title: Carboxymethyl guar gum nanoparticles for drug delivery applications: Preparation and preliminary in-vitro investigations.
abstract: Carboxymethyl guar gum (CMGG) synthesized from commercially available polysaccharide was formulated into nanoparticles via ionic gelation using trisodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) as cross-linking agent. Characterisation using a range of analytical techniques (FTIR, NMR, GPC, TGA and DLS) confirmed the CMGG structure and revealed the effect of the CMGG and STMP concentration on the main characteristics of the obtained nanoformulations. The average nanoparticle diameter was found to be around 208 nm, as determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA). Experiments using simulated gastric and intestinal fluids evidenced significant pH-dependent drug release behaviour of the nanoformulations loaded with Rhodamine B (RhB) as a model drug (loading capacity in excess of 83%), as monitored by UV-Vis. While dose-dependent cytotoxicity was observed, the nanoformulations appeared completely non-toxic at concentrations below 0.3 mg/mL. Results obtained so far suggest that carboxymethylated guar gum nanoparticles formulated with STMP warrant further investigations as polysaccharide based biocompatible drug nanocarriers.
authors.affiliation: "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Romania; SCIENT - Research Centre for Instrumental Analysis, Bucharest, Romania. Electronic address: gianina.dodi@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dodi
authors.affiliation: University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pala
authors.affiliation: University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Barbu
authors.affiliation: "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Peptanariu
authors.affiliation: "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hritcu
authors.affiliation: "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Popa
authors.affiliation: "Gr. T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania.
authors.forename: B I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Tamba
mesh_terms: D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D065546:Drug Liberation; D000067493:Dynamic Light Scattering; D005685:Galactans / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008351:Mannans / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D053149:Plant Gums / Q000737:chemistry*; D012235:Rhodamines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000633:toxicity; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D004337:Drug Carriers; D005685:Galactans; D008351:Mannans; D053149:Plant Gums; D012235:Rhodamines; C469704:carboxymethyl guar gum; C029773:rhodamine B
keywords: Carboxymethyl guar gum; Cytotoxicity; Drug delivery; Nanoparticles; Phosphate