values of the release exponents (n) were found to range between 0.55 and 0.66, indicating non-Fickian (anomalous) drug release behavior. For CMC3, HEC2, and HEC3, the slope values were less than 0.5, indicating that the drug release mechanism from the tested matrices was diffusion-controlled [44; 45]. When the polymeric, drug-loaded matrix comes into contact with water, swelling and relaxation of the polymer chain take place. Penetration of the solvent into the polymer matrix leads to its swelling and diffusion of the drug from the polymer-based composites. Drug release then occurs through the spaces or channels within the polymer network as well as through the dissolution and/or the disintegration of the matrix. Therefore, the mechanism of MTZ release from the matrices can be explained by simultaneously occurring phenomena: the absorption of water and the controlled diffusion of water through the matrix. The existence of the molecular relaxation process in addition to diffusion is believed to be responsible for the observed anomalous non-Fickian transport of the drug. The results obtained for all formulations were tested by relying on a model consistent with the first-order kinetics of semi-releasing times according to the formula T 50% = ln (2)/K, which were then compared using the parametric ANOVA test together with the post hoc NIR test. A statistical analysis showed statistically significant differences in the release rate of MTZ from the compared dressings (Figure 8, Table 6). MTZ was released from hydroxyethyl cellulose-based dressings most rapidly. The mean T50% values for HEC1, HEC2, and HEC3 were \(15.6\pm 4.8\), \(14.3\pm 3.1\), and \(43.0\pm 2.8\), respectively. For dressings containing carboxymethyl cellulose sodium salt, the mean average durations were significantly higher: \(52.3\pm 3.3\) for CMC1, \(82\pm 2.7\) for CMC2, and \(92.6\pm 2.5\) for HEC1. Figure 7: In vitro cumulative release profile of MTZ from matrices obtained on the basis of hydroxyethyl cellulose: Results represent mean \(\pm\) SE, n = 6.