Manufacture, characterization and in vitro drug release studies of chitosan-PVA-MNPs hydrogel essenced drug delivery system for anticancer drug quercetin

In the current study, chitosan (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) essenced hydrogels were produced using the freeze-thaw method without toxic cross-linking agents. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and quercetin (QC) were added to the system after synthesizing the hydrogel and the samples were freeze-dried using a lyophilizer. The prepared samples were used in in vitro drug release studies. QC, known as a natural polyphenol, is a promising candidate to support cancer treatment with its antioxidant effects. However, the hydrogels containing Fe3O4 nanoparticles exhibit high porosity and encapsulation efficiency, making them a convenient carrier for drug loading and controlled release. The QC was encapsulated in the synthesized CS-PVA-MNPs. Morphological changes of the prepared hydrogels were visualized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The molecular structure of the synthesized samples was determined using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), while their thermal stability was evaluated through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The encapsulation efficiency (EE) and drug loading efficiency (DLE) of QC in hydrogels including Fe3O4 MNPs were determined as 93.40% and 65.58%, respectively. In vitro release profiles of QC at pH 5 and pH 7.4 demonstrated the effectiveness of the hydrogel. These results indicate that CS-PVA-MNPs-QC is a convenient carrier for the intended drug delivery and reveal the potential of QC as a drug versus cancer cells.