Chitosan-EDTA-cellulose functionalized with β-cyclodextrin as a pH-sensitive bio-based nanocarrier for curcumin drug delivery

In this work, chitosan/cellulose/β-cyclodextrin nanostructure was synthesized by cross-linking chitosan and cellulose with EDTA followed by bridging with ethylenediamine-β-cyclodextrin. The chitosan/cellulose/β-cyclodextrin bio-based nanostructure is a novel drug delivery system that has been developed for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs. The chitosan/cellulose/β-cyclodextrin nanostructure was characterized by EDX, XRD, FESEM, TGA, FT-IR, in vitro drug loading and release study. The drug efficiency of the curcumin inclusion complex with chitosan/cellulose/β-cyclodextrin was higher compared to chitosan-EDTA-cellulose and increased with increasing β-cyclodextrin fragments. The curcumin release behavior from chitosan-EDTA-cellulose and chitosan/cellulose/β-cyclodextrin nanostructures was evaluated at two pHs of 5.5 (acidic extracellular microenvironment of tumors) and 7.4 (typical physiological pH of most body tissues and fluids) in 72 h, which was better fitted with the Korsmeyer's-Peppas kinetic model. The cytotoxicity of curcumin-loaded chitosan/cellulose/β-cyclodextrin was less than free curcumin. It appeared that the presence of β-cyclodextrin appreciably reduced the burst release observed in chitosan-EDTA-cellulose network. Finally, chitosan/cellulose/β-cyclodextrin was obtained with nanoparticle size of about 56.07 ± 12.11 nm, zeta potential range of 31.26 ± 0.09 to 47.98 ± 0.11 mV, and encapsulation efficiency of 86.0 ± 0.17%. The outcomes indicated that the chitosan/cellulose/β-cyclodextrin nanostructure is applicable for the parenteral injection delivery of the curcumin anticancer drug.