Synthesis of cisplatin encapsulated Zinc oxide nanoparticles and their application as a carrier in targeted drug delivery

Abstract

Cisplatin is a frequently used anticancer drug that has been developed as the first platinum-based anticancer drug. The cis configuration enables the coordination complex to be covalently binding to one or two DNA strands and thus cross-linking the DNA strands, causing the cells to die in a programmed manner. Cisplatin is administered as an IV infusion in saline solution for medication of solid malignity. Anticancer drugs usually have a variety of side effects, but an encapsulation of the drug in a suitable host material minimizes the side effects while improving the efficacy of the drug due to its slow release only at the target. The aim of this research is to develop a simple, but effective mechanism for the preparation of porous zinc oxide nanoparticles (PZnO NPs) using the forced hydrolysis method reaction of zinc acetate dihydrate with deionized water in diethylene glycol (DEG) media. This synthesized PZnO NPs were then characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Particle Size Analysis and Powder X-Ray Diffraction (PXRD). The encapsulation of cisplatin within the porous zinc oxide nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), SEM, EDX, and FT-IR studies. Our results show that the synthesized nanoparticles have the hexagonal wurtzite structure as confirmed by PXRD. The average particle size as determined by light scattering is 52.4 ± 0.1 nm SEM images show porous spherical morphology with aggregated particles. XRF data of the cisplatin encapsulated product show a Pt: Cl ratio of 1:2 showing cisplatin encapsulation without any fragmentation or other chemical change. The presence of NH3 in the encapsulated product is also apparent from FT-IR data. The encapsulation of the anti-cancer drug cisplatin to PZnO NPs and its pH dependence on the release of the drug from PZnO NPs was studied by measuring the amount of Pt released as a function of the time which was done using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) at λmax 265.94 nm. The encapsulation efficiency of Cisplatin into PZnO NPs was found to be 50.52%. The percentage of Cisplatin released from PZnO NPs during the first 7 hours was < 6.30% in the acetate/phosphate buffer at pH 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0. The maximum release of 8.64% was observed at pH = 6.0 after 24 hours.