Multi-responsive chitosan-based hydrogels for controlled release of vincristine

Bahareh Farasati Far; Mohsen Omrani; Mohammad Reza Naimi Jamal; Shahrzad Javanshir

doi:10.1038/s42004-023-00829-1

Multi-responsive chitosan-based hydrogels for controlled release of vincristine

Commun Chem. 2023 Feb 10;6(1):28. doi: 10.1038/s42004-023-00829-1.

Authors

Bahareh Farasati Far¹, Mohsen Omrani¹, Mohammad Reza Naimi Jamal², Shahrzad Javanshir³

Affiliations

¹ Research Laboratory of Green Organic Synthesis & Polymers, Department of Chemistry, Iran University of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran.
² Research Laboratory of Green Organic Synthesis & Polymers, Department of Chemistry, Iran University of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran. naimi@iust.ac.ir.
³ Pharmaceutical and Heterocyclic Compounds Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Iran University of Science and Technology, 16846-13114, Tehran, Iran. shjavan@iust.ac.ir.

Abstract

As medical research progresses, the derivation and development of biological materials such as hydrogels have steadily gained more interest. The biocompatibility and non-toxicity of chitosan make chitosan hydrogels potential carriers for drug delivery. This work aims to develop two multi-reactive, safe, and highly swellable bio-hydrogels consisting of chitosan-graft-glycerol (CS-g-gly) and carboxymethyl chitosan-graft-glycerol (CMCS-g-gly), for sustained and controlled drug release, improved bioavailability along with entrapment in nanocarriers, which reduces side effects of vincristine sulphate. CS-g-gly and CMCS-g-gly are successfully prepared and fully characterized using analytical techniques. Under various conditions, the prepared hydrogels exhibit a high swelling ratio. Vincristine-loaded CS-g-gly (VCR/CS-g-gly), and CMCS-g-gly (VCR/CMCS-g-gly) show high encapsulation efficiency between 72.28-89.97%, and 56.97-71.91%, respectively. VCR/CS-g-gly show a sustained release behavior, and the maximum release of VCR from hydrogels reached 82% after 120 h of incubation. MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line) and MCF-10 (normal breast cell line) are evaluated for cell viability and apoptosis induction. The in-vitro anti-tumor efficacy is investigated using flow cytometry. The tetrazolium-based MTT assay of hydrogels shows no evidence of significant cytotoxicity in MCF-7 and MCF-10 cells. According to these findings, these hydrogels can effectively deliver drugs to MCF-7 and other breast cancer cells.