New synthetic adriamycin-incorporated chitosan nanoparticles with enhanced antioxidant, antitumor activities and pH-sensitive drug release.

In this paper, adriamycin-incorporated chitosan nanoparticles were synthesized by ionic gelation using negatively charged carboxymethyl chitosan and positively charged 2-hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan. The method was efficient to obtain nanoparticles with low polydispersity index and small hydrodynamic diameter. And high zeta potential value indicated that nanoparticles had good stability. The adriamycin release of nanoparticles represented a significant response to pH, with the fastest release in phosphate buffer solution at pH 6.8. Meanwhile, the antioxidant efficiency of nanoparticles was assayed, and nanoparticles represented significant enhancement in radicals scavenging activity. The assay of cell viability by CCK-8 test exhibited that nanoparticles led to statistically significant decrease in cell viability for four kinds of cancer cells (HEPG-2, A549, MCF-7, and BGC-823). It was indicated that the nanoparticles with enhanced biological activity, reduced cytotoxicity, and pH-sensitive release could be served as potential drug carrier in drug delivery system.