Formulation attributes, acid tunable degradability and cellular interaction of acetalated maltodextrin nanoparticles

Exploiting materials for nanoparticle production has never halted to address the diversity in cargos and applications. Herein, maltodextrin (MD) was selected for being economic, nontoxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable. Different MDs were modified through acetal modification, turning the polymer hydrophobic and allowing pH-dependent tunable degradability. The synthesized acetalated MD (AcMD) polymers exhibited different thermal decomposition profiles and lower glass transition temperatures. Nanoprecipitation yielded uniform AcMD nanoparticles (NPs) with diameters ranging from 141 to 258 nm. The particles were loaded with hydrophobic model drug, resveratrol (67.86% entrapment efficiency and 3.75% drug loading). The degradation and the in vitro release were studied at pH 7.4 and pH 5.0 and revealed different kinetics in dependence on the amount of cyclic/acyclic acetalation. Cell viability and cellular interaction were studied on adenocarcinoma human lung epithelial A549 and differentiated human monocytic THP-1 cells. The AcMD-NPs were well tolerated by both cell lines but exhibited different uptake behaviors.