Highly stable nanostructured magnetic vesicles as doxorubicin carriers for field-assisted therapies

Abstract

In this work, magnetic vesicles were produced using magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles and 1-methylimidazolium bis- (2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (imim-DEHP) as surfactant. Some of the vesicles were subsequently coated with chitosan to improve their stability and biocompatibility. A physicochemical characterization of the prepared systems was carried out using several techniques, which allowed verifying that the magnetic nanoparticles were successfully encapsulated. Finally, the vesicles were loaded with an antitumor drug (doxorubicin) by swelling in order to perform release studies. The Korsmeyer-Peppas model was used to fit the doxorubicin (Dox) release profiles in the different vesicle systems, which displayed delayed release in every case. After 24 h, the Dox release percentages ranged between 43–53%. The prepared vesicles show not only excellent stability but also a good response to an external magnetic field, which makes them good candidates to be used in field-assisted therapies, thus trying to improve therapeutic efficacy and avoiding possible adverse effects.