Drug Delivery by Zeolite Nanomaterials in Treatment of Breast Cancer: In Vitro

Abstract

In this work, synthetic Linde type A (LTA) zeolites were examined to find out how well they could encapsulate and release doxorubicin cancer drug. Synthetic zeolites were used for this study because of their uniform pore distribution and crystal purity. The samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The XRD data on the control LTA zeolite showed average crystallite size of 40.89 nm, 28.40 nm and 29.76 nm at 60℃, 80 ℃ and 105 ℃ respectively. The percentage crystallinity also revealed values of 65.99, 71.39 and 76.37 at 60℃, 80 ℃ and 105 ℃ respectively. The XRD diffraction pattern on drug loaded LTA zeolite showed average crystallite size of 24.89 nm, 16.44 nm and 26.91 nm at 60℃, 80 ℃ and 105 ℃ respectively. The percentage crystallinity of the loaded drug on LTA zeolite also revealed values of 70.79, 83.78 and 68.82 at 60℃, 80 ℃ and 105 ℃ respectively. The FTIR data also showed the signature peaks characteristics of LTA zeolites at all the three temperatures (60℃, 80 ℃ and 105 ℃). The morphology of the control and loaded LTA zeolites were determined by Helium Ion Microscope (HIM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Brunauer-Emmett- Teller (BET) surface area, pore size and pore volume were also determined. The drug release data from 60 ℃ had a correlation (R2) values of 0.9139, 0.8764 and 0.7844 with the first-order, Hixson-Crowell and zero-order models respectively. Drug release data for 80 ℃ and 105 ℃ also had a (R2) values of 0.7345 and 0.5160 respectively for the Korsmeyer-Peppas model. The Alamar blue assay cell viability results showed that 105 ℃ was cytotoxic to the cells with an IC50 of 92 μg/ml.