In-vitro pH-responsive release of imatinib from iron-supplement coated anatase TiO₂ nanoparticles

Targeted drug delivery is one such precision method of delivering medication inside the human body which can vanquish all the limitations of the conventional chemotherapeutic techniques. In the present study, two types of nanoparticles (NPs) were chosen for the in-vitro pH-responsive release study of the drug, Imatinib, namely anatase Titanium Dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) and iron-capped TiO₂ NPs, designated as Fe@TiO₂ NPs. The novelty of this work lies behind the use of commercially available iron supplement 'Autrin' meant for human consumption, as the material to coat the TiO₂ NPs to synthesize Fe@TiO₂ NPs. The synthesized NPs were analyzed by XRD, HR-TEM, SAED, EDX and VSM. UV-Vis spectroscopy was performed for absorption studies. Fe@TiO₂ NPs showed superparamagnetic behavior and thus they are able to ensure the facile transfer of Imatinib via external magnetic fields. The results obtained from in-vitro drug release studies depicted that both TiO₂ NPs and Fe@TiO₂ NPs showed a controlled pH-sensitive delivery of the loaded Imatinib molecules. Moreover, both types of NPs do not result in the formation of ROS under human physiological conditions. These results can lay the foundation to the development of efficacious targeted drug delivery systems in the healthcare sector.