Magnetic ferrite nanoparticles coated with bovine serum albumin and glycine polymers for controlled release of curcumin as a model

Abstract

To conquer the low water solubility and bioavailability of curcumin (CUR), to corroborate its functional qualities and to broaden its applicability in the pharmaceutical sector, numerous nanoscale methods have been widely exploited for its administration. Because of its polycystic, biodegradable, biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and non-allergenic properties, bovine serum albumin (BSA) and glycine (Gly) have been actively investigated as natural biopolymers for decades. Various BSA and Gly-based nanocarriers with unique features for CUR delivery, such as magnetic ferrite nanoparticles, are being developed (MNPs). In this work, magnesium ferrite (MgFe₂O₄)/BSA and nickel ferrite (NiFe₂O₄)/Gly nanocomposites loaded with CUR (drug model) were manufactured for the first time using a chemical co-precipitation approach to create biocompatible drug nanocarriers. It was found that the synthesized MgFe₂O₄/BSA and NiFe₂O₄/Gly nanoparticles have a uniform particle distribution and their size is much less than 100 nm. Saturation magnetization in MgFe₂O₄ and NiFe₂O₄ reaches 13.07 and 33.4 emu/g the remarkable peak of magnetization decreases to 10.99 and 32.36 emu/g after the addition of polymers. These analyses also showed the presence of chemical bonds in the structure of the nanocomposite. The curcumin diffusion process in NPs were determined using a mathematical modeling. The yielding of the product for MgFe₂O₄/BSA and NiFe₂O₄/Gly in 200 h is about 72 and 63%, respectively. Also, regressed relative diffusivities (D/R²), including effective steric hindrance, were determined as 5.75 × 10⁻⁴ and 2.72 × 10⁻⁴ h⁻¹ for MgFe₂O₄/BSA and NiFe₂O₄/Gly, respectively. It shows that there is a significant steric barrier that significantly deviates from the molecular diffusion of the liquid. As a result, the low effective release of curcumin in the particles is more noticeable. Our study demonstrated the effective relationship between the polymer architecture and the biophysical properties of the resulting nanoparticles and shed light on new approaches for the design of efficient NP-based drug carriers.

Keywords:

• Curcumin
• bovine serum albumin
• glycine
• magnetic ferrite nanoparticles
• chemical Co-precipitation

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank the University of the Zanjan for research funds.