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Influence of Divalent Cation on Morphology and Drug Delivery Efficiency of Mixed Polymer Nanoparticles.

BACKGROUND
Biopolymeric nanoparticles comprising chitosan-alginate have attracted interest in drug delivery due to their protective nature, biocompatibility, biodegradability and hydrophilicity.


OBJECTIVE
The present study was designed to encapsulate levofloxacin in chitosan-alginate hybrid gel for controlled release and to evaluate the effect of divalent alkaline earth metal ions (Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+) on encapsulation efficiency and drug release kinetics considering their role in polyelectrolyte gelation method.


METHOD
Divalent metal ions control the rigidity and elasticity of the hydrogels and have the ability to change the shape and size of nanostructure formed by chitosan-alginate. The particle size increases and encapsulation efficiency decreases with the size of the divalent ions. Spherical shaped particles were formed by Mg2+ and Ca2+, whereas Sr2+ and Ba2+ produced non-spherical particles.


RESULTS
SEM image clearly shows transformation of sphere to truncated tetrahedron by Sr2+ and clear rod shape by Ba2+.


CONCLUSION
Therefore, it is concluded that metal ions have significant influence on the morphology and drug encapsulation and release profile of the chitosan-alginate hybrid polymer nanoparticles.